C.S.I.St Luke's Church,Gorimedu,Pondicherry,South India[Church Of South India,Diocese of Madras].
MANY YEARS HAVE PASSED BY. ST LUKE'S IS GOING STRONG.
MAY IT FLOURISH MORE.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 TO ALL OF YOU!
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
That they all may be one is also the motto of the Church of South India .
CSI ST LUKE'S CHURCH is a very important land mark at the gateway to Pondicherry.It belongs to the Church of South India denomination which is the largest protestant denomination in the world,unique in more ways than one {The CSI introduced woman into the Pastoral Ministry much earlier than most of the Traditional mainline churches-Rev Jaquiline Jothi,an ordained Woman Pastor served as the Presbyter of St luke's a few years back } and is considered to be second only to the Roman Catholic Church taken in an ecumenical context.
Many christian believers have been associated with this church over the many years of its existence.Originally built as a small chapel to cater to the English Service needs of multilinguistic needs of the new settlers in Pondicherry,it was upgraded to the status of a church with services being conducted both in English and in Tamil.The Friday Evening Service in Tamil was added to meet the spiritual needs of the believers.The church is kept open for the the public to have moments of silence,prayer,and contemplation [and counselling care,on request] on other days from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm.It has been observed that people of various denominations,sects and faiths do indeed visit the church for comfort and solace.The Church is open to ideas on socially useful interaction with the general community.Church music is an important part of the worship experience at St Luke's.
The church structure still needs to be completed ,though a dedication service was conducted with the blessings of the Bishop ,during the tenure of Rev Jaquiline Jothi as the Presbyter on 27 th May 2006.Much water has fowed under the bridge since then and the 'Church Building News ' page on this web site carries all the details of the work done on the church structure after the dedication. What has been achieved so far in terms of the construction costs is remarkable cosidering the fact that the congregation is a small one comparatively.The church structure is so impressive that it can accomodate large instruments such as the Grand Piano or the Pipe Organ or large console Electronic/Digital /Reed organs.The church has abundance of talent for music and singing but is constrained by the other needs of the church ministry including the building needs.This church works in perfect conformity to the law of the land rendering unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's and God what is God's as preached and practised by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Presbyter :Rev .Y.Sebastian{wef 1.6.08}
The Pastorate Committee:
Secretary:Mr. R.Peter Sugumar(Elected)
Treasurer:Mr.D.Rajadurai(Elected)
and a small team of members in which the Presbyter is one member.
This Presbyter is undisputed spiritual authority of the church while the Pastorate Committe helps him to arrive at administrative decisions by concensus.
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PASTORATE COMMITTEE:
1.MR ISAIAH KINGSLIN(Elected)
2.MR NEIL(Elected)
3.MRS SELVARANI(elected pastorate committee's nominee)
4.MR SEBASTIAN(PRESBYTER)
5.MRS EBEN PREMA(elected)
6.MRS RAJINI STELLA RANI(Elected)
7.MR JAIKUMAR(Elected)
8,MR RAJA(Elected)
9.MR UNNIKRISHNAN(Pastor's nominee)
*The Church records its gratitude to the Convenor of the Building Committee,Mr Thangaraj,during whose tenure,much of the pending work was completed.
*The April of the year 2007 was special time was St Luke's was declared a pastorate and the Diocese acceeded to the long pending demand of the St Luke's congregation for democratic elections to the position of office bearers in the Pastorate Committee
*The Elected Pastorate Committee has successfully completed its tenure in the administration of the St Luke's Church.There was a genuine debate on all issues and dissent was taken in the positive spirit as a reflection of a feedback.The church building work ,church roof repair work,the altar work,the altar railing work,granite flooring work,the audio and accoustics work,conduct of outdoor gospel meetings,the VBS rejuvenation work,sunday school strengthening work and the youth initiative work were some of the significant achievements of the first elected pastorate committtee of St Luke's.The Monthly statement of accounts was made very transparent and printed copies of statement of accounts were issued to all the members of the church and announceents on accounts were made in the church during the services.The members of the faithful salute the church martyres who have sacrificed their everything for the sake of the church.
MR DAYAGAGARAN ,THE CHURCH'S SEXTON HAS RENDERED ADMIRABLE SERVICES OVER THE YEARS.
CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA [ DIOCESE OF MADRAS ]
226,CATHEDRAL ROAD,CHENNAI-600086.
THE RT REV.DR.V.DEVASAHAYAM
BISHOP IN MADRAS
REV.T.SAMPATH BAGAVAN DOSS,SECRETARY,MDC.
By the everlasting grace of God,St Luke's was declared a full fledged pastorate by the Diocese of Madras.Following this,the first ever democratically elected pastorate committee was constituted for the administration of St Luke's church,Gorimedu ,Pondicherry.The newly constituted committee contributes its best to the overall improvement of the church in all its spheres.The impressive results were the visible proof of the work done by the pastorate committee.
To enthuse the small number of the faithful,we worked out an Order of Service that would largely mirror the regular order of Service in a compact form as the Regular Evening Order of Service was not generally followed due to the small number of people present in the church:
ST LUKE’S CHURCH
PONDY
VESPER
DATE:
1. Music and Song:Pamalai No:258-esuve` ummai thianithal{ 1st Stanza}
/_____________________________________ [Invocation/Processional]
* Pastoral Prayer
2. Music and Song:Pamalai/Keethanai No:___________{Opening}
* Order of Worship
* Bible Reading : ________________________
*Psalm: 95 / 100 / 150-Singing {Chant}/Alternative Reading
*Gloria Patri: {Chant/Reading}
3. Music and Song [for sermon]: Aavi Yanavare`{Contemporary Gospel Song}
/ Jeevanulla Devane` Aaviye Varum /(etc) ___________________________
*SERMON-Rev Presbyter/Pastor/Layman Preacher
* Nicene’s Creed
4. Music and Song: Pamalai/Keethanai No:___________{Offertory}
* Order of Worship
*Pastoral Blessing: May the grace ……………………..
5. Music and Song: AMEN, AMEN, AMEN {three fold}
6. Music and Song: Pamalai{Main/Mu K/Ma K}/Keethanai No:______
[Closing/Recessional]