Centenary Baptist Church, Clock Tower, Secunderabad

The STBC-Centenary Baptist Church is a Baptist Church in the city of Secunderabad, India which was established in 1875 by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABM) and was later led by the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches (STBC) through the Deccan Association.

STBC-Centenary Baptist Church
CBC
సెంటెనరి బాప్టిస్ట్ చర్చి
Centenary Baptist Church, Secunderabad
Location	Clock Tower, Secunderabad
Country	India
Denomination	Protestant (Baptist)
Tradition	Christian tradition of the church
Religious institute	Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches
Churchmanship	Evangelical
History
Former name(s)	Baptist Church, Secunderabad
Status	Church
Founded	14 November 1875
Founder(s)	American Baptist Foreign Mission Society
Dedication	Saint John the Baptist
Events	14 November 1975 (foundation stone laid for new edifice); 17 February 1991 (new edifice inaugurated)
Associated people	Louis F. Knoll, Ph. D. (Berkeley), Tracy G. Gipson, M. Th. (Yale)
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Chapel
Style	Postmodernism
Specifications
Capacity	2000
Administration
Episcopal area	Hyderabad and Secunderabad
Diocese	Deccan Association
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)	The Rev. M. Purushotham, B.D. (Serampore),[1] The Rev. B. Charles Theodore,[1] The Rev. Y. John Sarath Babu[1] The Rev. Peter Paul Shetty,[1] Pastor N. Paul Karunakar,[1] B.D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore)
Laity
Director of music	Mr. G. A. Vidyasagar[2]
Lay member(s) of chapter	Mr. K. Israel President, Mr. S. Ranjeet Kishore, Secretary, Mr. R. V. Jaya Kumar, Treasurer

The STBC-Centenary Baptist Church has a current membership of more than 3000. The original older structure and a new centenary structure built in 1991 exist side by side in the same premises. Worship services are only held in the new sanctuary. The church offers services in Telugu, English, Hindi and Manipuri.[3]

The Senior Pastor, The Rev. T. Ephraim, STBC, met with an accident, was hospitalized and died on 30 January 2018. His funeral mass was held on 31 January 2018 at the church and thereafter a burial mass was held at the Baptist Cemetery at Bhoiguda, Secunderabad.[4] Pastor Ephraim shepherded the congregation for more than 25 years since 1993. In his death, the faithful in the congregation gathered in thousands at the Baptist Cemetery in Bhoiguda. Other pastors in the country, including Rev. Fr. George Soares-Prabhu (1929-1995) and Rev. Fr. D. S. Amalorpavadass (1932-1990), also died in similar accidents.[5]

History

The church was established on 14 November 1875 by American Baptist Foreign Mission Society led by The Rev. W. W. Campbell, ABM, a Baptist missionary. The first member of the congregation was Richard B. Clayburn, who was baptized on 5 December 1875. The first native Pastor Bezwada Paul, STBC was appointed in 1895. The foundation stone for the existing new church structure was laid by The Rev. Louis F. Knoll, ABM on 14 November 1975 during the ministry of The Rev. K. Devadanam, STBC, exactly 100 years after the first structure was built. The church was appropriately named STBC-Centenary Baptist Church. The groundbreaking however took place five years later, in 1980. The new sanctuary was completed and consecrated by the Old Testament scholar The Rev. G. Solomon, STBC on 17 February 1991. It took more than ten years to build the existing structure.[6]

The church now operates 35 branch churches and 15 gospel centers in around the cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad.[3]

Architecture

Historical events at the church

The renovation plaque inaugurated by G. Solomon on 17 February 1991

The old church is a simple Gothic structure whereas the new church is a modern structure incorporating several elements of traditional church architecture such as Gothic styled windows. A two storied bell tower forms the facade of the church.

Programmes

The Church has been witness to many programmes, some of them which etched in the History of Christianity in India.

1978: Visit of evangelist Billy Graham

In 1978,[7] during the tenure of The Rev. G. Solomon, STBC, the global evangelist Billy Graham visited Secunderabad and the STBC-Centenary Baptist Church hosted many of the programmes forming many committees and volunteers, including The Rev. J. Chiranjeevi of the Seva Bharat. Among the ecclesiastical personalities who took part in the one-day crusade in Secunderabad included Archbishop, S. Arulappa, RCM[8] and the Old Testament Scholar Victor Premasagar, CSI, then Principal of the near-ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological College.

1999: Lambadi version of the Scriptures

On 25 October 1999[9] during the tenure of The Rev. N. Thomas, STBC, the Lambadi version of the New Testament was released here by the Bible Society of India in the presence of The Rev. G. Babu Rao,[9] CBCNC, then Auxiliary Secretary of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary, The Rev. G. D. V. Prasad, CSI, then Translations Director of the Bible Society of India and Mr. Bidyut Kumar Pramanik,[9] the General Secretary of the Bible Society of India. The speakers lauded the efforts of the original translator, The Rev. B. E. Devaraj, CSI succeeded by The Rev. Lal Singh Lazarus, CSI.[9]

Succession of pastors

The first pastor of the Church was The Rev. B. Paul in 1895.[10] There have been pastors with scholarly aptitudes, The Rev. K. Wilson and The Rev. G. Solomon, both of whom were involved in ministerial formation of aspirants hailing from the Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Wesleyan, and other small and indigenous church societies at the near-ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological College.[11]

CBC earlier President, D. Robert Surya Prakash, a banker by profession and Treasurer of the Telangana State Council of Churches (affiliated to the National Council of Churches in India)

Period	Succession of pastors	Academic credentials
1895-1897	The Rev. B. Paul, STBC
1897-1900	The Rev. W. B. Boggs, ABM	D.D.[12]
1900-1901	The Rev. W. E. Hopkins, ABM
1901-1907	The Rev. Frank H. Levering, ABM	B.Sc., LL.B.[13]
1907-1909	Pastor M. Annafi Rao, STBC
1909-1913	Pastor A. M. Boggs, ABM
1913-1938	The Rev. Frank H. Levering, ABM	B.Sc., LL.B.[13]
1938-1946	The Rev. G. C. Jacob, STBC
1946-1952	Pastor D. R. Samuel, STBC
1952-1956	The Rev. F. P. Manley, ABM
1956-1957	Francis Peter, laity
1957-1963	The Rev. Ch. Prakasham, STBC
1963-1966	The Rev. K. Wilson, STBC[14]	B.D. (Serampore),[15] M.A., (Osmania),[15] Th.M. (Duke),[15] Ph.D. (Syracuse)[16]
1966-1977	The Rev. K. Devadanam, STBC	M.A, B.D
1977-1988	The Rev. G. Solomon, STBC	B.A. Mathematics (Andhra), B.D. (Serampore), Th.M. (Eastern),[17]
1988-1991	The Rev. P. Jyothi Solomon, STBC
1991-	The Rev. N. Thomas, STBC	B.D. (Serampore)
1993-2018	The Rev. T. Ephraim, STBC	B.D. (Serampore)

See also

• List of churches in Secunderabad and Hyderabad
• Secunderabad Clock Tower

References

1. The Church Times, September 2019.
2. CBC Choir, Secunderabad.
3. http://www.fouroaksbaptistchurch.org.uk/Feb_08.PDF%5B%5D
4. Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, 31.1.2018. Archived 31 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine
5. See inline articles on George Soares-Prabhu and D. S. Amalorpavadass.
6. See dates on inauguration in pictures.
7. Roger E. Hedlund, World Christianity: South Asia, Missions Advanced Research and Communication Center, Madras, 1980, p.60.
8. S. Arulappa,Love and Serve, Archdiocese of Hyderabad, Secunderabad.
9. Sowing Circle, A Bulletin of the Bible Society of India, Volume 15, Number 1, January–April 2000 (For Private Circulation), Bengaluru. pp.24-25.
10. Pastors who served the STBC-Centenary Baptist Church in Souvenir of the 125th Anniversary of the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches-Centenary Baptist Church, Secunderabad, 2000.
11. See inline article on G. Solomon
12. Baptist Missionary Magazine, Volume 83, 1903, p.563.
13. Materials of Religious Education, Volume 4, Religious Education Association, 1907, p.374.
14. K. Wilson, Culture and Conversion: An Analytical Study of the Interaction between Western Theology and Eastern Culture through the Christian Missions in the Indian Sub-Continent, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 1972.
15. Bulletin of Duke University, The Divinity School, 1969, Candidates for the Th.M. Degree, Durham, 1969, p.80.
16. Wilson later taught at the near-ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological College at its erstwhile campus in Rajahmundry in 1967 when the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches joined the College Society. In 1972, when the college moved from Rajahmundry to Secunderabad, Wilson joined the state-run Osmania University and began to teach philosophy. Indian Journal of Philosophic Studies, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1974, p. 53.
17. G. Solomon, The concept of Suffering in the Bible and in Hinduism, Eastern University, King of Prussia, 1957.