wfn.org | TCN: Tainan churches and officials celebrate 6th anniversary of park renamed after missionary

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>2989 Edition

>June 8~14, 2009

Tainan churches and officials celebrate 6th anniversary of park  renamed after missionary

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

“Happy birthday Barclay Memorial Park!” chanted hundreds  of adults and children

as they gathered on a bridge in the park. The crowd included  public officials, church

pastors, parents with their children, and other guests who had  come to celebrate the

sixth anniversary of the park on June 5th. From the bridge, they  scattered tickseed

seeds – symbolizing life and growth – and supported  continuing preservation of the

>park’s ecosystem.

Barclay Memorial Park, formerly known as Park No.18, was formally  renamed and

reopened on June 5th 2003. The park is a successful example of  partnership

between churches, organizations, and city government in support of  the

environment. Besides honoring Barclay’s legacy in Taiwan, the  park also helped

>preserve a unique ecosystem.

A two-day concert was organized to celebrate the park’s  anniversary, featuring

bands and dance groups from Tainan Holiness Church and other  environmental

organizations. Tainan Holiness Church’s program included  tambourine dance, erhu

fiddle solo, quartet performance, ensemble music, and contemporary  dance.

“The focus of this celebration is the park’s  anniversary,” said the emcee from

Tainan Enterprise Culture and Arts Foundation during the concert,  “that is why we

did not set up a stage here. Instead, we want to perform standing  on the soil to offer

>our sincere blessings.”

Guided tours and family activities were organized after the  concert to help people

get acquainted with the park’s ecosystem and many people also  took part in

planting six hundred small plants and trees in some of the  park’s barren areas to

>attract butterflies.

Besides the concert, a prayer service was scheduled the following  day. Choirs from

Tainan Barclay Memorial Church and Chang Jung Senior High School  performed

during the service to bless the park and honor Barclay’s  legacy.

Park No.18 was built in 1993, but problems with the land forced  city officials to

close the park. Since no one looked after the park after it was  closed, many

architectural companies began dumping construction waste there. In  2001, a

borough leader began rebuilding the park. With help and funding  from Tainan

Enterprise Culture and Arts Foundation and local Presbyterian  churches, the park

was renamed “Barclay Memorial Park” and reopened in  2003. It now stands in

memory of missionary Thomas Barclay’s contributions to  Taiwan.

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