OUR STORY
Taiwan Church Press was established on May 24, 1884, in Tainan City by Dr. Thomas Barclay, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church of England (now the United Reformed Church of England and Wales).
On May 1880, Dr. James L. Maxwell, also a missionary in Taiwan, donated a small printing machine with eleven boxes of type and some working facilities for printing Taiwanese in Roman letters. In 1881, Tainan Mission Council decided to ask Dr. Barclay to learn printing techniques from a Glasgow printing shop during his sabbatical leave. After returning to Tainan, Barclay also sent Mr. Su Sa to Swatow to take an apprenticeship in printing techniques. In June 1885, a workshop was built at the original site of the Taiwan Church Press with contributions from the Presbyterian Church of England.
On May 24, 1884, newly-installed facilities began operations, setting the first milestone for the printing business in Taiwan. Dr. Barclay named it “Treasure Hall”. Nowadays, Taiwanese Christians normally call it “Sin-Lau Bookstore” (New Mansion Bookstore).
On June 12, 1885, Dr. Barclay produced the first issue of Taiwan Church News and heralded the beginning of mass media inTaiwan. This newspaper is still published weekly to this day, having survived several turbulent periods over the past 100 years, and is still serving this beautiful island by promoting evangelical missions and social concern. As Taiwan Church Press is an affiliate ministry organization of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), news articles from Taiwan Church News also reflect and report many of the views and stands of the PCT.
MILESTONES
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1881 |
Presbyterian Church of England donates one printing machine to Tainan Mission Council. It becomes Taiwan’s first printing machine. |
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1884 |
Chu-Tin Tng (Treasure Hall) begins in the east wing of Tainan Theological College and Seminary. It later becomes Taiwan Church Press. |
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1885 |
Rev. Thomas Barclay officially founds Taiwan Church Press. Distribution of Hu Sian Kao Hoe Po, Taiwan’s first newspaper, follows shortly after. The newspaper is the predecessor of Taiwan Church News. |
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1937 |
As the Pacific War escalates, the Japanese government in Taiwan expels all missionaries from Taiwan and suspends Taiwan Church Press. |
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1945 |
Taiwan Church Press resumes operation and publication of its newspaper after Japan is defeated at the end of World War II. |
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1969 |
The Nationalist (KMT) government prohibits Taiwan Church News from publishing news using Romanized Taiwanese letters. |
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1977 |
Taiwan Church News 1329 Edition reports on the Declaration of Human Rights, a proclamation issued by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. The entire edition is seized by the KMT government. |
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1983 |
Taiwan Church Press moves to a new building on Youth Road. New departments such as Publishing Department and Bookstore are added. |
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1987 |
Taiwan Church News 1825 Edition reports on historical evidence related to February 28 Incident. The entire edition is confiscated by the KMT government. |
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1996 |
Publication of Keng Sim (Heart Farmer Weekly) evangelical brochure begins. The brochure’s weekly distribution is 120,000 copies. |
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1998 |
Publication of Reading the Bible with New Eyes devotional booklet begins. The devotional’s quarterly distribution is 45,000 copies. Taiwan Church News includes color pages to its layout. |
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2000 |
Taiwan Church Press’ office on Youth Road is renovated to make room for a wider range of mass media & communications ministries. |
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2006 |
Publication of Siong-im Chip begins. The magazine is a compilation of Taiwanese church songs and hymns. It is a free and quarterly publication with a distribution size of 10,000 copies. |
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Taiwan Church Press also begins to offer seminars on how to lead book studies in church small groups meetings. |
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2007 |
Taiwan Church Press begins to offer seminars on how to write personal testimonies and good essays. Seminars geared at training church administrators are offered as well. |
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Publication of Little Peter, a series of teaching guides for Vacation Bible School, begins. It is distributed to over 300 churches every season. |
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Taiwan Church News undergoes an major makeover and adopts a magazine style by covering one major theme per week in its supplemental pages. It also becomes a free subscription to encourage mass distribution and donations. Weekly distribution size increases to 16,000 copies. |
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2008 |
Taiwan Church Press renovates its office basement in Tainan City and adds “Christian Arts and Literature Center” to introduce Christian culture to Taiwanese society. Printing machines in the office’s basement are removed to make room for a gallery exhibiting Christian artists’ works and holding discussion forums. |
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2009 |
Taiwan Church News publishes its 3000th edition on August 30th. |
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