Bishop’s College Chapel Rededicated

On the 28th of April 2009, after six months of extensive repairs and renovation, the 109 year old St. Thomas’ chapel of Bishop’s College was rededicated by the Most Rev. Purely Lyngdoh, Moderator of the Church of North India. Present at the rededication service were several Bishops of the Church of North India, Presbyters and other old students of the college as well the Principal and members of the faculty of Bishop’s College and those representing the local churches in the diocese of Calcutta.

The rededication service was conducted in three parts. The first part was conducted outside the chapel with the doors of the chapel being ceremonially opened, the second part included the congregation being informed of the history of the chapel and the story of the work that had been done to renovate and restore it. And the third part included the ritual of the rededication of the chapel. The Moderator preached the sermon at the rededication ceremony and in his message he exhorted those who had gathered that the taking care of the property of the Church was an important part of ministry. However he also asserted that this is only one part of ministry and that it cannot occupy all that a minister does. Taking various roles in the service were also, Rt. Rev. P.P. Marandih, Deputy Moderator of the Church of North India, Rt. Rev. Ernest Talibuddin, former Bishop of North East India, Rt. Rev. Ashoke Biswas, Bishop of Calcutta, Rt. Rev. Collin C. Theodore, Bishop of Rajasthan, Rt. Rev. Anil R. Stephen, Bishop of Lucknow, Rt. Rev. P.K. Dutta, Bishop of Durgapur, Rt. Rev. P.C. Singh, Bishop of Jabalpur, Rt. Rev. Naresh S. Ambala, Bishop of Eastern Himalaya, Rt. Rev. Prakash D. Patole, Bishop of Bombay and Rev. Sunil Caleb, Principal of Bishop’s College

Though Bishop’s College was founded in 1820, and moved to its present campus in 1883, the St. Thomas’ chapel was completed only in 1900. The Chapel was planned as a small basilica similar to an ancient Roman hall with an apse and colonnades. The building of the chapel was overseen by the then Principal of the College, Dr. M. Whitehead, who later went on to become the Bishop of Madras. In fact the Chapel has a fine marble altar that was erected as a thank-offering for the work of Dr. Whitehead. The St. Thomas’ chapel was dedicated on the 19th of January 1900 by Metropolitan James Edward Cowell Welldon along with the other Bishops of the province. 

However in the passage of time the once beautiful chapel had fallen into disrepair and was in urgent need of repair and renovation. Particularly worrying was a large crack that had appeared on the arch over the altar. The repair and renovation work of the chapel has been on the agenda of the college for some years now and the college has conducted various fund raising drives to raise money towards this effort. Finally in November 2008 the work on the chapel began and six months later we have a newly restored and renovated chapel on our campus.

Many individuals, churches and institutions have contributed to the repair and the renovation of the chapel. We are grateful for the grant received from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Fund that was procured for us through the work of the General Secretary of the Church of North India, Rev. Dr. Enos Das Pradhan. We also received support from the Anglican Church in Canada and the Methodist Church in Great Britain. Several dioceses of the Church of North India also offered support and among these are the Diocese of North East India, Patna Diocese, Jabalpur Diocese Bombay Diocese and Durgapur Diocese. Support was also received from the Presbyterian Church in Mizoram as well as the Dornkal Diocese and the Krishna Godavari Diocese of the Church of South India. Apart from this the faculty and student of Bishop’s College organized a Christian Art and Music Festivals in 2005 and 2008 as well as a Fete in 2007 to raise funds for the chapel renovation. The college also received a lot of local support from Churches as well as individuals for the restoration of the Chapel that is also a heritage building in the city of Kolkata.

The Chapel plays an important role in the life of the college with prayers being held twice a day. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays morning chapel is held at 7:00 AM and it is attended by all college students and faculty. On Monday chapel is conducted at 9:50 to allow the office staff of the college to also attend. On Wednesdays the students conduct a full-fledged Eucharist service and are apprised of their performance later on that day. Intercessions are also conducted every afternoon in the chapel. The students and the faculty are encouraged to be creative and innovative in the conducting of worship in the chapel. Efforts are also made to indigenize and contextualize the worship service. 

It is hoped that the renovated and rededicated chapel will continue to be used for the glory of God and the service of God’s people for several generations to come.