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Theological Training College (1899-1909) The establishment of Christian Union in 1950s Period of Consolidation (1970-76) Tale of Two Fellowships (1976-85) Adaptation to the ever-changing world (1993-2001) Appendices A.
List of Chaplains and Advisors since 1950 B.
List of Chairmen of Christian Union since its
establishment |
Period of
Consolidation (1970-76)
The
early 70’s were a time of consolidation. There were no records in Wayfarer of joint-school meetings and
social services since 1971. Instead, more retreats and conferences were held
in a year. The format of running the Christian Union was pretty much the same
as in the 60’s, with general meetings held on Fridays and prayer meetings on
another day. Form groups continued to exist in different forms. Starting
from 1970, beside the annual summer conference, one or even two more
conferences were held in an academic year. The most frequent venue was
Morrison House (1970, 72-75, 77-79). Unlike its evangelistic counterpart in
summer, they were more like retreats for Christians, allowing the
participants a quiet time to relax and to think in the midst of a busy life.
These were usually a day camp. Summer
timetable was introduced in summer 1973. This made an impact on the arrangement
of prayer meetings and general meetings. When it was first introduced,
Christian Union changed the weekly prayer meetings into morning meetings
every day in the Chapel just before roll call. (1) According
to an article in Wayfarer 1973-74,
Religious Education was introduced in 1973, giving the students an
alternative to the original lessons of Biblical Knowledge. The hope was that
students’ interest in religion could be raised, and through discussion and
expression of their own ideas, more religious knowledge could be gained. (2) According
to Mr. C.K. Yuen, it was once an experimental policy that students could
choose whether they would take Religious Studies (or Religious Education or
Biblical Knowledge, depending on what period you were talking about) as a
HKCEE subject. As long as all the RS lessons of the whole form were put in
the same periods, students could shift the appropriate classes. However, this
policy did not survive long since the expected outcome could not be achieved.
Many students who did not take RS as an exam subject disregarded its value
and did not study it at all. In the end, it was made as a compulsory exam
subject again. However, over the years, the curriculum did change to meet the
needs of the students. In the early days, students studied the Gospels and
the Acts of the Apostles. Later, Acts was replaced by a new section which
tackled personal and social problems, like drug addiction, family and money,
from a Christian point of view. (3) In
the academic year of 1974-75, a new feature was introduced into the
assemblies. There were teachers voluntarily giving short talks once a week.
This was a good start. In the years to come, more and more teachers, and even
students were invited to give talks on various topics. This policy helps
broadening the horizons of the students and raising the interests of the
audience in the assembly. (4) Mr.
C.K. Pong and Mrs. Masie Chan became advisors of
Christian Union in 1975. Mr. Pong served in An
important part of the mission of the Christian Union is to introduce the
Christian faith to our fellow schoolmates. To achieve this aim, beside the
annual evangelistic summer conference, a new way was introduced in 1973-74.
It was evangelistic meeting. Topics like “The way to go” and “Do we
youngsters need Jesus?” were delivered. Since 1973-74, there has been at
least one evangelistic meeting of certain kind nearly every year. Although
the format might change slightly, the aim stayed the same. (5) Perhaps
the highlight of evangelistic activities in this period was the Billy Graham
Crusade held in the Hong Kong Stadium in November 1975. Members of Christian
Union were actively involved as counsellors, ushers
and choir members in the Crusade. (6) In
early September 1975, the Gospel ship “Logos”, carrying a variety of
Christian books, visited Old boys
had always been a faithful source of support to Christian Union. Sometimes
some of the former members who were then studying in H.K.U. were invited back
to St. Paul’s to give a presentation on their own testimony, religious
experience in daily life or even the harmony between religion and science.
Some acted as counsellors at the summer conference.
Some sent money back for the purchase of devotional literature. Even those
who were abroad wrote letter back. (8) In
January and November 1975, a slide show called “Metamorphosis II”, which was
a product of several Old Boys studying in In
June 1976, the Christian Union published a Newsletter, which was the only one
recorded in the annual reports in the past. It contained articles concerning
the activities and reports of the Christian Union, as well as contributions
from members, old boys and advisors. This Newsletter was circulated among the
Fellowship and old boys in Under
God’s Footnotes: 1.
Christian
Union, Wayfarer 1972-73. 2.
“ 3.
Phone
interview with Mr. C.K. Yuen, on 4.
Principal’s
report, Wayfarer 1975-76, pg. 4. 5.
Christian
Union, Wayfarer 1973-74, pg. 62. 6.
Christian
Union, Wayfarer 1975-76, pg. 109. 7.
Ditto. 8.
Christian
Union, Wayfarer 1968-69, pg. 94;
Christian Union, Wayfarer 1969-70, pg.
82; Christian Union, Wayfarer 1971-72,
pg. 98; Principal’s Report, Wayfarer
1974-75, pg. 3. 9.
Principal’s
Report, Wayfarer 1975-76, pg. 4;
Christian Union, Wayfarer 1975-76, pg.
110. The slide show was on show again in 1977-78. 10. Christian Union, Wayfarer 1976-77, pg. 82-83. © Chun Hai
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