The Anglican Church in Sri Lanka has many beautiful churches in every province. I have previously written about St. James’ Church, Nallur.
On a recent visit to Jaffna, I was able to meet the Archdeacon of the North, Rev. Samuel Ponniah. He is affectionately known as Father Sam by the Anglican community. With his permission, I was able to visit a historic church one evening. Christ Church, Jaffna reflects a beauty that is so distinct and raw in a certain sense. Let us trace the journey of the pioneer Anglican Missionaries who worked in this province almost 200 years ago.
Arrival of pioneer missionaries
During that colonial era, many clergymen came to our exotic island. Ceylon was made a Crown Colony in 1802. Church records indicate the pioneer missionary who came and worked in Jaffna was Rev. Christian David (Church of England). He was born in August 1771 in Tranquebar. He studied at a seminary and later came to Ceylon. He ministered in many parishes and 47 schools were placed under his pastoral jurisdiction. St. John’s Church at that time was being used by the Commandant and Collector of Jaffna, Lieutenant Colonel B.G. Barbut, to keep his cattle and horses. Rev. Christian David pleaded with him to release the church. This was done and the church was restored and duly became a house of prayer. Rev. David died in April 1852 at 81 years of age, having served the Jaffna people with great Christian zeal.
The first colonial chaplain was the Anglican Rev. James Cordiner followed by Rev. Twisleton, Rev. George Bisset, Rev. J.M.S. Glennie and Rev. Benjamin Bailey. After the British established their power in Ceylon, the Dutch churches were neglected. Initially, the British East India Company did not entertain Christian missionaries in Ceylon. It was in 1813 that the charter of the company changed and the first missionaries from the Church Missionary Society (CMS) set sail to Ceylon. They left England in December 1817 onboard the ship Vittori and reached Colombo in June 1818. The 31-year-old Rev. Joseph Knight was accompanied by Rev. Samuel Lambrick, Rev. Robert Major and Rev. Benjamin Ward.
On reaching Colombo, the four clergymen went in four directions and Rev. Knight went to Jaffna. It took Rev. Joseph Knight two years to master the Tamil language, which he learnt from a local pundit. In1822, the Jaffna area was afflicted by a severe outbreak of cholera, which posed a great challenge to the young missionary priest. Hundreds of locals died in the epidemic. During this time, Rev. Knight visited the local families asking them to come to church. It is said that some printing equipment brought by an American was used in the vestry of this church to print evangelistic tracts. In 1841, the first newspaper in the Northern Province, the Morning Star, was printed using this machine. The newspaper had four pages – two in English and two in Tamil.
I was surprised to see the old church still standing strong. Christ Church is situated on Second Cross Street at the Main Street corner in Jaffna. Historical records indicate the church had been consecrated in 1872 under the Anglican Church of Ceylon. It had faithfully served the Burgher community who had once resided at Chinnakadai (Small Bazaar). According to oral tradition, it is said an Anglican service had been held regularly in the Portuguese language until 1925. By 1960, most of the Burgher families had left Jaffna and only one lady stayed behind - the organist named Ms. Silva. It is said the remaining members of this parish were Tamil-speaking Anglicans. The Portuguese-Burgher history of the church gave it a cosmopolitan character. Worship services were in English whilst all the other parishes in Jaffna used the Tamil language. Those visitors from Colombo and other major towns were also pastored at this church.
This Church was consecrated on June 26, 1872, having been opened for worship on November 3, 1871. It was built with the help and initiative of Sir William Twynam who was for several decades the Government Agent of this province, and John Toussaint, merchant and landed proprietor. He gave the site on which the church stands and laboured with his own hands with the workmen when the building was in the course of erection. His sons, Samuel Fredrick Toussaint and Wallace Toussaint, seem to have taken a considerable share in the project; as far as is known, the latter gave the present altar, choir stalls and processional cross.
The congregation of this church had existed as far as available register records indicate, some 30 years before the present building was put up, and worshipped in the Dutch Presbyterian church within the Jaffna Fort, being ministered by the colonial chaplains, the first apparently of whom was the Rev. J.C. Arndt whose tenure of office extended to 20 years (1843–1963). In a similar capacity, the following also served: the Rev. E. Labrooy, Reginald Yates, Charles Koch and G.H. Gomes. In 1893, the “Colonial Chaplaincy” was abolished. After this, the Headmasters of St. John’s College, Chundikuli in the persons of Rev. C.C. Handy and Rev. Jacob Thompson, up to 1911, were in charge of this parish. Subsequently, other priests who served were Rev. N.G. Nathaniel, Charles Vandenberg and D.G. Gunasekera. One of Bishop Carpenter -Garnier’s last acts before he left Ceylon was to dedicate in 1938, the Lady Chapel in the Church where the Blessed Sacrament is now tabernacle.
By the 1980s, the area was unfortunately caught up in fighting and shelling. The building was damaged and the parish ceased to function. The remaining Tamil parishioners also moved out of this area. During one stage, this ancient church was used as a centre for peace and reconciliation. The beautiful church was restored partly under the previous Archdeacon of Jaffna, Ven. Phillip Nesakumar working with the then Colombo Bishop Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera.
In January 2017, the Anglican Church appointed its new Archdeacon Rev. Sam Ponniah. The new Archdeacon took great effort to recommence worship services at this church, which had endured the victories and vicissitudes of life. Christ Church Jaffna received its first Episcopal visitation in 2017 when Colombo Bishop Rt. Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey duly consecrated the Altar Table, and later on, in February 2018, the then Bishop held a Service of Confirmation for 21 persons. Christ Church is one of few places in Jaffna where Tamils and Sinhalese can worship together, united by the English language.
Fr. Sam pointed out the historic areas within the church including the original key of the main door, are antique. The stained glass window behind the main altar was once damaged and a new window was kindly donated by George Cooke from Colombo. The following Sunday, I was invited to the evening service. The eventide worship, using century-old hymnbooks was a beautiful experience to me. As the Northern sun receded to her rest, I made my way from this sanctum of solace. Christ Church, Jaffna stands as a sentinel of the Anglican Church of Sri Lanka in the North. She is a magnificent reminder of rising from the ashes, with divine hope and a resilient faith in Almighty God.
Bishop Emeritus Rt. Rev. D. Canagasabey at the Confirmation Service
Add new comment