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Christianity
The Christian community - comprising mainly Protestants and Roman Catholics numbers about 660 000 people (including 100 300 Filipino Catholics). The Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches maintain a spirit of fellowship with the Hong Kong Christian Council, the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (based in Hong Kong) and the Roman Catholic Diocese. They get together on special occasions.
Protestant Community
The Protestant movement in Hong Kong began in 1841 and has a current membership of 320 000 followers. The Protestant community is composed of more than 50 denominations within 1 400 congregations. Most of the major international denominations and former mission agencies have ecclesial branches in Hong Kong, such as the Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Free, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, and Salvation Army. There are also many indigenous denominations such as The Church of Christ in China (representing Presbyterian and Congregational traditions), the True Jesus Church and the Local Church (commonly known as the Little Flock) in Hong Kong. A large number of their members are young people.
The Protestant community runs three post-secondary institutions: the Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University and Lingnan University. It also runs more than 630 schools (273 kindergarten, 206 primary schools and 160 secondary schools) and 116 nurseries. In addition, it operates more than 30 theological seminaries/Bible schools, 30 Christian publishing houses and 70 Christian bookstores. There are two Christian weekly newspapers, the Christian Times and Christian Weekly, which present news and comment from a Christian perspective, half a dozen Christian media agencies which broadcast Christian TV programmes regularly and four weekly Christian radio programmes on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).
More than 250 para-church agencies and different Christian action groups. attend to the needs of the Protestant community, respond to some issues that affect Hong Kong society and support emergency relief and development projects in Mainland China and developing countries.
The Protestant community runs seven hospitals and 18 clinics. Sixty social welfare organisations provide a wide range of services at more than 250 community (family/youth) service centres, 75 day care centres, 17 children's homes, 35 homes for the elderly, more than 100 centres for the elderly, 47 training centres for the mentally handicapped and disabled, 25 drug rehabilitation centres, and chaplaincy services for prisons, hospitals and the airport. There are also 15 campsites. The YMCA and YWCA manage five international hotel-style guesthouses.
Two ecumenical bodies, the Hong Kong Christian Council and the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Church Union, facilitate cooperative work among the Protestant churches in Hong Kong. The Chinese Christian Church Union was established in 1915 and has a current membership of more than 300 congregations. The Hong Kong
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368 Religion and Custom