The Church of Ceylon ( si, ලංකා සභාව) is the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

Dioceses of Colombo and Kurunegala

The first services were held on the island in 1796 and missionaries were sent to Ceylon to begin work in 1818. The Church now has two dioceses, one in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

(covering the Western, Southern, Eastern, Northern and Uva provinces and Ratnapura, Nuwara Eliya and Puttalam districts) and the other in

(covering Kurunegala, Kandy, Matale and Kegalla, Anuradapura, Polonnaruwa, districts). The Diocese of Colombo was founded in 1845 and the Diocese of Kurunegala in 1950. The Bishop of Calcutta was the

Metropolitan Bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the ...

of India and Ceylon from 10 October 1835. In 1930 Ceylon was included in the Church of India, Burma, and Ceylon (from 1948 the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon) until 1970. In 1970, the

Church of the Province of Myanmar The Church of the Province of Myanmar in Asia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. The province comprises the entire country of Myanmar. The current archbishop of Myanmar and bishop of Yangon is Stephen Than Myint Oo. Official name The ...

, the Church of Ceylon, and the

Church of Pakistan The Church of Pakistan is a united Protestant Church in Pakistan, which is part of the Anglican Communion and a member of the World Communion of Reformed ChurchesDatabase (9 February 2006)"Sialkot Diocese of the Church of Pakistan" Reformed Onl ...

were separated from the CIBC (and the province of Calcutta). There has been a movement for the amalgamation of traditional Protestant Churches (including Church of Ceylon, Methodist Church, Lanka

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Sangamaya, Salvation Army, Presbyterian Church of Sri Lanka and the Christian Reformed Church of Sri Lanka (formerly the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

) and the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India into one body, namely the Church of Sri Lanka. The Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo has four archdeaconries, namely,

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern ...

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

and Upcountry and East. Keerthisiri Fernando the 6th Bishop of Kurunegala has one archdeaconry. The Church of Ceylon with around 50,000 members, is the second largest group of Christians in Sri Lanka, after the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

with 1,600,000 members.

Church and education

The missionaries of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

established many schools in all parts of the island. The missionaries who arrived in

started to establish schools in order to uplift the education of the natives and to spread the Christian religion. Robert Mayor who arrived on 29 June 1818 was the 1st missionary to establish a school in the "Church Hill",

Baddegama Baddegama is a main town in Galle District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Baddegama is accessible from the Southern Expressway, and is located from the Baddegama Expressway Inter Exchange and from Colombo. The main livelihood for the town ...

under the name of "Christ Church" adjoining the

seminary. During the early years, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), the ‘high church’ missionary society, assisted the early bishops of the Diocese of Colombo (Anglican) to set up schools. The SPG helped Bishop James Chapman establish the College of Saint Thomas the Apostle in Mutwal, which opened on 3 February 1851. Later the College was shifted to Mt. Lavinia. The SPG continued to support the College until they withdrew from Ceylon in 1930. By the year 1910 the

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

had 403 schools with a student population of 32, 783. A teacher training college was established in 1914 in Peradeniya by Alexander G. Fraser, principal of

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

. The Anglican schools in Sri Lanka are famous for providing quality education enriched with

Christian values Christian values historically refers to values derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term has various applications and meanings, and specific definitions can vary widely between denominations, geographical locations and different schools ...

giving priority to discipline. The schools provide education in English, Sinhala and Tamil languages giving prominence to the English Language. The schools are independently and privately managed by the CMS governing body headed by the bishops of the church, while some schools like

Trinity College Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

have adopted a board of governors under the patronage of the Bishop of Kurunegala. From the past Anglican schools have produced many notable personalities. Prime ministers D. S. Senanayake,

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Min ...

, Wijayananda Dahanayake and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike were past pupils of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia as well as Leslie Goonewardene and

N. M. Perera Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, commonly known as Dr. N. M. Perera ( Sinhala එන්.එම්.පෙරේරා ; 6 June 1904 – 14 August 1979), was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). He w ...

, founders of Ceylon's first political party. Leading Anglican schools in Sri Lanka # S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia #

Trinity College, Kandy "Look to the End" , mottoes = , founder = John Ireland Jones , established = , type = Independent Private , affiliation = Church of Ceylon, Anglican , grade ...

Hillwood College Hillwood College is an independent private girls' school in Kandy, Sri Lanka founded by British Anglican missionaries of the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in 1890. The school is situated in the Kandy Lake round (Victoria Drive). Th ...

Ladies' College, Colombo (Latin) , motto_translation = This is the victory, even our faith - 1 John 5: 4 , location = 66 Sir Ernest de Silva mawatha, Colombo 7 , country = Sri Lanka , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Sri Lanka Colombo Municipality , pushpin_image ...

# Bishop's College, Colombo # CMS Mowbray College, Kandy #

S. Thomas' Preparatory School S. Thomas' Preparatory School (abbreviated as STPS) is a private, Anglicanism, Anglican, multi-ethnic, primary and secondary day school for boys aged 5 to 16 years, located in Kollupitiya in the Colombo District of the Western Province of Sri Lan ...

S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , denomination = Anglican , established = , type = Private , religious_affiliation = Christianity , affiliation = , founder ...

# S. Thomas' College, Bandarawela # St. John's College, Jaffna # Chundikuli Girls' College # St. Paul's Girls School, Milagiriya #

St. Thomas' College, Matara St. Thomas' College is a government primary and secondary school for boys in Matara, Sri Lanka. The college was initially founded in 1844 as a private Anglican school by Rev. Fr. N. J. Ondatjee. a missionary of the Christian Missionary Society o ...

# Christ Church College, Matale #

All Saints College, Galle All Saints' College, founded in 1857 in Galle, Sri Lanka, is located in a Dutch fortress in a residential suburb of Galle known as the Galle Fort, on Light House Street. The fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a history spanning o ...

# St. John's College, Nugegoda # St. John's College, Panadura # Christ Church Boys' College, Baddegama # Christ Church Girls' College, Baddegama # Bishop

Lakdasa De Mel Most Rev. Lakdasa Jacob De Mel (1902–1976), MA was the first Bishop of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka and the last Metropolitan Archbishop of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylo Lakdasa De Mel was born on 24 March 1902 in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, to a prom ...

College, Kurunegala # St Andrew's Girls College, Nawalapitiya # Holy Trinity College, Nuwara Eliya

Hymn for Ceylon

In the early 20th century an Anglican missionary, W. S. Senior popularly known as the Bard of Lanka arrived in Ceylon to work with the

. He was Vice-Principal of Trinity College,

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

for many years and spent three decades in the country. W. S. Senior wrote the 'Hymn for Ceylon,' sung to this day in churches on the island. The music for parts of this hymn was composed in 1950 by the leading Sri Lankan folk musician Deva Suriya Sena.

References

External links

Diocese of ColomboThe Church of Ceylon (Anglican Communion)Anglican Church of Ceylon News
* ttp://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/church-of-ceylon The Church of Ceylon – World Council of Churches websitebr>A photo selection of Parishes of the Church of Ceylon
;Hymn
A Sinhalese Hymn filmed at Holy Emmanuel Church, Moratuwa – Anglican Church of Ceylon on YouTubeThe Hymn for Ceylon – Trilingual (Anglican Communion)
;Publications
One hundred years in Ceylon, or, The centenary volume of the Church Missionary Society in Ceylon, 1818–1918 (1922) Author: Balding, John William
Madras: Printed at the Diocesan Press.
The Church of Ceylon – her faith and mission
Published in 1945, Printed at the Daily News Press by Bernard de Silva for the Church of Ceylon.
The Church of Ceylon: A history, 1945–1995
Editor: Medis, Frederick Published for the Diocese of Colombo. {{British Ceylon period topics Religious organizations established in 1845 Christian denominations established in the 19th century 1845 establishments in Ceylon Extra-provincial Anglican churches

Dioceses of Colombo and Kurunegala

Church and education

Hymn for Ceylon

See also

References

External links