Union Church, is an interdenominational church, located on Old Uddpussalawa Road in
Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...
.
The church was founded Rev. Arthur Stephen Paynter in 1906 and was the first church in Nuwara Eliya that was open to all races.
Paynter, was born 8 July 1862 in
Bicester
Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, England, where his father was a church warden.
In 1881 he joined the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
and traveled to India as a missionary.
[ He traveled throughout ]India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, becoming a Colonel and was in-charge of the Salvation Army in Ceylon.[ In 1893 Paynter married Anagi (Agnes) Louisa Weerasooriyaa (1863-1962), the daughter of David Weerasooriyaa, from ]Dodanduwa
Dodanduwa is a small coastal town situated in Galle District, Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
The town is located approximately north of Galle and south of Colombo.
Prior to the Second World War, Dodanduwa was known as the commercial centre f ...
.Almora District
Almora is a District (India), district in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand state, India. The headquarters is at Almora. It is 1,638 meters above sea level. The neighbouring regions are Pithoragarh district to the east, Chamoli district to the w ...
of then Uttar Pradesh State.[ They moved to Ceylon in 1904, and decided to start a mission in Nuwara Eliya. They had four children, Evangeline, Arnold (b. 1897), Ava Averil and ]David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(b.1900).[ Arnold continued his father's missionary work and in 1924 established the Nuwara Eliya Children's Home (later renamed "The Paynter Home"), for orphaned children,][ and David was an internationally renowned painter, who received an ]OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
.[ The Paynters constructed the church as a place of worship for Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, members of the Dutch Reformed Church, Scots Kirk, Church of South India and the Salvation Army. Paynter died on 27 July 1933.][
The church continues to function as an interdenominational church, with ministers supplied by the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka.
On 17 May 2013 the building was formally recognised by the Government as an Archaeological Protected Monument.]
References
Further reading
*
External links
India Christian Mission Church
1906 establishments in Ceylon
Archaeological protected monuments in Nuwara Eliya District
Churches completed in 1906
Churches in Nuwara Eliya
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