ashokism...: January 2024

Jan 28, 2024

TELC Salvation Church, Madurai

The Salvation church / இரட்சணிய ஆலயம் at Madurai.

The Salvation Church at Ponnagaram, opposite to the Madura Coats campus, is the Church of my childhood. I was baptised here and attended services till I left for college. Around the same time, my parents too moved to another part of town in the late 90s and shifted to attending the All Saint's Church at kalavasal.

My paternal great grand father was a founding member of this Church and my paternal grandfather Mr.Babu Ramanujam served the Church as it's secretary for many years and was part of its growth till the mid 90s. I have many fond childhood memories of the Church and it's congregation.

In 1976 I was baptised by our pastor Rev. Jeyaseelan Jacob who then went on to become the Bishop of TELC. The next pastor the late Rev. Daniel Manoharan was someone I remember well. He used to visit my grandfather often and I also remember as a kid going to his parsonage along with my grandfather. While they discussed Church affairs, I used to play around the house and the gardens.

The church went into dereliction few years ago as the congregation dwindled and politics took over. Finally the church was closed down in the pretext of renovation. But nothing happened for last few years and it was sad to hear about the state of the church. But on my recent visit to Madurai, I was happy to hear that the church is getting renovated. Thanks to the efforts of the new pastor.

The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) was established in 1706 at Tranquebar ( Tharangambadi) by the protestant missionaries Rev.Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Rev. Henrich Plutchau. The salvation church at Madurai is one of TELC's earliest branches. I remember the church celebrating its centenary in the early 90s.