About

Our Story

Because of our nomadic existence no proper records of the Church about its earlier days were kept and what little were there, were lost in our wanderings. For us then the uppermost concern was where to pitch our tent for the next worship. We were then only a casual group of worshippers, who were concerned about-having a place of Worship in the neighborhood and building a Church was far from thoughts. Being a member of the group with the earliest association with the Church, I have mostly drawn from memory, oral mentions narrations by elders of the church, old writings and available written records to narrate the history of this Church.

Sometime in 1958 an evening prayer group was started at the request of the Army personnel residing at the Factory road, military residential quarters (opposite the Safdarjung Hospital by the late Bishop P.C.B.Balaram, then a pastor at the residence of Junior Commissioned KE Thomas. This was mostly a gathering of service personnel belonging to different Protestant and Syrian Christian denominations coming from various language groups; the common denominator being that they were one in Christ. The only language understood by all was English the service was conducted in English. The late Bishop Balaram carefully nurtured this group and made them active witnesses. Gradually tile civilians residing in the neighborhood colonies started participating in the Service.

A place to congregate for worship in the locality one resides was a great need, especially in a place like Delhi where public transport system was so poor. So denominational loyalties did not deter the Christians from congregating at such places where fundamental, teachings were not compromised for denominational fanaticism especially as this was a time when the ecumenical movement was at its peak.

These residential quarters were demolished and the personnel residing there were shifted to the Sectors I & II of the newly constructed, residential houses at Rama Krishna Puram in 1961—62. The Army authorities recognising the spiritual needs of their personnel, allotted one quarter each to the Hindu, Sikh and Christian community for use as places of worship. Quarter No. 171 in Sector I was allotted for use as a place of for the Christians. The prayer group which was active at the factory road took the initiative and organised an Army Church, its first Secretary being brother K. E. Thomas. The Methodist Church gave it leadership and took on the responsibility to cater to its pastoral needs. Bishop Mandal the then Method Bishop of Delhi dedicated the Church some time in 1962- 63 and Rev. Clive the present Bishop of Bareilly, then the pastor of the Centenary Church was entrusted with the pastoral care of the Church as an additional responsibility. As the Church was located in the vast residential complex of R. K. Puram, the civilians in the colony also started participating in the services. As we belonged to various language groups the services were conducted in English. The administration of the Church rested with the committee formed by the service personnel.

The late Rev. PD. Dyes took over the pastoral responsibilities of the Church as a part time assignment, (as he was the regular pastor of the St. Martin’s Church, Delhi Cantt) in 1964-65. It was during his tenure of dedicated service, the Church began to attract the people around and the congregation grew in numbers and stature. The ecumenical movement in the Christian Churches had gained momentum during this period and an active group of families belonging to different denominations committed to this worthy cause, emerged to sustain the church under the leadership of the Methodist Church. As the needs of the Church increased, it was felt that a full time pastor be assigned to the Church. Rev. H A. Townsley, the then DS who always took personal interest in the growth of this Church appreciated this need and assigned to us, the newly ordained Pastor: Rev. GR. Singh. Rev G.R. Singh took over from Rev Dyes in 1966-67. The need to build a regular church in R.K. Puram was recognised and applications were made to the Government for allotting a plot of land in R.K. Puram for building a Church. Rev. H.A. Townsley, the District Superintendent gave us the leadership, and we began to knock at the doors of the authorities (a feeble effort to begin with.)

Our Ordeals Begin

Faint rumblings of discord among the service personnel about the control of the temple and the gurudwara could be heard and the continuance of these places of worship was threatened. Anticipating trouble, the Army authorities withdrew the facility without any notice and took possession of the property of all the three places of worship.

In this swoop down, we lost every thing from our altar and cross to the little benches, the baby organ, the hymnals & could salvage nothing. On a Sunday morning, when we arrived to worship we found the doors closed. On that fateful Sunday in 1968, we worshipped in the house of Mr. PC Thomas at Sector I. By this time, we had men and women of dedication and determination in the congregation and among us in the person of the late Anil Das rose a leader for whom the R.K. Puram Church was a vision and a total commitment.

With our faith unwavered and our determination firmer, the small group of 20 odd families took up the challenge to build a Church. Thank God we did not end up as‘Babel’ though we spoke different languages, belonged to different denomination .and cultures. The crisis galvanized us into an integrated group dissolving our denominational identities and demonstrating that ecumension could be practiced and not merely preached. This is a time when we recognise the support and encouragement of Rev. HA. Townsley our Distt. superintendent who continued to sustain us as a worshipping group. He had abundant faith in the potential of this determined group, though practically none belonged to the Methodist Church. The narrow denominational interest never weighed with him.

Our immediate concern was to find a place to congregate. Brother Das opened the doors of his house to be used as a place of worship and we began to pitch our shamiana in the backyard of his house at Sector 1/789, thus started our ‘Shamiana Church’ till his death on 15th Nov 1975. We worshipped under the Shamiana there & brother Das used to light a ‘DIYA’ every evening at the spot where we placed our altar table.

A Period of Agony & Ecstasy - 1968-75

Rev. GR Singh left us to pursue higher studies in theology at this critical time. Rev.Townsley provided us with pastoral help by assigning different Pastors to conduct the Sunday services, he himself looking after the other needs for a while. During this period of our struggle to survive, Rev C1ive, Rev. R.V. Marble and Rev. Ross Bunce by turns conducted the Sunday Services. We are greatly indebted to them for sustaining our faith in no small measure. We had very trying days during the period. Many may not be aware, how it is to worship under a ‘Shamiana. Many persons even doubted the presence of God in such. a place. Many who sought, the comfort while worshipping turned away. Some came to see this new experiment and some who came to scoff at the ‘Shamiana Church remained to worship. Occasions had been innumerable when the shamiana was blown off by the ‘andhi’ and the rains would bring down the shamiana. But this small group held through storm and rain, undaunted and our resolve to build a Church continued with vigour and fervor. The growth of the Church by way of membership however remained stunted because of the above reasons.

Rev. Bunce was assigned to us for a longer spell and it was a period of new spiritual experience and joy of rich fellowship. He encouraged more participation by the lay men in the conduct of the service. Almost every member including children found the joy of doing something for the Church and in the process a lot of talents were unearthed. A Church bulletin started by him and continued by Brother Das was a very worthy contribution to the Church life.

The efforts to procure a piece of land to build the Church was’ continuing with added fervour with Rev. Townsley and Brother Das spear heading the negotiations with the Government. We had protracted correspondence with the Works and Housing Ministry and frequent dialogues with the officials concerned and with Shri IS Gujral the then Minister of Housing. We had our share of disappointments. But God in His inscrutable way acted and we found a sympathizer in the person of Prabhakar Rao, Joint Secy WHS, who recognised the need of a Church in the locality and was instrumental in allotting this piece of land where the Church stands today.

Rev. Bunce left for the States and Rev PD Dyes was once again assigned to us for another spell and he continued to do the good work he started till he left us for the U S. A. for higher studies. We record his service and that of Mrs. Dyes whom cruel fate snatched to their heavenly abode prematurely on 21st August, 1978.

Rev. Vivian Wilson was assigned the pastoral responsibility of the Church on 22 April, 1971 as a full time Pastor. Plans for the construction of the Church were started. The challenge of raising funds for the construction of the Church loomed large. Besides supporting the pastor, the small group of 20 odd families pitched in. Our sister congregation in the United States especially in North Carolina took it as their responsibility, to raise funds. The untiring efforts of Rev Townsley to raise the funds kept our hopes alive and our own steadfast faith and prayers started converting our dreams to reality. On 28th April 1974 the breaking ceremony was performed by Bishop Mitchel assisted by Rev. E A Hackney who took over as Distt. Supdt from Rev. Townsley Catastrophe struck us again so suddenly as if to test our faith and determination. On 15th Nov. 1975. brother Das, whose sole mission in life was the R.K.Puram Church, left us for his heavenly abode leaving us rudderless. Many thought it the end of the Church including some of us who were content to work silently under his inspired leadership. But God gave strength and confidence to those of us left behind to continue in his foot-steps and his example urged us on to fulfill his mission of building the Church.

Bishop J.R Lance assuming the charge as Bishop of Delhi area has taken keen interest in the completion and dedication of the Church. We are grateful to him.

Of those who started on this pilgrimage, two decades ago, a few passed on to the other side of Jordan, among them the two men with the greatest contribution to the building of this Church were late Rev P.D. Dyes and Anil Das. We salute them on this day and cherish their memory and intern their services in every brick of this church. A few dedicated ones left us on retirements and transfers, and a remnant of the first group remain joined by new members.

We shifted our Sunday service from the house of Brother Das to the Church site in Jan 1976. The construction of the Church started by this time. Once gain we pitched our Shamiana each Sunday at different spots of he Church site as the construction activities left us no other alternative. Many a occasion, we had to leave the site as no space was available to pitch the shamiana. Brother C.C Varghese, staying in Flat No 1082, Sector IV, RK Puram, came to our rescue and he graciously opened his house to be used for service for quite a long spell. We are grateful to Vargheses’. Of course they took it as their duty to God being very active members of this Church. We then moved into the basement Parish Hall for worship.

Rev. Vivian Wilson was transferred to Christ Church as it’s pastor and Rev John V Bhajjan took over on 23 rd Apri1978. It is in the will of God that the dedication be done during his time.

Bishop J.R Lance assuming the charge as Bishop of Delhi area has taken keen interest in the completion and dedication of the Church. We are grateful to him, Of those who started on this pilgrimage, two decades ago, a few passed on to the other side of Jordan, among them the two men with the greatest contribution to the building of this Church were late Rev P.D. Dyes and Anil Das. We salute them on this day and cherish their memory and intern their services in every brick of this church. A few dedicated ones left us on retirements and transfers, and a remnant of the first group remain joined by new members.

The Church above all retained its unique characteristic that though the members belong to different denominations, are joined together as one worshipping group under the leadership of the Methodist Church in India. Here we rejoice in the fact that we are Christian first and foremost & our identity as denominational Christians secondary. For this very reason, we chose the name of this church. as ‘APOSTLES CHURCH’ instead of choosing the name of a particular patron Saint identifying any particular denomination, but by recognizing all the APOSTLES. We consider ourselves as humble Apostles in our smal1 way from different parts of the country, who have dared to make this experiment. The Methodist leadership should be commended for not letting narrow denominational considerations cloud their vision

Bless this Church, Oh Lord and preserve its unique character.

Meet the pastors

Rev. VVK Singh

Rev. Sharon Shawant

Pastor Mann Kumar Rai

What we believe

TO GLORIFY JESUS BY BEING ONE BODY OF HIS PEOPLE IN MAKING DISCIPLES, SUPPORTING THE MISSIONARIES AND SERVING THE NEEDY!

The final Mission statements are listed below:

To disciple the body of the Church to live a life led by the Holy Spirit and build on the Word of God.
Present Christ to encourage and nurture all generations to experience God and grow in His knowledge through digital and physical means.
Support missionaries and planting churches.
To be a church with social outreach program serving the need.