EARLY DAYS OF ST. ANDREWS : ITS WORKING (Prefatory Note of History Book.)

In December 1912 when Mr. H. J. Stanley had recently arrived in Hubli as Deputy Loco Superintendent and the Rev. W. F. M. Hammerton had been appointed chaplain of Dharwar, it was found that no church committee had been appointed for several years and that the Minute Book of the committee and the church record book had been lost. Inquiries made of former church trustees and search in various places failed to produce the missing book.

Before Mr. Stanley could consent to become the Lay Trustee and Treasurer, he wished to be assured that the appointment was made in the proper manner and to also know what the duties and responsibilities were. Before a new committee could be formed it was necessary to discover what the procedure had been in the past, and of how many members the committee consisted.

It was discovered through verbal inquiries of old members of the congregation and through correspondence with previous chaplains that it had been the custom that:

1. The Senior Railway Officer (Dy. Loco Superintendent) should, if a member of the Church of England, be Lay Trustee and Treasurer and senior member of the church committee, and that his acceptance of this post was purely voluntary. It appeared that the Lay Trustee was not appointed by the MSM Railway Company, or by the government, or by the Lord Bishop, but that it lay with the church committee and chaplain.

2. That former committees had consisted of five members, the Chaplain being one, the Lay Trustee another, one other officer of the Railway Company appointed by the Lay Trustee and Chaplain together and the remaining two from among the subordinate railway staff being members of the congregation, by election by the male adult members of the congregation.

3. That committees held office for a period of twelve months; that outgoing members were eligible for re-election and that the annual meeting for appointment of a new committee should be held after Easter each year. Up to 1924 the churches of Dharwar and Hubli were served by government Chaplains.
An extract from the History Book on this subject states: 1924 July 26th. The Lord Bishop visited Hubli. A tea and reception was held in the Institute for Dr. and Mrs. Palmer. After tea the Bishop explained the reason for the withdrawal of a government Chaplain and his hopes for filling the vacancy in November with a Diocesan Chaplain. He stated that the amount required to make up the government grant of 550/- P.M. for 7 years from 1st April 1924 to the required amount of 550/- for an unmarried man and 750/- for a married man with passages and 8 months furlough was 210/- P.M. for an unmarried man, over 410/- for a married man. He left it to the station to see what they could raise. “On Feb 10th 1925 the Lord Bishop appointed the Rev. T.R.H. Elliott (Diocesan Chaplain) to the chaplaincy. By common consent the chaplain is to live at Hubli and not at Dharwar as (1) The community is large and (2) being mostly railway employees, the community is permanent i.e., does not go on tour as do the government officials of Dharwar. The congregation at Dharwar has promised to raise Rs. 110/- p.m. towards the chaplain’s stipend, and that at Hubli Rs. 125/-. The congregation at Castlerock, Marmagoa and Bijapur are being asked to raise Rs. 30/- plus expenses per visit of the chaplain.” From 1925 onwards the Diocesan Chaplains continued to serve the Churches of Hubli and Dharwar and records of their arrivals and departure continued to be meticulously jotted down for posteriority. The visits of the Bishops of Bombay to the Diocese for whatever purpose were also meticulously recorded and an extract from the record made in 1930 reads thus. 1930, the Rt. Rev., the Lord Bishop of Bombay visited Hubli September 27-29 for the purpose of ordaining to the priesthood the Indian Deacon Rev. Samuel Mara.” Rev. S. A. Mara carried on in the ministry and later became Archdeacon of Belgaum and served in St. Andrews Church from 1956 to 1965. Isolated extracts from the History Book are continued here which ought to be of interest to every member of St. Andrews. 1931 the church was plastered and oil painted. The wooden batons from the windows were removed and frosted glass panes were put in their place. A new carpet was bought along with five petromax lights. A set of altar frontals and vestments for the different seasons were made. The altar was changed from a Roman type to an old English type.

1937 : A complete renovation of the church was completed by November (which includes installation of electrical lights, floodlight and pulpit light).

1938 : Funds were raised ti install two fans. They were in use on Palm Sunday.

1939 : A work order on the Railway Workshop was obtained to procure a new set of gates to replace the old wooden ones. Cost to be Rs. 95/8/-. To meet this there was Rs. 55/8/-from the October sale to work, donations of Rs. 22/- per chaplain and the balance Rs. 18/- to be paid through the chaplaincy fund.

Same year : The YWCA sale of work and Dances with subscription and proceeds of the sale of the piano made possible the purchase of an organ which was used for the first time at the midnight Eucharist on Christmas Day.

A Parish paper was introduced in October.

The organ was played for the first time on Christmas Day in 1939 in St.Andrews, still plays and will continue to play as melodiously as ever when the grand old lady, the church, closes 100 years in the 5th June 1997.

In 1947 St. Andrews celebrated her golden jubilee, Rev. F. D. Halliwell was the chaplain at that time, and a simple service was conducted to mark that auspicious day. A brief account of the Golden Jubilee is already on record elsewhere in this magazine. The Rev. F. D. Halliwell served as chaplain of St.Andrews till 1947. He was the one who built the Parish Hall.

After Rev. F. D. Halliwell, the Rev. J. Andress, an SPG Missionary served as chaplain from 1947 to 1056. He was the last of the foreign missionaries and chaplains to serve St.Andrews.

In 1963 the congregation was transferred from the Bombay Diocese to Mysore. The Bishop then was the Rt. Rev. N.C. Sargeant.

A change of Diocese did not necessarily mean a change in the attitude or doctrines of the church. The church of England had earlier undergone changes in nomenclature from Church of England (COE) to Church of India, Pakistan, Burmah, and Ceylon (CI PBC) to CNI and CSI – Church of South India, to which we now belong.

Under the banner of CSI, St. Andrews has since been served by several dedicated pastors from the Diocese. One among them who springs to the mind immediately, and who served St. Andrews the longest was Rev. Samuel Israel Sadamal.

Born on 24-10-1932, at Motebennur in a humble family, he had his secular education at Dharwad and theological education at the Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore. He was ordained in 1965 at Bangalore and subsequently appointed to the St.Andrews Church in August 1968.

During his tenure as Pastor of St.Andrews, the Church thrived, the garden blossomed and bloomed with a variety of colour. A bore well was sunk to facilitate watering of the garden. The present marble flooring and rewiring of the church are all indicative of his dynamic zest to improve the church and part of his many achievements.

Just as a pastor of old is remembered as the one who built the Parish Hall, Rev. Sadamal will be remembered as the one who founded St.Andrews School.

Rev. Sadamal was forced to retire in 1992 due till health, and passed away on the 20th of July 1996. His body was brought to St.Andrews, the church he loved and served as faithfully, and a moving funeral service was held. There was not a dry eye in the congregation.

When Sir Winston Churchill died years ago, his funeral service was broadcast over BBC and the Minister giving the eulogy quoted a line from the ever familiar and favourite hymn O God our help in ages past. Referring to Sir Winston’s passing he said, time like an ever rolling stream, b ears all its sons away. And so in the passing of rev. S.I. Sadamal; time, that ever rolling stream, has borne one more of its sons away.

After his early retirement, St.Andrews was for short spells by other able and dedicated pastors. Rev. J. M. Jogula and Rev. S.D. Bangalore, and is now being served by Rev. Immanuel Y. Adina.

Rev. Immanuel Y. Adina took over from Rev. J.M. Jogula on 06-05-94, dedicated to his work and the church, he now holds the congregation together. There is hardly a Sunday when the church is not full. It is not a rare thing to hear folding chairs being opened and placed in the portico of the church to accommodate the overflow of the congregation on ordinary Sundays, let alone special occasions. His sermons, his eloquence, intonation and modulation of voice makes for pin drop silence in the church and arrests the complete attention of the congregation

With such spiritual enthusiasm in the church today, one can be sure that St.Andrews Church will go from strength to strength as it has over the past hundred years, weathering all storms through all the changing scenes of life, its members marching ever onward with the cross of Jesus going on before.