Hendala Baptist Church is an affiliated member of Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya.
The Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya is the union of Baptist churches of Sri Lanka known at times in other parts of the world as a convention.
As to date, there are 23 churches and eight mission points affiliated to the Baptist Sangamaya. The worship services are conducted in Sinhala, Tamil & English depending on the ethnic composition of the worshippers.
Baptist work in Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon began with the arrival of James Chater the first missionary of the Baptist Missionary Society on 16th April 1812 at the port of Colombo. During early days church planting & evangelism of Ceylonese was done by the missionaries of Baptist Missionary Society with its head quarters in Britain.
In 1887 Sri Lanka Baptist Mission was founded and worked along side of Baptist Missionary Society of Great Britain. In 1894 the Ceylon Baptist Union was formed and in 1944 the Lanka Baptist Mission and Ceylon Baptist Union were amalgamated to form the Ceylon Baptist Council.
In 1958 the Ceylon Baptist Council was renamed as "Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya", a literal translation of Ceylon Baptist Council in keeping with national trends in the country by an act of parliament.
Hendala is a semi urban area between the Colombo city and Colombo – Katunayake International Airport and is 12km from Colombo city & 23km from International Airport. Hendala Baptist church is situated at a turn from the main Colombo – Airport road and proceeding on Hendala road approximately 1km and turning off right at Kerawalapitiya junction and proceeding 200 meters to reach the church (See google map). The population in the area is cosmopolitan with Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and Burghers living harmoniously over the years. The residents are mainly Catholic dominated and other Buddhist, Hindus & Muslims. The Hendala Baptist Church has a long history with its roots going down to 1812 when missionaries first set foot here.
In the year 1817 missionaries James Chater along with Hendrick Siers preached the Gospel to inmates of Leprosy Hospital situated in Hendala, and soon the Good News spread to other parts of Hendala. A block of land was purchased and a small place of worship was built in 1857. However this was demolished in 1886 during the period of Rev. Henry de Silva and a small permanent church was built.
In 1934 with great effort of the church, the present premises where the manse and Jayasinghe retirement home stands today was purchased. It was in 1967 during the period of Rev. Dr. W. G. Wickramasinghe and Resta Wickramasinghe that the present manse was built. During these long years the total dedication of ministers and the commitment of the worshipers saw a significant growth in the membership and the number of worshippers. Rev. Dr. W. G. Wickramasinghe, then president of Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya was able to arrange the financing of the present church building with the aid of The World Council of Churches (During the pastorate of Rev. Arty de Silva). It stands tall today to glorify the lord his master whom he served on many occasions as the pastor of the Hendala Baptist Church along with Resta his beloved wife, who was a gracious lady, who won the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life and was a household name in and around the church and is remembered even today with much affection.
At present there are approximately 150 members and approximately 100 worshippers are present on any Sunday for the worship. The Sunday school and Bible study are regular features on any Sunday.
| 1. Sunday School | : Superintendent | |
| 2. Youth Fellowship | : President | |
| 3. Women’s Fellowship | : President | |
| 4. Men’s Fellowship | : President |