St. Andrew's Church, Kowloon

St Andrew's Church Kowloon
Facade of St Andrew's Church
Location	138 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Country	China
Denomination	Anglican church, Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
Churchmanship	Anglican, Evangelical
Website	www.standrews.org.hk
History
Founded	13 December 1904
Consecrated	6 October 1906
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Listed Grade II historic building in Hong Kong
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Rev John Menear
Minister(s)	Rev Dale Hanson (Senior Associate Minister) Rev Dan Evers (Associate Minister) Rev Raymond Leung (Associate Minister) Rev Alex McCoy (Associate Minister)

St Andrew's Church (Chinese: 聖安德烈堂) is located at 138 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a church of the Anglican (Sheng Kung Hui) Province of Hong Kong and in the Diocese of Western Kowloon. It is the oldest English speaking Protestant church in Kowloon. While St Andrew’s commenced its life as a church for the expatriate community, it is now an international church with 90% of those attending considering Hong Kong as their home.

Sunday services are currently held at 8:30am, 9:45am, 11:30am and 5:00pm in English, and at 2:00pm in Mandarin (Putonghua). The Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) is administered at the 8:30am service every Sunday. At all other services, it is administered on the second and fourth Sundays. Check the official website for the latest information.

The idea of building an Anglican church in Kowloon was first suggested in 1897 but no progress was made until 1904, when Sir Catchick Paul Chater offered HK$35,000 to finance the construction. The chosen site was next to a large garden area owned by Sir Paul, covering the area between Robinson Road (now Nathan Road) and Austin Road.

The church was designed by Alfred Bryer of Messrs. Leigh & Orange. Work began in November 1904 and was completed in 1906. The church was consecrated on 6 October 1906.

The war years from 1914 to 1918 were difficult for the church because many of its members came from the military bases on Kowloon and had to leave for duty elsewhere. The church was barely able to survive financially.

From 1942 to 1944, the congregation of All Saints Mong Kok used St Andrew’s for services as their church was used as a rice store. They were allowed back to All Saints in late 1944 and took much of the furniture from St Andrew’s with them, saving it from destruction when the main church building was turned into a Shinto shrine early in 1945.

The church organised its first Sunday school in 1947.

The Lych Gate and steps were added in 1954 to mark the 50th anniversary of the laying of the church foundation stone.

In 1978, St Andrew's Christian Centre (a 6-storey building that includes apartments, offices and a hall) was built to replace the damaged church hall. The Centre now houses different Christian organisations.