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The formation of tiny congregation
at Palayamkottai consisting of just 40 members, the first being Clarinda, was
the humble beginning of the Diocese of Tirunelveli, the biggest in Asia now.
The infant church was nursed and nourished by the foreign missionaries from
Trustbuster like Schwartz and Jaenicke and a few indigenous stalwarts like Sathianathan,
Royappan, Savarirayan, Savarimuthu and Anandapragasam. Good news was spread
to many areas, and churches were established in different parts of Tirunelveli
District. The establishment of a church at Mudalur the first Christian village
in 1799 was momentous event in the annals of the history of the Tirunelveli
Diocese. It paved way for the "en masse" conversion of Nadars thanks
to the enthusiastic and indefatigable ministry among them by David Sundaranandam
Gericke and Kohlhoff. James Hough oversaw the missionary work of the SPCK after
Schwartz and Jaenicke.
The Church Missionary Society (CMS) and the Society for Propagation of Gospel (SPG) entered the Tirunelveli
field and went on planting Churches besides looking after the existing churches
for almost a hundred years till they merged into the Diocesan main stream in
1924. CTE Rhenius was head and shoulders above the rest in the CMS. Apart from
building the Holy Trinity Cathedral at Palayamkottai, he planted 371 churches
including Meignanapuram, Dohnavur, Pannaivilai and Nallur. No wonder, he is
considered the greatest missionary after St. Paul and called "The Apostle
of Tirunelveli. Pettitt, John Thomas, Tucker, Schaffter, Hobbs, Barenbruck were
the other important CMS Missionaries who laboured in the Tirunelveli Vineyard.
Nazareth, Sawyerpuram and Idayangudi
were the important fields nursed by the SPG missionaries. The Rev Caemmerer
and the Rev Canon A Margoschis worked strenuously for the stabilization of the
Churches around Nazareth. Schools and a hospital were established at Nazareth,
a model Christian settlement. Sawyer, a layman working for the East India Company,
formed a village exclusively for Christians and it is called Sawyerpuram after
him. Dr. GU Pope and Rev. Huxtable developed it into a model village. Dr Robert
Caldwell burnt himself for the establishment and development of many churches
including Idaiyangudi, a village far away from Tirunelveli.
Ever since Tirunelveli was upgraded
into a Diocese in 1896, it has been casting its net wide and deep. Many pastorates
in the East and South have adopted a village in the northern part of the Diocese.
This scheme has been paying rich dividends. Besides, Tirunelveli Diocese has
introduced outreach ministry. Committed people, clergy and laity, go to other
districts for gospel work during the first week of September every year. It
established the first indigenous missionary organization called Indian Missionary
Society (IMS) in 1903 to take the good news to the unreached areas in other
states. The Rt. Rev V. S. Azariah, the first Indian Bishop, is one of the fruits
of Tirunelveli Diocese. Now, the Diocese has 287 thousand members spread over
138 Pastorates in 1166 villages.
Apart from spiritual work,
Tirunelveli Diocese has been striving hard to address to the economic,
educational and social needs of the poor, the aged, the mentally retarded, the
visually disabled etc. The fruits of this Diocese are in every nook and corner
of globe bearing witness to the Good Shepherd.
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