St. Luke's Church, Abbottabad
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St Luke's Church, Abbottabad is an Anglican church dedicated to St. Luke, now under the jurisdiction of the Peshawar Diocese of the Church of Pakistan. It was originally founded in the town of Abbottabad, British India,[1] in 1864.[2]
History
The work on the construction of St Luke's commenced in 1854-55, with initial delays due to slow fund-raising and then a brief interruption due to the Indian War of Independence (or Indian Mutiny) and it was completed and then consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta[3] in 1864.[4] Its jurisdiction covered most of the Hazara region including Abbottabad itself, Haripur,[5] Mansehra and the Galyat hill tracts.[6] The Old Christian Cemetery, Abbottabad, was also attached to it.
Before the foundation of this church, the local Christian community did not have recourse to a regular vicar or chaplain and these services were provided occasionally by chaplains attached to various military regiments in the cantonment[7] or by officials deputed from time to time from Peshawar or Rawalpindi. From late November 1864, however, the Rev. P.Kellner was regular Vicar and Chaplain, until April 1866.[8] Thereafter, some other notable Vicars/Chaplains here included the Rev. Henry Fisher Corbyn,[9] the Rev. James G.S. Syme[10] and the Rev.T.Bomford.[11]
After 1947
From June 1947 to April 1948, as a result of the independence of Pakistan disturbances, St Luke's was shut down. Regular services only resumed when the Rev. Daniel Rashid, at Peshawar, was given additional visiting charge of Abbottabad and Hazara.[12] He was later replaced by the Rev. JH Hewitt in 1951[13] and then by a local curate, ZK Daniels, who was raised to the Chaplaincy in 1965.[14]
In 1970, the Church of Pakistan was established via a union of Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians (Church of Scotland), United Methodists and Lutherans and, thereafter, St Luke's was formally placed under its new Peshawar Diocese. Since then, full-time clerics have been appointed here regularly to minister to the local congregation.
See also
- James Abbott (Indian Army officer)
- Herbert Benjamin Edwardes
- 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles
- Christianity in India
- Christianity in Pakistan
References
- ↑ In what used to be part of the Punjab, later the North West Frontier Province from 1901. See Hazara Gazetteer 1907, the Introductory, p.vii
- ↑ JH Pratt, Archdeacon of Rawalpindi, Entry for 25 November 1864, Old Historical Records Register Vol I, 1863-1912, St Luke's, Abbottabad
- ↑ At that time, George Cotton
- ↑ Pratt, 1864
- ↑ Which is now a sub-parish with the St John's Church, Haripur
- ↑ Including the small seasonal St Matthew's Church, Nathia Gali, St John's Church, Dunga Gali and St Xavier in the Wilderness, Thandiani. See Tarin, O. 'The Chaplains of St Luke's, Abbottabad', in The FIBIS Journal, No 27, Spring 2012, pp.23-29
- ↑ In particular by the chaplains of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles who had a long association with St Luke's
- ↑ For a full list of Chaplains at St Luke's Abbottabad, until 1947, see the 'Ecclesiastical Records' at the FIBIS Database http://new.fibis.org/frontis/bin/index.php Retrieved 17 April 2012
- ↑ G.Weber, Pioneer Biographies of the British Period, to 1947, Appendix A
- ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directories via http://www.ancestry.com
- ↑ See The Bomfords of Ireland and Allied Families , 2005, via http://www.bomford.net
- ↑ Tarin, p.27
- ↑ Tarin, p.28
- ↑ Tarin, p.29