Baptist Convention of Hong Kong

Baptist Convention of Hong Kong
Logo of the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Baptist
Polity	Congregationalist
Associations	APBF, BWA
Region	Hong Kong
Origin	1938
Congregations	90
Members	72,000
Hospitals	1
Nursing homes	1
Primary schools	7
Secondary schools	8
Tertiary institutions	2

The Baptist Convention of Hong Kong (Abbr: BCHK) is a cooperative association of Baptist churches in the Hong Kong.

Baptist work in Hong Kong traces its roots from the first missionaries sent by the Triennial Convention to work with the Chinese. Due to the hostility to foreigners in China at that time, missionaries were forced to work in areas with significant Chinese population in territories outside of Chinese control. In 1835, Dr. and Mrs. William Dean begun work with the Chaozhou speaking Chinese in Bangkok, Thailand whereas the Revd. Jehu Lewis Shuck and his wife, Henrietta Shuck, started work among the Cantonese speaking Chinese in Portuguese ruled Macau.

With the cession of Hong Kong to the United Kingdom in 1842, the Shucks relocated to the colony in March of the same year and were joined later in the year by the Deans. The first chapel was established in 1842 in Queen's Road known as the Queen's Road Baptist Church and the Shucks also established a school for Chinese children where Henrietta served as director until her death in 1844. They were also joined by Issachar Jacox Roberts who preached extensively in the villages of Hong Kong, particularly in the village of Chek Chue (known today as Stanley). In the same year, Roberts relocated to Canton becoming the first European to reside outside the protected foreign factory as European compounds were known then.

Mission work among the Cantonese was temporarily halted in 1845 when Shuck returned to the United States although Chaozhou language work continued among transient emigrant coolies with the Deans who were later joined by John W. Johnson and William Ashmore in 1860. With the help of one of the first baptized convert, Chen Dui, a second Chaozhou congregation was established in Cheung Chau Island among the permanent residents.