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History Of St.John's Church
Chronology of Vellore Fort and St. John's Church
216 Years of Christian Ministry in Vellore Fort
Chaplains of St. John's Church
Presbyters of St.John's church in the Church of South India
History Of St.John's Church :
     What began as a highly unconventional itinerant church with a mobile congregation of British soldiers of the East India Company and a few native Indians during the 1760's, grew in to a large congregation when Christianity started taking roots in the town of Vellore. Meeting in tents and houses first, the congregation later met in a School building which doubled as a school on weekdays and a church on Sundays.

     The first Chapel within the fort was built in 1792 by the then Resident officer of the East India Company in Vellore. In a few years this chapel fell into disrepair and there was no proper place of worship once again. Though the need for such a place was a long felt need, It was only during the 1840's that it became a pressing need.

     In 1841, when a new regiment of British Soldiers was shifted to Vellore, Rev. White Head who was in charge of the congregation made a strong representation to the Governor of Madras and obtained sanction for the erection of a new church building within the fort. Thus St. John's was designed and build by Major C.G. Octley, the then fort Adjutant at Vellore in the year 1846. it was reported in the Return of Churches to the Registrars office that the building cost Rs. 5589/-

     The church was built to seat 280 person with a nave 50 by 40 feet, a sanctuary 15 feet deep and 18 feet wide and two vestries each 10 feet by 8 feet. Broad steps led to the porch which was supported by four strong pillars. A year after the completion of the church a separate bell tower was constructed in the centre of the front wall of the compound.

     Primarily a garrison church till independence, St. John's was under the care of the Military Chaplain stationed at St. Thomas Mount, Madras. In the early days only evening services were held in the church.

     In the 1930's the congregation was almost entirely European with the Nathaniel family being one of the few Indian members.

     After independence, the ownership of the church was vested in the Indian church Trustees. The handover of the church to the Church of South India was effected by Dr. R.P. Nathaniel as Lay Trustee. There was a move to take over the church as a protected monument by the Archeological Survey of India and worship was suspended for a while, but largely due to the efforts of Dr. Nathaniel, the Church of South India continued to retain St. John's. In the early 1950's it is reported that St. John's Church had only 16 registered members. In course of time St. John's began to minister increasingly to the families and students of the Christian Medical College and the Staff and Students of the Nursing College and patients of the Hospital. As the only English Church in Vellore, it began to minister to the very large members of non-Tamil speaking people who came to Vellore, especially in connection with Christian Medical College and Hospital.

     In the year 1959, it was observed that the church was getting over crowded at the morning service at 7.30 am, so it was decided to have a second service at 9.30 am. This second service became popular with families with small children.

     Over the years additions and improvements were made to the church. A significant addition was the Parsonage and Parish Hall. Bishop David Chellappa laid the corner stone in April 1960. The project was completed and dedicated on August 15, 1961. This was achieved under the leadership of Dr. Jacob Chandy, convener, Building Committee.

     Though the church was renovated and rededicated in 1971, major repairs were required in 1987. It was noticed that the wooden beams supporting the roof were being eaten by termites and the roof was in imminent danger of collapsing From May 1987 the congregation began meeting for worship in a thatched shed put up at the back of the church, so that work on the roof could be undertaken. A concrete roof replaced the middle section with an unusual gap between the two levels in the slope, to provide for ventilation and light replaced the old roof. The removal of four of the eight pillars inside the church has made the church look spacious and airy. The total cost of the renovation was Rs. 4,25,000/- Mr. Paul Jepegnanam, engineer and Dr. P. Zachariah convener, Building committee were instrumental in achieving the completion of this project.

     For several years the Vellore congregation of the Mar Thoma Syrian church had been meeting in St. John's Church for their service of Holy Qurbana four times a year, In 1959 with the support of the Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the Bishop of the CSI, Madras, the Vellore congregation of the Mar Thoma Syrian church was united with St. John's Church. This continued for several years, Now the Mar Thoma Syrian Church has its own place of worship and a priest.

     The forms of the worship in St. John's now include free Church forms of Morning Worship, the liturgies of Holy Communion of the Church of South India and the Church of North India. In seeking to maintain unity in worship and life, and yet to minister to the great diversity in membership, St. John's Church has become an ecumenical experience and training centre for the Christians who come to Vellore from all parts of India and all over the world. In this unique parish, Christians from the Catholic tradition of the Church of England, the Orthodox tradition of the ancient Eastern Churches, the Protestant tradition of the most of major denominations, meet and are one at the altar of God as a sign and a promise of the world mission of the Church of "gathering into one the children of the God who are scattered abroad"

 
Chronology of Vellore Fort and St.John 's Church

1273 Traditional date for the completion of Vellore Fort and Temple.
1284 Traditional date for the begining of the rule of the Vijayanagar kings in
 " Raya - Vellore" with the rule of Venkatedeva Maharaya
1565 Battle of Talikota and break up of the Vijaynagar Empire.
1643 Beginning of Muslim rule in Vellore by Khan Khan under the Sultan of Bijapur.
1676 Capture of Vellore Fort by the Mahrattas under Trchoji Rao.
1707 Captare of Vellore Fort by Daud Khan for the Mughal Empire.
1740 Mahartta invasion of Carnatic under Raghoji Bhonsle.
1757 Mahartta seige of Vellore Fort under Raghoji Bhonsle.
1761 Occupation of Vellore Fort by Col. Calliaud in behalf of the Nawab of Arcot   Muhammad Ali, and the East India Company.
1766 First pastoral visit to Vellore Fort by the Chaplain of Fort St.George.
1767 Hyder Ali camped near Vellore and was defeated at Wandilwash.
1769 First of regular visits of S.P.C.K. missionaries to Vellore Fort.
1780 Beginning of seige of Vellore Fort by Hyder Ali.
1781 Unsuccessful assault of Hyder Ali on the Fort Hill (Sayer's Hill).
1791 Lord Cornwalllis asssembled an army at Vellore for campaign against Tippu Sultan in  Mysore.
1792 Errection of the Torriano Chapel.
1799 Fall of Seringapatam and death of Tippu Sultan, Tippu's family kept in custody in   Vellore Fort Mahala.
1806 Vellore Mutiny.
1835 Tamil Church built by S.P.C.K., used by English congregation.
1841 Lord Elphinstone selected site of St. John's Church after transfer of Regiment from   Arni to Vellore.
1846 Completion of St. John's Church building by Major C.G. Ottley.
1855 Tamil Church sold to Dr. Henry Martyn Scudder of the American Arcot Mission.
1947 Independence of India and inauguration of the Church of South India.
1960 Corner stone was laid for parish hall and parsonage.
1961 Dedication of parish hall and parsonage, built by Dr. Jacob Chandy.
1976 Formation of Vellore Diocese.
216 Years of Christian Ministry in Vellore Fort
Visiting Chaplains and Missionaries before 1846
1. The Rev. John Thomas (1766)
2. The Rev. C.W. Gericke (1769-1803)
3. The Rev. J.P. Fabricius (1772,1773)
4. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Bell D.D.. LL.D., (1788-1792)
5. The Rev. Dr. J.P. Rottler (1793)
6. The Rev. James Atwood )1799-1803)
7. The Rev. J.D. Jaenicke (1800)
8. The Rev. C.W. Paezold(1803-1817)
9. The Rev. L.P. Haubroe (1822)
10. The Rev. E.A.G. Falcke (1824)
11. The Rev. P. Wessing (1826-1832)
12. The Rev. S. Lewis (1833)
13. The Rev. P. Stewart (1834)
14. The Rev. William Tomes, B.A. (1835-1838)
15. The Rev. A. Fennell, B.A. (1839-1840)
16. The Rev. James Morant, M.A. (1841)
17. The Rev. A.J. Rogers (1842)
18. The Rev. Edward Whitehead (1843)
19. The Rev. J. Griffiths, M.A. (1844)
Chaplains of St. John's Church
20. The Rev. A.H. Alcock, B.A. (1845,1848)
21. The Rev. John Challice Street (1846)
22. The Rev. John Gorton, M.A. (1846-1847,1858)
23. The Rev. Mark Wilks William James, M.A. (1848-1852)
24. The Rev. Edward Kilvert, B.A. (1852-1854)
25. The Rev. William Nagle, M.A. (1854-1858)
26. The Rev. Thomas Arthur Cooper Pratt, M.A. (1859-1860)
27. The Rev. William Thomas Blenkinsop, B.A. (1860)
28. The Rev. John William Wynch, M,A. (1861)
29. The Rev. Dr. Johnstone Brydges Sayersm, LL.D. (1861-1863,1864-1872)
30. The Rev. Charles Dockley Gibson, M,A. (1863)
31. The Rev. Arthur Thomas Bartiett (1872)
32. The Rev. William Wesion Elwes, M.A. (1872)
33. The Rev. Edward Hislp DuBois (1873)
34. The Rev. John Bowden Trend, M.A. (1973-1877,1879)
35. The Rev. John Duncan Ostrehan, B.A. (1877-1878)
36. The Rev. David George Clarke, B.A (1878,1879)
37. The Rev. Richard Parry Burnett, M.A.(1880-1881)
38. The Rev. Alfred Henry Barrow, M.A. (1881)
39. The Rev. William Marshall Sargent Babingtsom, B.A. (1882-1885,1887)
40. The Rev. Alexander James Jones, A.K.C. (1885)
41. The Rev. Charles Philip Croker Nugent (1886)
42. The Rev. Edward Gibson (1886-1887, 1892-1893)
43. The Rev. Charles Henry Pelly, M.A. (1888)
44. The Rev. Arthur Acheson Williams, M.A. (1890-1894)
45. The Rev. H.B.Norman (1894)
46. The Rev. Arthur Ainsworth Sharp, M.A (1895)
47. The Rev. Daniel Wilson Kidd, B.A. (1896-1899)
48. The Rev. Walter Muspratt, M.A. (1900-1904, 1906-1908)
49. The Rev. Horace Ernest Motes Atkins, B.A. (1904)
50. The Rev. Charles Randolph Rintoul (1905)
51. The Rev. Charles Edward Sell, B.A.(1905,1926-1928)
52. The Rev. Samuel Octavius Piers, M.A. (1906)
53. The Rev. Ben Darcey Beeley (1908)
54. The Rev. Ettrick Havelock Creak, B.A. (1909)
55. The Rev. Henry Cecil Brough Sdtone, M.A. (1910-1912)
56. The Rev. Christopher Francis Breay, M.A.(1912-1916)
57. The Rev. Richard Marmaduke Langdale Smith, B.A. (1916,1933)
58. The Rev. Edmund Bull (1917-1918)
59. The Rev. Arthur Price (1918)
60. The Rev. Harry Clement Loasby, M.A. (1919)
61. The Rev. Rhys James, B.A. (1920,1922,1939)
62. The Rev. George Augustus Arthur Wright, M.A. (1921)
63. The Rev. Fdrancis Owen Proctor, M.A. (1923)
64. The Rev. Henry Hacking, M.A. (1923)
65. The Rev. Calude Emmanuel de-la-Bere. B.A. (1923)
66. The Rev. Henry Noel Bridge (1924-1925)
67. The Rev. Albert Charles Trench, M.C. (1929-1932)
68. The Rev. Alfred Theodore Coldman, B.D. (1934-1937)
69. The Rev. Thomas Victor Perry, B.A. (1928,1942)
70. The Rev. Francis Edward Weston Waite, A.K.C. (1938,1947)
71. The Rev. Ernest Henry Fry (1940)
72. The Rev. S.S Selvanayagam, B.A. (1941)
73. The Rev. George Albert Wilson, M.A. (1943)
74. The Rev. John Murdock Wallace, B.A. (1944-1946)
75. The Rev. John Gorton, M.A. (1947)
Presbyters of St. John's Church in the Church of South India
76. The Rev. I.M. Devanbu (1948)
77. The Rev. Ephraim David, (1949)
78. The Rev. S. Christadoss, B.A., B.T. (1950-1952)
79. The Rev. M.A. Rowlands, M.A., B.D. (1952)
80. The Rev. David Thirugananapragasam (1953)
81. The Rev. Dr. A.E. Inbanathan, M.A., B.D., Ph.D. (1953)
82. The Rev.. Dr. Blaise Levai, M.A., B.D., D.Ed. (1954-1955,1957-1958)
83. The Rev. Sundar Clarke, M.A., B.D. (1955-1958)
84. The Rev. Dr. Ernest P. Fritschi, M.B.B.S., Deacon (1958-1960)
85. The Rev. A. S. Chelliah(1959 - 1960)
86. The Rev. Dr. Eugene L. Ten Brink, M.Sc., B.D., Ph.D. (1958-1959, 1960-1964)
87. The Rev. Dr. Eugene P. Heideman. Ph.D(1964-1952)
88. The Rev. Peter Bishop, M.A., B.D. (1971)
89. The Rev. A. C. Oommen, B.Sc., B.D. (1971)
90. The Rev. K. I. Koshi, B.A., S.T.M. (1971-1974)
91. The Rev. Joseph Goodridge(1972-1974)
92. The Rev. Dr. Ernest Fritschi, M.B., D.Orth. FRCS.,(1974)
93. The Rev. Joseph J. Pratt M.A., (1974-1990)
94. The Rev. Fritschi (1990-1992)
95. The Rev. Immanuel Sundarajan (1992-1997)
96. The Rev. Fritschi (1997-1999)
97. The Rev. Jeevan Babu (1999-2000)
98. The Rev. Fritschi / Rev. Harris Suganatham (June 2000-Nov 2000)
99. The Rev. Rev. Wilfred Jayaraj (2000-2003)
100. The Rev. Rufus Jayakaran (Jan 2004-Dec 2004)
101. The Rev. Charles Irwin (July 2004 - )