History of Christ Church Naqvi Park Aligarh

Christ Church Naqvi Park is one of the oldest churches of North India, built-in 1835.
There was one Bishop WILSON an English man who brought a great revival of Christianity by building as many as 20 churches from Lahore to Calcutta in about 20 years from 1825. The other churches which he helped to build are St. Georges Church in Agra. He is also called as SHAHJAHAN of Christians in India. A God-fearing Bishop and was always ready to help the poor.

In the beginning the church was a small chapel, but grew up to become a grand Church later. At that time there was no Naqvi Park, and the whole property was under the possession of Church Missionary society. CMS which later on become CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA in 1970 which is the absolute owner of the church and its properties. Before independence a boundary wall was raised which separate the church and the large ground. Now the rest of the ground outside the church has developed into Naqvi Park and now its called Jawahar Park. The road leading to the church and the gate opposite the Telephone Exchange is the property of the church. The keys of the gate remain with the church.

From the very beginning congregation was the soldiers, high officials of the Scindia army parked in the Qila. There were French soldiers, many cols,Majors etc who were doctors of the Dufferin Hospital were the members of the Church. One Mr. MADROUCH the founder of MADRAK. near Aligarh on Agra Road and his family were the regulars. MADRAK is the tempered name of Madroach.

As per the records, the first person to be baptized in the Church was a lady named MARY AGNES FRANKS on 14. 6. 1868. The baptism was given by W.H. TRIBE by a Chaplain and not a pastor.

The Church has enjoyed a very long relationship with ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, from the very beginning of AMU. There was one CANON EDWIN who died in 1965 at the age of 90 years once told me that SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN used to visit the Church with some of his friends on Sundays to collect donations from the congregation for the university.

After partition many foreign students started coming to the church, they were mostly from Kenya, Uganda, Malaysia etc. They were regulars in attending the church.

One can not forget the Keralians student and staff of AMU, their contribution. The keralian students had a mess in Sulaiman Hall, AMU, till the early 70s where all the students including the Muslim and the Hindu students used to gather and prayed on every Friday together as per the CHRISTIAN WORSHIP BOOK. THE PASTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH used to give the message on Biblical verses. The non-Christian student also used to give their version. It was a kind of interfaith meeting which was very fruitful for peace. I was regular in attending those meetings in SULAIMAN HALL MESS FOR THE KERALA STUDENTS. Now it is stopped and I have not heard about it for a long time. In my opinion, it has hurt the secular fabric of the university.

There was one REV. ABDUL HAQ, a Muslim convert Pastor and an evangelist of high esteem who used to give lectures in the dept of Islamic studies and also interfaith meetings in HENRY MARTIN INSTITUTE in Ingraham Institute Banna Devi Aligarh. He was highly appreciated as a great scholar of Urdu and an expert of Islamic Studies.

The relation of Christ church and AMU continue to flourish. I had the privilege to welcome Mr. Ali Yavar Jung V. C. of AMU in the Church sometime in 1966. Mr. P. V. George Registrar AMU was with him.

Others who were regular from AMU in the church were Miss Thomas, Miss Joseph, Miss Ram from Women's College and Abdullah School. Miss Ram served as Head Mistress of the School. Miss Thomas was once Provost and Principal, Miss Joseph was from the Economics dept.

Till some years before Dr. Koshy of Linguistic dept, Mr. Yohannan of AMU polytechnic Dr Mrs. Koshi of University polytechnic were regular. At present Mrs. Verghese section Officer in Registrar Office is the Secy of the church.

There was a British missionary Miss Gordon who used to visit the Hostel of Women's College AMU to meet Christian girls. She used to encourage them to be regular in attending Church service.

Majority of the nursing dept of AMU are regulars in the church
 The renovation of the church took place in 1898 completed in 2002. Now the church has become very beautiful and it remains open on Sundays for the non-Christians. Daily walkers in the park come to the church on Sundays to bow before the altar.
The Keralian staff of AMU has contributed a lot to the growth of the church both physical and spiritual.
The renovation of the Church started in 1998 - 99 during the period of Rev. Wilson. After the arrival of Rev Santosh  Pandey, a very young and energetic pastor the renovation picked up the speed and 2002 it was completed. Now the Church looks very beautiful. The daily walkers in the Park come and bow before it.

When Mother Teresa came to Aligarh to lay the foundation of Charity home in 80's she wanted to visit Christ Church but the program could not  materialize
After azadi the same church also faced problems from some who used to shout slogans outside the church There was one Mr. Peron who used to live in Sulaiman Hall. The area was called Sahab bagh.

Many Canons, Pastors, have served Christ Church faithfully since 1835. There were chaplains too who did a lot for the growth of the Church. The Canons and Pastors who worked hard were Canon Long, Canon Jonathan (who went from here to become Bishop of Assam) and the first Bishop of Diocese of Agra CNI. I did my schooling of Church activities under him. There was Rev. R. W. Mall a very honest pastor, Rev. E. W. Hermon, Rev. Fernandez, etc. In recent times Rev. Santosh Pandey led the congregations of Christ Church and Church Of Ascension from the front. Rev. Luke was a master of Biblical studies. Many students of my time, later on, became Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Businessmen, Pastors and writers, and Editors. Dr. David Charles and his wife Elizabeth Mann later became Professor of Chemistry at Lucknow Christian College while Elizabeth Mann Charles Principal I. T. College. Rev. Isaac P. Mann DS in MCI also served the church as Secretary SCM,  Arun Solomon joined Gulf Times Gulf News and later on became Editor Hindustan Times LKO edition and The Pioneer.

OSMOND CHARLES ADVOCATE
ALIGARH