Focusing on Education and Health for all, St Stephen’s Church, part of the Church of North India (CNI), is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. Established in 1845 on the slope of the Mount Mary Hill to cater to the nearby English families during colonial India, St Stephen’s Church has gone beyond barriers to serving the community at large over these 175 years.
The church, under the umbrella of Queenie Captain Community Centre Society (QCCCS), runs a Day Care Centre and Study Centre for underprivileged children and teenagers who come from families with low financial incomes. Reverend Thomas Jacob of St Stephen’s Church, said, “We have about 50 children between the age group of two and a half to five years in our Day Care Centre. Our teachers and volunteers take care of these children, teach them basic lessons and provide opportunities to play. We provide a healthy breakfast, lunch, and milk in the evening to these children.” The Day Care Centre functions from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.
While the Study Centre is meant for students from Class 1 till Class 10 where teachers and volunteers help them with their studies. Rev. Jacob said, “These students are from nearby slum settlements and do not have a proper environment to study. Some of them go to municipal schools or state schools but do not have a place to study. Our volunteers and teachers help them to study and improve their interpersonal and communication skills.” The Study Centre has around 50 students and functions from Monday to Saturday from 4 pm to 7 pm.
“We do not ask the religion of any child while admitting them in our centres. The admission form does not have a religion section. We admit students based on their financial and family background as we try to help those who are most deserving.”
“Till date, none of our children have failed in Class 10. Some of our students are pursuing their MBA, Ophthalmology and other courses. One of our students wanted to pursue MBA and saved over Rs 75,000 for his fees by dropping newspapers while he was in school. We helped him by paying the rest of the fees because we wanted to encourage his dedication and play a small role in his journey.”
Apart from these centres, the church has various outreach programmes through the initiatives of Sunday School, Youth Fellowship and Women’s Fellowship groups. Rev. Jacob added, “Although we are a Protestant Church with an Anglican background, we are crossing the borders to serve humanity and help in humanitarian work. As part of our commitment to ecumenism, we have priests and nuns from Catholic churches who come and preach.”
On the quartoseptcentennial celebration, Rev. Jacob said, “We thank God for all these years and we look forward to the coming years to cross more borders and build relations to facilitate the transformation of lives and society.” As part of the ‘Festival at the Steps,’ the St. Stephen’s Chowk, opposite the church, was inaugurated last Sunday. Rev. Jacob, said, “We had a concert last month and we will have a thanksgiving service in January.”
History
- Established in 1845 Building construction was completed and opened for worship on December 26, 1853
- QCCCS started in the early 1970s with members providing milk to children and pregnant women.
- Dental and medical health check-ups are regularly organised for the children of the Day Care Centre and Study Centre.
- Church of North India (CNI) Founded in 1970
- Study Centre set up in 2002
