Agripada church to celebrate 100 years of being dedicated to God

This Christmas parishioners of St Andrew's Marathi Church in Agripada will not only celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but also the 100 years of their church.

The church celebrated the foundation stone laying ceremony last year and on November 30, 2016 the church will complete its 100 years. Now, as part of their year-long celebration, the small parish of linguist Christians in the area will also celebrate the church being dedicated to the God.

"Now, we have decided to start the year-long celebration. We already had a small mass and gathering," said Reveren Shekhar Jadhav, one of the priests at the church. The church will now see three day celebration on December 26, 27 and 28 — including masses and lectures.

Formed for Gujarati and Marathi congregations that had moved to the area over 100 years ago, St Andrew's Marathi Church now has lesser number of families. Back then, there were around 120 families, but now, there are only 70-75 are associated with the church.

Built using Porbandar stones, it has the Church of England-style architecture, with lancet windows in the front, a bell at the top and side aisles where the church services take place.

"Our church is the original Church Of England, but since 1970 after the merger of six denominations of churches, we are now affiliated to the Church Of North India. There have been many ups and downs in our Church and its property," said Cyril Dara, one of the parishioners.

Providing a brief history of the church, he said, though there is no record of the construction cost available, the land was leased in 1914 from the Bombay Improvement Trust after paying Rs1,060. It was taken when the worshippers moved from Ahmednagar.