On February 23, the curtains will go down on the bicentenary celebration of St Matthias Church in Vepery. The clergy, the pastorate committee and the parishioners have come together to give a fitting finale to the celebrations.
“We are planning to build an old age home and church,” says Rev. T Devaputhiran, pastor of the church. There is also a proposal to renovate the old cemetery. The “English Church”, as many would love to call it, is wearing a new look by way of improvement exercise.
“We are also trying to see if we can trace the roots of some of our old parishioners. Many members, who were once attached to the church, have migrated to countries like Canada and Australia and we want them to get in touch with us,” says Devaputhiran.
The church has been maintaining Baptism records of its parishioners since 1826. Today, the church has 400 subscribing members with an active pastorate committee and the office bearers are led by the chairman and presbyter appointed by the Diocese of Madras.
Started as an outreach initiative, St Matthias Anglos Indian Higher Secondary School (attached to the church) is now a full-fledged higher education institution with about 500 students. For details of the events on February 23, contact the parish office at 7338879289.
The diversity continues
St Matthias Church in Vepery changed hands many a time — from the care of the Portuguese, to the French, and then to the English. It is now in the hands of the Church of South India.
The diverse influences it has had over its existence seems to be mirrored by the composition of its congregation. As T Devaputhiran, the pastor of the Church, puts it: “Our congregation is multi-denominational and the structure of the church is multi-cultural.”
As per the history of the church gathered from books and souvenirs released during festivals over the decades, the church was first built in the Indo-Saracenic architecture. It was bought by an Armenian merchant — Coja Petrus Uscan — who built a Roman Catholic church in this space between 1730 and 1740. He named it the ‘Chapel of Our Lady of Miracles’. It served as a private chapel for the French capuchin settlers.
After Uscan’s death, the church was taken over by the British who reportedly used it as a place for storing arms and ammunition. Later, the British handed it over to the Lutherans who are part of the Protestant landscape.
The Anglican Diocese was formed in India in 1813, and it came forward to build a church in this space on the condition that Anglican worship would be followed.
“We are among the very few CSI churches that follow the High Anglican traditions such as using incense and elaborate robes during service,” says Devaputhiran.
The church is marked by an ornamental Gothic style, and the sanctuary is present in the East. The stained glass at the sanctuary is marked by three divisions: On the left, St. Matthias; in the centre, the Ascension of Christ; on the right St. Peter and St. Thomas. The present bell was installed in 1939.
