EVANGELISATION OF ST. PARTRICK’S CHURCH MISSIONARY SERVICES:

            The services rendered by St. Partick’s church can be divided into two, one is religious service and the other is social service. The congregation belonging to St. Patrick’s church call the religious service as evengelisation. St. Patrick’s church takes much interest and enthusiasm in missionary works and evangelical works. The Evangelic missions are propagating the gospel in accordance with the command of Jesus Christ “Go into all the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature”. To carry out the evangelical work several missionaries have been appointed in various places. The works of the missionaries are supported by the church. St. Patrick’s church has built a commercial complex in west great cotton Road. 30% of its revenue is being set apart for the evangelical work. Out of the net income from the congregation of St. Patrick’s church 12.5% is paid for the missionary works.

VISWAVANI EVANGELISM:

            The congregation of the church is supporting many missionary organisations. One such is Viswavani. The headquarters of Viswavani is in Hyderabad. Their main work is propagating the Gospel. Apart from this, they provide free medical service. Children from the most backward classes are provided with food and clothing. It also provides Shelter and other assistance to the needy. Dumboxes are given to the members of the church for viswavani Evangelical organisation. The funds collected through dumboxes are given for viswavani Evangelism. Every year, in the month of February, meetings are held in order to explain the missionary works. The members of the congregation are sponsoring one viswavani missionary by donationg Rs. 1000 every month. A group of people from St. Patricks church visited Viswavani Ministry Centres in Hyderabad in November 1990, Gujarat in February 1992 and in Karnataka in January 1994. After their visit, they helped the missionaries in those places by donating clothes and money. The congregation of St. Patrick’s church are rendering their possible help for viswavani Evangelism.

FRIENDS MISSIONARY PRAYER BAND:

            The congregation of St. Patrick’s church are supporting the Friends Missionary Prayer Band with much interest. The headquarters of this missionary organisation is in Madras. Once a year members of this mission conduct meetings and also explain their works. During Christmas time, special offerings are collected from the congregations of this church and they are sent to friends Missionary Prayer Band. Some of the congregations of St. Patrick’s church visited the ministry centre at Gujarat in February 1992. Every year, the congregation help them by sending clothes and other requirements. The congregation are sponsoring a missionary of this organ by donating Rs.1000/- every month.

INDIAN EVANGELICAL MISSION:

            The congregation of St. Patrick’s Church help the Indian Evangelical mission occasionally. They support one missionary of this mission by contributing Rs.1000-/ every month. The headquarters of Indian Evangelical Mission is in Chennai.

INDIAN CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST:

            The headquarters of Indian campus crusade for Christ is in Bangalore. The congregation of St. Patrick’s Church also help one missionary from this mission by giving Rs.1000/- every month. The congregation of St. Patrick’s church offer special prayers for this organisation.

 CHRISTIAN OUTREACH MISSION AND EVANGELISM:

            The headquarters of this mission is in Chennai. The congregation of St. Patrick’s Church help this organisation in various ways. They sponsor one missionary of this organisation by giving Rs.1000/- every month.

INDIAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY [ I.M.S]:

            The headquarters of Indian Missionary Society is in Palaymkottai. The I.M.S Services are done with great enthusiasm. Since I.M.S belongs to the Diocese, Patrick’s Church shows special care and interest this mission. I.M.S has a branch at Thoothukudi which was installed in the year 1935 from 1903. During the time of Stephen [1987-1992] he encouraged the congregations to contribute liberally to the I.M.S. In November 1990, some members of St. Patrick’s church first visited the I.M.S mission fields in Andhra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. In 1992 again they visited the I.M.S mission fields in Gujarat and Rajasthan., After these visits the congregation of church started working hard for I.M.S. services.     The most important work of St. Patrick’s church is to build new churches in the I.M.S centres. It had been decided by St. Patrick’s church to donate at least Rs.50,000/- per year to build new church in I.M.S centres. So the congregation of St. Patrick’s church collects Rs.50,000/- and give it to the I.M.S. centres every year. In 1960 a church was built at Narasimlalpet village of Andhra and inaugurated on 13.11.1961. Also they donated funds for electrification and for the purchase of one amplifier.

            The details of the churches built at I.M.S. centres are as follows:

The congregation of St. Patrick’s church are sponsoring five scheduled tribe children by donating Rs.300/- each every month. They also sponsor seven I.M.S missionaries by giving Rs.1000/- per month, to each of them. Many tribals have accepted Jesus Christ whole heartedly as their saviour and were baptized. St. Patrick’s church conducts prayer meetings for missionary works during the first Sundays of every month. The money collected on that day are used for the welfare of the missionaries. Every Thursday, night prayers are being conducted at St. Patrick’s church for the missionaries for I.M.S services. In short they are supporting 24 missionaries belonging to different missions and also, the Holy Trinity church in Thoothukudi beach road and St. Lukes church at Ratchanyapuram which are within the jurisdictions of St. Patrick’s church donate funds, clothes to the missionaries.

GOSPEL WORK

            Gospel work means preaching about the life of Jesus Christ to others. Special attention is given for this Gospel work. The people of St. Patrick’s church are doing the Gospel work in an effective way. In their evangelical works, the congregation of St. Patrick’s church come into contact with other faiths, especially Hindus. If willing, those people are evangelised and brought to the church. Every year not less than thirty people are thus evangelised. According to the statistics between April ’96 and March 1997, thirty seven people embraced Christianity thanks to the efforts of this congregation.

GOSPEL WEEK OR EKKALA PANDIGAI:

            Every year, the month of September, is observed as “Gospel Week”, During this month Gospel preachings are conducted for five days in and around Thoothukudi by several groups. On the Sunday of that week, a nearby village is taken as a centre and the people of St. Patrick’s Church visit each house in the village and preach the Gospel to non-christians. After that they go in procession singing songs. This day is celebrated by the congregation of St. Patrick’s church as ‘Ekkala Pandigai’.

GOSPEL EVANGELISM:

            Once a month some of the congregations of St. Patrick’s church visit a village and preach the gospel. More over some congregations join together and visit the villages of other districts. Once a month and preach the gospel among non-christians. They render help to the economically backward people when they go to gospel work. Moreover they conduct free Medical camp and render medical services also. The congregation of St. Patrick’s church conducts fasting prayer from morning 11am to 2 pm on the third Sundays of every month. During this fasting prayer, they pray for our country, our leaders, missionaries, prisoners, for those who are sick in the hospital and evangelical services.

SPIRITUAL MEETINGS:

            Now and then spiritual meetings are conducted with the help of preachers. These conventions will be of a duration of three or four days. Sermons, songs and prayers are held in these conventions. These Meeting are held in order to make the congregation to lead a spiritual life. Expenses relating to such meetings are borne by the congregation themselves. During the lent season every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday meetings are being held by preachers. The offertories collected during lent seasons are being sent to missionaries propagating the gospel amongst the Jews in Palastin who are not aware of God Almighty.

CHILDREN EVANGELISM:

            Children evangelism is being done in good manner. Christian and non-christian children participate enthusiastically. Every sunday from 9am to 11am a service is conducted from children. In this service, songs, stories, verses from the bible are taken. Non-christian children come to know about Jesus in these classes. Parents also send their children to these meetings with much interest.

HOSPITAL EVANGELISM:

            People of St. Patrick’s church do remarkable service in hospital also. They visit the ThoothukudiGovernmentHospital twice a month. Women also visit the hospital individually or in groups and console the sick people. When the patients are worried about their recovery from sickness, the people meet the patients and preach the gospel. They also give the tracts to the patients. They encourage the sick people by offering prayers for them.

            Every third Sunday, the congregation of St. Patrick’s church gather in the church and conduct fasting prayers for the sick people from 11am to 2pm specially they pray for the sick people affected with leprosy and children affected by polio.

PRISON EVANGELISM:

            The congregation of St. Patrick’s church visit the Thoothukudi Sub Jail and the Thattaparai Senior certified School”. Once a year during X’Mas time and preach the gospel. During such a time, the people of St. Patrick’s church go to prison and preach the gospel prisoners listen to them with much interest.        Many prisoners accept Jesus Christ as their saviour when they come out of the jail as new persons. Likewise, St. Patrick’s church gospel team go to Tattaparai and preach the gospel. Many youngsters realise their mistakes through the evangelical service and accept Jesus Christ as their saviour. Some youngsters start gospel works when they come out of the jail and finally come up as good missionaries. Apart from this they give new clothes and sweets to the prisoners on Christmas day. The women’s fellowship also meet the women prisoners and help them in many ways.

VACATIONAL BIBLESCHOOL (V.B.S):

          According to the verse, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Children are trained in the bible school every year, by conducting VBS, children come to know more and more about the Bible.V.B.S are conducted ten days during summer holidays for children so that they may gather good knowledge of the Holy Bible. Christian youths are conducting these classes. These encourage the children, songs are being taught with stories, children are attending these classes with much interest. Scripture examinations are conducted in V.B.S more boys and girls attend the scripture examination. In order to encourage the participants valuable books are presented as prizes. Certificates are also issued to the best candidates.

SUNDAY CLASSES:

          Sunday class was started in the year 1964 at St.Patrick’s church. Sunday classes are being conducted by two teachers of Caldwell boys HigherSecondary School. Previously Sunday class was held at 9 a.m. after the church service. Later separate services were arranged for children. When this service is over, the Sunday class is held at 10.30 a.m. Parents are taking much interest in sending their children to the Sunday class. To encourage the children, songs, story telling and extracts from the Holy Bible are being taught. Therefore the children are also attending these classes with much interest. In order to encourage the children, they are made to participate in the “Good shepherd camp” organised by the Diocese and also the one day camp organised by the various organisations. Spiritual and moral instruction was given in the campus. Once a year, these children are taken to outstations in specially arranged buses. During Christmas, these children are given prizes out of the collections made from the congregations. This is special feature. At St. Patrick’s church, New year Bible contests are conducted every year mainly intended to enhance the bible knowledge of the people. Students from L.K.G. to colleges participate in this contest. Even the adults are participating in this contest. The participants are given separate portions from the bible according to age groups to memorise and also to answer the question papers during the month of December every year. About thousand children and adults participate in this contest, prizes are distributed during the evening of New year day. Every year it is sponsored by a dedicated family of this church congregation.

MEN’S FELLOWSHIP:

          St.Patrick’s Men’s fellowship was started on May 13^th 1980. The motto of this association is prayer, unity and service. At present there are 140 members in this association. All this men Co – operate with the priest of St.Patrick’s church in all his activities with prayerful mind. During the second Sunday of every month at 5 p.m. these members gather at St.Patrick’s church compound. They do make critical study of the Gospel. During the second week of June, convention meeting is held for three days. During the annual celebration of the Men’s fellowship, the members are given a test in a particular portion of the bible and prizes are awarded this men’s fellowship are doing social and philanthropic services to me society too.

WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP:

          When we go thorough the past history of St.Patrick’s church, women’s fellowship have taken most important part in Gospel works. There are sixty members in women’s fellowship. St. Patrick’s church women’s fellowship works along with the church. Every Friday the women’s fellowship conduct their prayer meetings at 3pm. Every first Saturday of the month, they conduct fasting prayers from 11am to 2pm. They also conduct special prayer meetings in the member’s houses on their request. They also participate in the gospel services of the church. They visit government hospitals, meet the sick people and recite prayers and console the sick.During Lent season, the members of this fellowship divide themselves into small groups, visit houses of the members and sing songs, read some portions of the bible and pray. During this time, they collect offertories from the houses and give it to the gospel works. In 1995 they collected a sum of Rs.9070/- which was given to the leprosy hospital at Peikulam in order to give the patients special food once a year. This special food is provided on March 17^th every year, which is observed as ‘St. Patrick’s Day’.          The embers of the fellowship send donations to Sayamalai Vidivelli Ashram, deaf and blind school at Palayamkottai and I.M.S. services. Every year they participate in women’s prayer conference. During the I.M.S sales the women’s fellowship install separate stall for the sales and encourage the I.M.S evangelical services. They also pay Rs.250/- to few Adhivasi children in the I.M.S. centres. They also provide clothes to the poor during Christmas time.Every year the women’s fellowship celebrate March 25^th as Mangala Vakku Thirunal’ in a grand manner, in remembrance of the verse, ‘Rejoice, highly favoured one the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women’. And behold, you will conceive in you womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. On this day, special messages are given to women.

YOUTH FELLOWSHIP FOR BOYS:

          The fellowship was started in the year 1975. There are thirty five members in this fellowship. Every Sunday these young men join together at 10.30 a.m. sing songs, read the Holy Bible and pray. They take much interest in St.Patrick’s church activities and attend the church services regularly. During lent season, they participate in prayer meeting and sing songs. During festivals they help others in decorating the church. The members of the young men fellowship are also the teachers and the directors of Sunday classes and vocational Bible school. Whenever the congregation of St.Patrick’s church visit the I.M.S. centres, these young men also participate in the missionary tours. They also participate in the I.M.S. sales with much interest. During Christmas season, they send Christmas greetings and also help the poor in various ways. They also donate money for various ways. They also donate money for various services. Thus the young men of St.Patrick’s church take much interest in various activities of St.Patrick’s church.

YOUTH FELLOWSHIP FOR GIRLS:

          The young women of St.Patrick’s church also take much interest in church activities. This fellowship was started in the year 1976. At first it was started with two or three young girls. But now this fellowship works with twenty five members effectively. The meeting of this fellowship is being held in the church every Sunday after the service. Once a year this fellowship conducts camp outside Thoothukudi and perform their Gospel work in which prayer songs, preachings are being held with Bible Quiz and games. Annual day function of this fellowship is held every year on Christmas tree function presided over by the priest in a simple way. Prizes are given for regular attendance and winners in Bible contest. This fellowship has contributed Rs.5000/- for the building fund of the polio affected children. Every year they visit houses, conduct prayers and collect money which is given for the I.M.S services. During I.M.S sales, these laying women separate stall and collect money by selling eatables to be congregation

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