St Luke's Church, Abbottabad is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church dedicated to

Saint Luke Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

, now under the jurisdiction of the

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Diocese of the

Church of Pakistan The Church of Pakistan is a united Protestant church in Pakistan founded in 1970; it holds membership in the Anglican Communion, the World Communion of Reformed Churches,Database (9 February 2006)"Sialkot Diocese of the Church of Pakistan". R ...

. It was founded in the town of

Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, in what used to be part of Punjab, later the

North West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November 1901 from ...

in 1864.

History

The work on the construction of St Luke's commenced in 1854-55, with initial delays due to slow fund-raising and then a brief interruption due to the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, and it was completed and then consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1864. Its jurisdiction covered most of the Hazara region including Abbottabad itself, Haripur,

Mansehra Mansehra (Urdu, ) is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. By population, it is the List of largest cities in Pakistan, 71st largest city in the country and the List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, ...

and the

Galyat Galyat () region, or hill tract, (also written Galliat and Galiyat) is a narrow strip or area roughly – north-east of Islamabad, Pakistan, extending on both sides of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border, between Abbottabad and Murree. The word ...

hill tracts. The

Old Christian Cemetery, Abbottabad The Old Christian Cemetery, locally referred to as the ''Gora Qabristan'' (, ), is a cemetery located in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was established in 1853 during East India Company rule and stayed in regular use following the ...

, was also attached to it. Before the foundation of this church, the local

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

community did not have recourse to a regular

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, and these services were provided occasionally by chaplains attached to various military regiments in the cantonment or by officials deputed from time to time from Peshawar or

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. From late November 1864, however, the Revd P Kellner was regular Vicar and Chaplain, until April 1866. Thereafter, some other notable Vicars/Chaplains here included the Revd Henry Fisher Corbyn, the Revd James GS Syme and the Revd T Bomford.

After 1947

From June 1947 to April 1948, as a result of the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1947 disturbances, St Luke's was shut down. Regular services resumed only when the Revd Daniel Rashid, at Peshawar, was given additional visiting charge of Abbottabad and Hazara. He was later replaced by the Revd JH Hewitt in 1951 and then by a local

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

, ZK Daniels, who was raised to the Chaplaincy in 1965.Tarin, p.29 In 1970, the Church of Pakistan was established via a union of Anglicans, Scottish

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

(

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

), United Methodists and

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

and, thereafter, St Luke's was formally placed under its new Peshawar Diocese. Since then, full-time clerics have been appointed regularly to minister to the local congregation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Church, Abbottabad Church of Pakistan church buildings in Pakistan Buildings and structures in Abbottabad Churches completed in 1864 1864 establishments in British India Gothic Revival church buildings in Pakistan 19th-century Anglican church buildings in Pakistan

History

After 1947

See also

References