Church of the Holy Spirit, Vavuniya
Church of the Holy Spirit, Vavuniya
Date of Dedication
1901 - Pentecost Day
Archdeaconry
Jaffna Archdeaconry
Vicar
Revd. P Thayalan 
History

The mission was started in July 1872 when Mr. Arulpragasam was sent as a teacher and Catechist to Vavuniya. He got a piece of jungle land from the Government and put up a shed for his residence and a shed for a small school. In the same year he returned to Jaffna and preached in a number of mission Churches appealing to Christians to come over to Vavuniya and pioneer with him. As a result, a few families from the Mission Churches in Jaffna came to Vavuniya and settled down. The school building was the Church from 1872-1901.

Missionary work in Vavuniya was begun and continued by the local Christians of Jaffna and not Europeans. The CMS encouraged the Jaffna Missionary Association to carry on with the work. The early missionaries in the Vanni were the first and only pioneers in education when this area was a jungle infested with Malaria. Schools were established by them in Vavuniya town, in Nellukulam, Ranenthiyankulam, Ottuchuddan, Nedunkerni, Puttukudiyirruppu, Tanniyoothu, Kululamunai, Kokkuthuduwai. After Rev. Arulpragasam Matthias, who pioneered here for 32 years, The Rev. S.S. Somasunderam did great service for the Church and education in the area. He bought 30 acres of paddy land and cultivated it in order to pay the salaries of teachers. He started Agricultural Cooperative credit societies in Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala villages in order to help farmers.

In the late 1970’s many hill country people settled in the area and became cultivators. The Church helped them a great deal in their progress and development. In 1987, the Nellukulam Chapel was opened to serve the villages of Nellukulam, Ganeshapuram, Rasenthirakulam and Komankulam. When the war broke out in June 1990, the Nellukulam Chapel was badly damaged.

Stone laying ceremony- 1895

Dedication-1901

 
Name From To Remarks
       
Rev. Arutpirakasam Mathias 1872 1918 Church was consecrated
Rev. S. S. Somasundaram 1918 1930  
Rev. S. C. Daniel 1930 1942  
Rev. W. P. Thomas 1930 1942  
Rev. S. M. J. Jebamani 1930 1942  
Rev. A. Benjamin Kanagaratnam 1942 1947  
Rev. A. Luwis 1947 1949  
Rev. S. V. Thevadas 1949 1960  
Rev. C. C. B. Arutpirakasam 1960 1967  
Rev. J. L. D. Silva 1967 1970  
Rev. A. Sinnaiyah 1970 1974  
Rev. A. Koilpillai 1974 1981  
Rev. J. Isaiah 1981 1982  
Rev. Dr. D. J. Kanagaratnam 1982 1995  
Rev. S. I. Balakumar 1995 2000  
Rev. S. D. P. Selvan 2001 2004  
Rev. S. K. Daniel 2005 2006  
Rev. Charles David 2007 2007  
Rev. N. J. Gnanakaryniyan 2007 2009 Militory war ended
Rev. S. S. Jebachelvan 2010 todate  

Contact Details

Postal Address
Church of the Holy Spirit, Vavuniya
Telephone
0242 222 456

bishop of colombo rt revd dushantha rodrigo

 

Daily Bible Verses

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