SL Colombo asv2020-01 img31 StLuke Church

St Luke's Church is situated in the

Borella Borella is the largest suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 8. Demographic Borella is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. The major ethnic communities in Borella are Sinhalese people, Sinhalese and Tamils. There are a ...

district of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, the commercial capital of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. The church plays an important role within the history of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) on the island and is prominent within the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka.

Early history

The Venerable Lorenz Beven, Archdeacon of Colombo noted that 'The development of

Maradana Maradana is a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Maradana is the site of Maradana Railway Station, one of the primary railway hubs in the country, serving intercity rail and commuter rail. Maradana also has many railway yards and running sheds. A t ...

in consequence of the establishment of hospitals in that area created the necessity for a Church. The first steps were taken at a meeting held on 5 October 1875 when it was decided to appeal for subscriptions. A piece of land nearly two acres in extent was acquired, the price paid being £300 per acre. The foundation was laid by the Reverend J. Ireland Jones on 8 October 1881 who also took the service of dedication on 30 June 1881. The rapid growth of the work in this Parish called for the enlargement of the Church and in 1937 a building scheme was launched and completed in time for the extended church to be consecrated by Bishop Horsley in 1941, the Diamond Jubilee Year of the Church.'F. Lorenz Beven, "St Luke's Church Borella", ''A History of the Diocese of Colombo'', Colombo: Diocese of Colombo, 1946; p. 267

Sinhalese architecture

The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

is one of the finest examples of traditional Sinhalese

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. The church has very unusual architecture: the clergyman behind the new design was Reverend Canon

Ivan Corea Hector Vernon Ivan Seneviratne Corea (Sinhala language, Sinhala: හෙක්ටර් වර්නන් අයිවන් සෙනෙවිරත්න කොරයා) was a priest of the Church of Ceylon. Early life Ivan Corea was bor ...

who was Vicar of St Luke's Church, Borella, for 25 years (1929–1954). Canon Corea started a massive building programme in the 1930s. Bishop Horsley, who was Bishop of Colombo, consecrated the church on the day of its diamond jubilee on June 30, 1941. St Luke's Church was in the forefront of missionary activity including ministering to medical professionals in Colombo. A regular service was held at 5:30 am to cater to the needs of medical professionals before they went on duty in the local hospitals.

Later history

When

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', , ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis by the colonial Telegraph Departme ...

, the world's second oldest radio station, became a public corporation in January 1967 and changed its name to the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation, a service of thanksgiving was held at St Luke's Church, Borella. The service was attended by national and international broadcasters including the Director-General of CBC,

Neville Jayaweera Neville Jayaweera (23 October 1930 - 10 May 2020) was a member of the Ceylon Civil Service (1955-1972). He was handpicked by the Prime Minister of Ceylon, Dudley Senanayake, to be both Chairman and Director-General of the Ceylon Broadcasting Cor ...

. The choir of St Luke's Church has been featured on several Christmas and Easter radio programmes on Radio Ceylon and subsequently the

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) (, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', , ''Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam'') came into existence on 5 January 1967 when Radio Ceylon became a public corporation. Dudley Senanayak ...

. Notable Sri Lankan musicians have been members of the choir, including the big band musician Douglas Meerwald. Several Bishops of

of the Church of Ceylon have served as vicars or curates of St Luke's Church, among them Bishop Cyril Abeynaike, Bishop Swithin Fernando and Bishop

Kenneth Fernando Kenneth Michael James Fernando is a former Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

References

Publications

''One Hundred Years in Ceylon, or, The centenary volume of the Church Missionary Society in Ceylon, 1818-1918''
by John William Balding Madras: Printed at the Diocesan Press, 1922
''The Church of Ceylon: her faith and mission''
Colombo: Printed at the Daily News Press by Bernard de Silva for the Church of Ceylon, 1945
''The Church of Ceylon: a history, 1945-1995''
editor: Frederick Medis. Colombo: for the Diocese of Colombo, 1995 *''A History of the Diocese of Colombo: a centenary volume''; editor: Archdeacon F. Lorenz Beven. Colombo: for the Diocese of Colombo, 1941

External links