1898 AD
The st. Andrew’s- church was built for the british official’s mostly officers. It has been an english church from its establishment but after the initative of the church members, the hindi service also started during the tenure of rev. Gabriel daud which started from the 23rd of sep (1990)
English and hindi services are both conducted in the church. At present we have one hindi service and one english service every alternate sundays, where the first three sundays are celebrated with holy communion and the last sunday is matins.
The st. Andrew’s church is under the church of north india, c.n.i lucknow diocese.
The church was consecrated on the 11th of september 1898 by rt. Revd. Clifford the then bishop.
The oldest and the first pastor as per record which is available from 1950, was rev. Thomas underwood; from the year september 1950 to june 1958.
The company which built the church was the t.e. thompson and company based in calcutta, everest house Pt. Jawahar lal nehru road, Chowringhee, Calcutta
The centenary of the church was celebrated on 11th september 1998. Every year on the 11th of september, we celebrate the anniversary with a church service followed by cutting of the anniversary cake and then a contributory dinner in the evening.
At present there are 138 communicant members in the church. The sunday school classes are run regularly by the lady member of the congregation. The wfcs and the youth fellowship are also functioning smoothly. A youth retreat was also organized by our youth president and it was a full day affair where more than 25 churches took part with about 150 participants. They were also served with lunch and snacks/tea.
Diocese of Lucknow , C.N.I.
“The Church in the Wilderness”
The seed of St. John’s Church, Basharatpur was sown by Rev. Michael Wilkinson in 1823-24.
The founder of the mission, Mr. Roberts Merttins Bird was a Civil Servant in the Bengal Presidency. He, in 1821, made an offer to the Church Missionary Society (CMS) to send a missionary to look after the mission. Hence, Rev. Michael Wilkinson was send to Gorakhpur who diligently started to work.
Rev. Michael Wilkinson laid the foundation of a native Church in 1823-24 by admitting 30 native Christians, members of the Romish Church at Bettiah. Miss Bird, who was the sister of Mr. Bird, was peculiarly useful in this mission.
In 183, Governor-General Lord William Bentinck encouraged the mission and granted 1500 acres of land, where the foundation of the Church was laid. Simultaneously a range of neat cottages arose and the name of Basharatpur, “The Town of Joy,” was given to the place.
By the Grace of Almighty God, the white gothic design Church building was completed in 183, and was called “The Church in the Wilderness”. After Rev Michael Wilkinson, in 1844, the mission work was handled by Rev. Frederick Wybrow and Rev. J. P. Wenge and other Priests.
In 1853, the Rev. Henry Stern was appointed as a Missionary In-charge. He witnessed the pain of the ‘sepoy’ mutiny of 1857 and on 19th August there was an attack on the Church and the Christians the Church bell and the pulpit was destroyed by the mutineers. After enduring persecution for 2 months, the Christians left Basharatpur on the 20th of October, 1857.
Rev. Henry Stern too braved the onslaught of the mutiny. Rising out of the ashes, Basharatpur was resettled in 1859. The Church was repaired and the worship started. In 1878 the Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta. It was named after ST. John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus Christ.
Around 197, the tiles roof was removed and replaced by a tin roof. In 2000, the Church was expanded and renovated to meet the need of the growing congregation.
Today the St. John’s Church stands to the glory of Lord Jesus Christ.
History evidence compiled by:
Rev. Roshan Lal
Presbyter In-charge
St. Martin church is in the diocese of lucknow, c.n.i.
It was established in the year 1937.
It is situated in kharaiya pokhara, basharatpur in the city of gorakhpur, uttar pradesh.
(A CONGREGATION OF ST. JOHN’S CHURCH BASHARATPUR,GORAKHPUR)
DIOCESE OF LUCKNOW, C.N.I PRAYAGRAJ, UTTAR PRADESH
सेंट थॉमस चर्च, धर्मपुर, गोरखपुर की स्थापना रेव्ह जे.एस. वालिस के द्वारा 1995 में कि गई। चर्च की स्थापना का मुख्य विषय यह था कि धर्मपुर के वे सदस्या जो सेंट जॉन्स चर्च जाने में असमर्थ थे, उन्हें पास में चर्च भवन उपलब्ध कराया जाए जिससे वे नियमित रूप से आराधना कर सके |
रेव्ह जे.एस. वालिस ने इस चर्च में 1995 से 2001 तक अपनी सेवाएं दी | 2001 से 2002 तक रेव्ह ग्रैबरियल दाऊद ने इस चर्च में सेवाएं दी | 2002 से 2008 तक रेव्ह संजय विंसेंट प्रेसिपिटरी इंचार्ज रहे | 2008 से 2010 तक रेव्ह रोशन लाल इस चर्च के प्रेसिपिटरी इंचार्ज रहे | 2010 से 2018 तक रेव्ह डेविड एंड्रियास प्रेसिपिटरी इंचार्ज रहे | 1 वर्ष 2018 से रेव्ह ईश्वर दयाल को प्रेसिपिटरी इंचार्ज बनाया गया| 2019 से पुणे रोशन लाल प्रेसिपिटरी इंचार्ज रहे | सितंबर 2019 से वर्तमान समय तक रेव्ह संजय विंगस्टन इस चर्च के प्रेसिपिटरी इंचार्ज के रूप में कार्य कर रहे हैं|
इस चर्च में प्रभु भोज को छोड़ शेष संस्कार सेंट जॉन चर्च में कराया जाता है माह में दो बार प्रभु भोज की आराधना होती है | संडे स्कूल, यूथ फैलोशिप एवं महिला सभा सुचारु रूप से अपना कार्य अपने संविधान के अनुसार करते हैं | वर्ष में एक बार वार्षिक आत्मिक सभा का आयोजन होता है | चर्च के सदस्य एवं पास्ट्रेट कमेटी के सदस्य निरंतर डायोसिस की सहायता करते हैं | चर्च का असेसमेंट हर माह 1 तारीख को डायोसिस में भेजा जाता है | चर्च में लगभग 200 कम्युनिकान्त सदस्य हैं | C.N.I के संविधान के अनुसार हर वर्ष 31 मार्च से पहले पास्ट्रेट कमेटी का चुनाव कराया जाता है | पूरी कलीसिया प्रभु यीशु मसीह की सेवा में सक्रिय रहती है| चर्च का वार्षिक असेसमेंट 1,80,000 (एक लाख अस्सी हज़ार रूपया) है डायोसिस का कोई बकाया चर्च पर नहीं है |
शुभकामनाओं के साथ संक्षिप्त इतिहास प्रेषित है |
CHRIST CHURCH (HISTORY & STRUCTURE)
Christ Church is the First Church of Gorakhpur Commissionery. The
Foundation was done by R. M. Bird, CS, the first appointed Commissioner in
1820.
The bright white building of more than 200 year old Christ church, close to
the busy collectorate, in the heart of Gorakhpur city, is a masterpiece of
British Architecture. Due to its strong construction, it has rarely seen
renovations since its inception in 1820 by then commissioner R. M. Bird.
While the hall with a seating capacity of 200 people with thick, 22 feet
high pillars standing on each side (Total no of Pillars inside are 20) 15
feet high wooden doors on each side, the pews and pictures of Jesus Christ
including a rare Belgium made glass painting showing Christ carrying
children in his arms, adds to the beauty of the church. The central
cylindrical shaped dome with a large cross a top it and a portico attracts
visitors. Also there used to be a big British-era mechanical clock fitted
on the front on the dome, which later become dysfunctional and was later
replaced with a portrait of Jesus Christ. The large campus with greenery
all around and flowering plants makes the church campus vibrant. The marble
plaque inside the church has an illustration of R. M. Bird who established
it in 1820 and Mast. Rev. Daniel Wilson of Calcutta, the first metropolitan
of India, who consecrated it on March 1st, 1841. The plaque
describe the theme of the church as:-
“THE RICH AND POOR TOGETHER, THE LORD IS THE MAKER OF THEM ALL”.
The British built this church for their military officers and after
independence it was opened to common people.
Amar Joy Singh
Secretary
Revd. D. R. Lal
(Presbyter In-charge)
Christ Church, Gorakhpur
As per information collected, In the year 1915 Mr.Farrier established St. John’s Church of Basharatpur on the ground given (owned) by him. In this series of worship uttar tola was given a place for Sunday school and to teach children about prayers and worship. children and elders were called and collected from their houses to come to prayer hall; uttar tola in this sequence.
Later Sunday worship was started and many pastors came for the service on Sunday. Pastor Andreyae (saviour). Was appointed with Layman Pastor Clien for regular service. Following this schedule church service was started on regular basis and collection was send to
St. John‘s church Basharatpur. church was cleared up and maintained by local uttar tola residing Christian people.
In the year 2012 Pastorate came the election was declared and later on this basis pastorate committee was confirmed in which Late Mr. Vinod kumar John was appointed as first secretary of Rapti Nagar prayer hall Gorakhpur.
Mr. Samson peter as treasurer later in this series WFCS and Sunday school was also setup on regular mode. Late Mrs. A. V. John was elected as president of WFCS and Mrs. Julia Dixon was given in-charge -ship of Sunday school.
In the year 2021 Rev. Sanjay Vincent was been presbyter-in-charge of Rapti Nagar prayer hall. As the congregation increased and more and more people came to prayer hall regular church service was done and holy communion service too was maintained from starting to present time onwards its been followed by and now here we are witnessing GOD’s will as St. Lukes church, Rapti Nagar Gorakhpur under guidance of our Rev. Roshan Lal.