In 1925, part of Lillegard's residence at Gaosuntang Residential District, was converted into a chapel named Holy Cross Church.[1] The church became one of the county's main venues for Protestant worship the next year, after its relocation to Banbian Street.[2] Lillegard served in the church until 1927, when the Wanhsien incident forced all Americans out of Sichuan and Hubei.[5] Kuang Uan-yi, a local missionary, had laboured for the congregation since then.[2]
The congregation had over 100 members by 1939, the number had decreased drastically after the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). By the time of the communists' takeover of Sichuan in late 1949, there were only a dozen or so Lutherans in the entire county.[6]
After the communist takeover of China in 1949, Christian Churches in China were forced to sever their ties with respective overseas Churches, which has thus led to the merging of Holy Cross Church into the communist-established Three-Self Patriotic Church.
^ abc"圣爱堂摄影团契第八期教堂专题摄影——万州区基督教圣十字堂" [Churches—Thematic Photography by Photography Fellowship of Agape Church at Chongqing: Holy Cross Church at Wanzhou District]. cqagape.com (in Simplified Chinese). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
^ abcdDai, Yuetan (28 September 2016). "重庆市万州区基督教圣十字堂的百年历史" [A Centenary History of the Holy Cross Church in Wanzhou District, Chongqing]. gospeltimes.cn (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
