Hendala Baptist Church
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Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya
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 25 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.[1] 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.[2]
Foot prints Hendala Baptist Church
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.
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.
Present day Church
At present there are 140 members and approximately 100 worshipers are present on any Sunday for the worship. The Sunday school and Bible study are regular features on any Sunday.
Mission points
Hendala Baptist Church maintains two mission points at Kandana and Minuwangoda. Kandana mission point is believed to have commenced in 1863. At that time this mission point was known as Batagama and was pastored by Rev. Reagan.
Projects
- Jayasinghe Retirement Home
- Dev Asiri Sevana
Jayasinghe Retirement Home
To provide a home away from home for those who have no one to care and show love and affection and to those who need to live a quiet life in the evening of their life.
Dev Asiri Sevana
The lack of space to accommodate the various activities of the different auxiliaries of the Hendala Baptist Church namely the Sunday School, Youth Fellowship, Women’s League and Men’s Fellowship and other social activities spurned the hearts and minds of the members who went down on their knees and prayerfully set about drawing plans for a three storied building adjacent to the present church and taking away with it the small church which stood for almost 120 years. The dedicated effort of the Hendala Baptist Church saw fruit in July 2006. It was named “Dev Asiri Sevana” meaning “God's blessed shelter” to be used in various ways to bring glory to God. Dev Asiri Sevana is managed by a committee elected at the annual general meeting of the Hendala Baptist Church with incumbent pastor as its patron in accordance with the constitution approved by the Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya.
Leaders of the Auxiliaries
1. Sunday School : Superintendent
2. Youth Fellowship : President
3. Women’s Fellowship : President
4. Men’s Fellowship : President
