A thousand-odd churches with a Christian population of more than three lakh in the city have their roots in the advent of Anglican, Baptist and Catholic missionaries in early 1800 who established churches originally meant for British and Dutch Regiments who lived in the old town of Vizagapatam.
Two historical churches which the city can be proud of are the St. John’s Church designed and built by Sir Arthur Cotton and London Mission Memorial Society Church in the old town where the Baptist Missionary William Carey from England translated one of the gospels from English to Telugu language.
The two churches are more than 150 years old. Arthur Cotton worked alongside missionaries like Rev. Henry Fox of the Church Mission Society, Bowden of the Godavari Delta Mission, the Lutherans and Baptists. On Sundays the labour camps where Arthur Cotton supervised resounded with the singing of Christian hymns, songs in Telugu, Tamil and other languages and the tribal dialects. Major Cotton himself spoke in many such meetings. He and his staff worked in order to set a personal example of service and Christian living to the new converts. Therefore the spread of Christianity in the coastal Andhra area could be attributed to the efforts of Arthur Cotton.
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During the period when St. Paul's Church was being constructed by local residents, the General Officer Commanding was made aware of the origin and deteriorated condition of the old church building at Vizagapatam Fort area.
As per the Company's policy, it was obligatory for the Government to provide a church of suitable size for every military station. Therefore an appeal was made through the Military Board. A building designed to accommodate 250 persons was erected in 1844. It was designed by Major Arthur Cotton (father of the Godavari irrigation scheme).
The church was consecrated in 1844 by Bishop Spencer, and named in honour of St. John the Evangelist. The compound wall was built in 1875. Beginning the nineteenth century, missionaries from most major denominations started arriving in the Andhra region. Established in 1805, the London Missionary Society was the first Protestant mission in Andhra Pradesh which had its station at Visakhapatnam. George Crann and Augustus Des Granges were the first batch of missionaries that was sent out by the London Missionary Society to Andhra Pradesh in 1804.
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They arrived in Vizagapatam on July 18, 1805. They began their missionary work by learning the Telugu language. They mastered the local language in a short time and began translating parts of the New Testament.
In the next three years, the four Gospels were published. Their work was halted with the death of George Crann in 1809 followed by that of Des Granges in 1810.
A new batch of missionaries, Rev. Lee, Gordon and Pritchett took over the work done by their predecessors. The first complete New Testament in Telugu was printed in Madras. A plaque reflecting on the Christ’s passion at the LMM Church installed by the missionaries says “Loving He loved me, dying He saved me and buried He carried my sins far away, Rising He justified freely forever. One day, He’s coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day”. The Christian community in the city who are celebrating the first coming of Jesus Christ is looking forward to his second coming which the Holy Scriptures predict will occur even before the end of the world.