Annanagar Methodist Church

ANNANAGAR METHODIST CHURCH

 The journey from house church to the independent pastorate

Time when the Kilpauk Cemetery was pretty much the Western boundary for the city of Chennai, which was Madras. It was the India International Trade Fair of 1968 that changed the landscape beyond and birthed the bustling urban conglomerate called Anna Nagar.

Anna Tower, a notable structure that came up for the Trade Fair.

The first landmark to emerge in this new neighbourhood was Chintamani with its Aavin shop boasting of one of the few softy ice-cream vending machines in the city. Beyond Chintamani was Kandasamy Naidu College at Round Tana. It may be hard to see, but there is a connection between this college and our church. More on that, later.

And beyond the Round Tana was the Annanagar Tower Park. Past this point there was not much to see other than dry, barren land. Even in the mid 1970s, Annanagar remained a thinly populated residential area. Standing at the 12th Main Road bus stop, it was possible to call out to residents living on 16th Main Road!

Among the new residents gradually populating the place were several Christians belonging to various denominations, many relocating from traditional Christian localities like Vepery and Purasawalkam. And they began worshiping locally. One such group belonging predominantly to the Emmanuel Methodist Church (EMC) was encouraged by its pastor to plant a church in the area. We are talking about the very beginnings of Annanagar Methodist Church which formed in the vision of Pastor. Stanley E. Downes (later Bishop) long before it came to be on 12th Main.

Thus it was that a new fellowship started meeting in the home of the Appadurais. Rev Martin Alphonse and Rev Robin Paul from EMC led the services and Bible studies for this home group. Among the early attendees were:

Mrs & Mr Appadurai and family
(Late) Dr Lamech and (Late) Mrs Rose Lamech
(Late) Dr Michael John and Mrs Bessie John
Mrs & Mr Charles Krishna and family
Mrs & Mr Manohar Michael and family
Mrs & Dr Philip Anbarasan and family
Mr Ian Nicholas
Mrs & Mr. Peter Naidu
Mrs. & Mr. Satyarthi Sahu
Mr. George Gough & Mr. Philip Gough
Mrs & Mr. R.K. Mukherjee

When the group grew in numbers to about 30 or so, it moved to Annanagar Bain’s School (now known as Jessie Moses School). This was in 1981 and Rev. Peter Francis was appointed as the evangelist to lead the fellowship. And in 1984, as God continued to bless this fledgling church, the fellowship moved to a new meeting place – the ground floor of the Lamech’s residence where regular Sunday services took place – both in the morning and evening – along with other related church activities like the Sunday School.

By 1986, there were over 50 people actively involved in this fellowship. The same year, Bishop Elia Peter declared the fellowship an independent pastorate with Rev. Niranjan Noronha as the pastor and the church was named Annanagar Methodist Church (AMC).
As the congregation grew, so did the Sunday School, with Miss Malathi Williams supervising the Christian nurture of the young ones.

And when Rev. K.Vasudeven took over as the pastor in 1988, he found that there was an urgent need for AMC to acquire a place of its own as the congregation kept growing in number. The church had not until then seriously considered having a sanctuary of its own. The membership was largely middle class; though their funds were low – just Rs. 70,000/- thank God, their faith was strong. And so the AMC Pastorate Committee took the decision to buy a suitable property. There was one condition though. The seller had to agree to register the full sale value. Or as is known in common parlance, the buying and selling was to be all in “white money”. As subsequent events revealed, God honoured AMC’s decision.God’s blessings have been upon His people and there is many a story of members prospering along with the church.

After much effort and prayer, the core group of Rev. K. Vasudevan, Mrs Rose Lamech and Mr Manohar Michael were led to what we might call an almost readymade church. It was a building which had been functioning as a video recording studio and constructed on a 1½ ground plot on 12th Main Road. The structure consisted of a large hall on the ground floor. This was to become the main sanctuary. The only modification made was to raise the floor at the north end of the hall and place wooden alter rails around this raised portion to create an altar area. The mezzanine for the hall had a viewing balcony with railings all around. The first floor had a small room and an open terrace which was covered with asbestos sheets so the Sunday School could be held there. The trees in the compound gave it a garden atmosphere and provided room for extra seating when the church was full.

The price for this property was Rs. 900,000. The congregation quickly raised Rs. 200,000. The PC team approached members and friends who pledged a month’s salary or even more. The balance was made up with loans from Baldwin Boys and Girls Schools in Bangalore, and the Methodist Church of India in Bombay. To pay back these loans, the congregation raised funds through carnivals and food fiestas held at Emmanuel Methodist Church and Jessie Moses School, a musical concert presented by the Bangalore Musical Association at Museum Theatre, a play (Waiting for Godot) presented by The Curtain Club, harvest festival sales, breakfast sales, etc. It was marvellous to see the people of the church come together to help pay off the debt. One of the major contributors was Mr. Charles Krishna who generously sent money from Saudi Arabia.

The dedication service in the new premises took place on December 20, 1988. By now AMC had over 100 members. Rev. S. C. Paul Raj who was a lecturer at the Hindustan Bible Institute helped with the evangelistic outreach work of the chuch. The AMC outreach team would visit residents living in the slum near Thirumangalam and Naduvangarai village located at the southern end of 12th Main Road. As a result of this outreach work and the half night prayer, a Tamil congregation was formed which later became a pastorate and is now know as St. Peter’s Tamil Methodist Church. The team also distributed tracts at the beach and railway stations.

In the meanwhile, the city was further expanding and people began moving to Mogappair,an evening extension service was started there at the home of Mr T D Srinivas in 1992 and it later moved to the Spartan school. Rev. Sam Sudalaiyandi was for some time an evangelist there. Today, this extension is an independent pastorate – the Beracah Methodist Church.

In 1994, Rev. Peter Francis returned to AMC as the pastor. He was assisted by Rev. Suresh Victor. By this time, the burgeoning congregation could no longer be accommodated in the converted studio and the need was felt acutely for more space, especially with the Sunday School also growing. This led to a decision to pull down the existing structure and build a more commodious building. The work commenced under the stewardship of Rev. Peter Francis. Mr. Alex George, an architect, designed the new structure, while the construction work was undertaken by Brilliant Engineers. The Property Committee, chaired by Mr. Prabhakar Durai, the Fund Raising Committe, chaired by Mr. Raymond Thomas and the Finance Committee, chaired by Mr. J.M. Abel worked tirelessly to see this project through.

A special mention must also be made about the significant role played by Dr Jacob Navaneethan during those days. While the new facility was being built, the congregation met at Grace Matriculation School, located across the road. Some church programmes like the harvest festival are still held at the school, since the present church complex does not have much outdoor space.

On December 3, 1998, Bishop S R Thomas dedicated the new church building. It has a main hall and a mezzanine floor with a total capacity to seat 450 people. The church office is located in the basement. On the first floor are the parsonage and a mini hall. At the terrace level is the sexton’s quarters; Sunday School classes are held in the mini hall and basement.

In 2000, Rev. J.S. Santharaj took over as the pastor; he was assisted by Rev Jebaraj Martyn a retired pastor. Under Rev. Santharaj’s leadership, AMC undertook a new venture. The church successfully bid for a plot in Avadi, which the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) had designated for a church. The land measuring 5 grounds was again bought in faith.

As a newly developing city extension, church growth in AMC has mainly been through people transferring from other churches. However, the hard work of our pastors deserves mention. They make sure they visit members’ homes and minister to individuals in times of difficulty. This caring attitude of our pastors over the years has drawn many people to our church. Another notable factor is the Sunday School. Under the guidance of the late Mr. J.M. Abel, the Sunday School was nurtured and built. His dedication to ministering to children with the support of committed teachers led to children bringing their friends to Sunday School.

A few silent servants of God are (Late) Mr. Stanley Gnanam, who served in the AMC Church Office for a few years. Mrs. Narlene Wilson and Sexton Mr. Jayaraj (now retired) who were very hard workers at AMC for over ten years,

There are around 40 families that are non members but attend services regularly at AMC, and the current membership is in excess of 450. Nearly 150 children attend the Sunday School. Some of the members who have gone into full time ministry are Mr Remo Paul, Mr. Danny, Mr Pradip Daniel, Mr Allen Goodwin, Mr Uday Balasundaram and Mrs Sujatha Balasundaram.

The AMC had the Pastoral leadership of Rev. Dr. S. C. Paulraj from 2011 to 2015. During that time the Avadi Church was built and dedicated. Rev. E. C. Gnanasekhar served the Church as Senior Pastor from 2015 to 2018. He was instrumental to adopt two outreaches at  at Vaitheeswaran Koil and Chidambaram. By his motivation the AMC bought a land  and built a church at Vaitheeswaran Koil.

Rev. Andrew B Natarajan took over the Church as Senior Pastor in May 2018. Rev. R.J. Christopher joined as Associate Pastor

Yes, AMC’s journey from a humble house church to a significant and sizable body of believers is truly remarkable.