Dr. Ya-Ge Ma (also James Laidlaw Maxwell) was the first English Presbyterian Missionary who landed in Dagou (now Kaohsiung) on May 28, 1865 and soon he started his medical and preaching service on Kanxi Street in Five-Channel Area (Previously No.43 on Renai Street) in Tainan. Unfortunately, Dr. Ya-Ge Ma’s work had been rejected by the conservative locals. And when they enragedly surrounded his church, he had no choice but moved to Qihou in Dagou, consistently carrying on his mission. Dr. Ya-Ge Ma returned to Tainan at the end of December in 1868 and settled down in Jiulou in Tingzijao (the former of Sin-Lau Hospital). Then, Maxwell Memorial Church was founded in 1903 and its missionary training center was established on Kanxi Street where was also Presbyterianism originated. The training center was officially named Yongle Church in 1915; it’s also where in 1951 a new church was built with a dome like the St. Paul’s Cathedral’s and it was later on renamed to “Kanxi Street Church” in honor of the history of the Presbyterian missionary in Taiwan.
Kanxi Street Church
Dr. Ya-Ge Ma (also James Laidlaw Maxwell) was the first English Presbyterian Missionary who landed in Dagou (now Kaohsiung) on May 28, 1865 and soon he started his medical and preaching service on Kanxi Street in Five-Channel Area (Previously No.43 on Renai Street) in Tainan. Unfortunately, Dr. Ya-Ge Ma’s work had been rejected by the conservative locals. And when they enragedly surrounded his church, he had no choice but moved to Qihou in Dagou, consistently carrying on his mission. Dr. Ya-Ge Ma returned to Tainan at the end of December in 1868 and settled down in Jiulou in Tingzijao (the former of Sin-Lau Hospital). Then, Maxwell Memorial Church was founded in 1903 and its missionary training center was established on Kanxi Street where was also Presbyterianism originated. The training center was officially named Yongle Church in 1915; it’s also where in 1951 a new church was built with a dome like the St. Paul’s Cathedral’s and it was later on renamed to “Kanxi Street Church” in honor of the history of the Presbyterian missionary in Taiwan.
