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= Assemblies of God of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) =

Origin
A young missionary couple, William D Grier and his wife, who had arrived in Ceylon in 1913, and were serving in Peradeniya, were part of the founding group of the Assemblies of God, which  met from 2nd to 12th April 1914, at Hot Springs Arkansas, USA. So established AG in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the same year it was birthed in the United States of America.

In 1947 the Assemblies of God of Ceylon was incorporated under Ordinance 53 in the legislature of Ceylon, an year prior to the independence of the Nation. It continued to grow over the decades under indigenous leadership, spreading to all Provinces of the Island. It celebrated the centenary year in 2014.

Today, the Assemblies of God of Ceylon has a multi-faceted ministry with a caring ministry to the people of our nation, in all three languages.

The First AG Missionary
At the turn of the 20th Century, the world witnessed the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in what has come to be known as the Pentecostal Revival. Azusa Street became the launching pad of a world-wide outpouring from which the Assemblies of God emerged in 1914. The revival was characterized by speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit, but this was frowned on as heretical by the other churches at that time. The Pentecostals found fellowship among each other with rapid growth, there was need for organization and accountability, for a basis for fellowship and doctrinal stability, and a need to coordinate the missionary effort. This brought together approximately 300 founding fathers and mothers from diverse Pentecostal groups in what became the first General Council of the Assemblies of God. This group met from 2nd to 12th April 1914, at Hotsprings Arkansas, USA.

Ministry with Madam Lewini
Anna Emilie Lewini arrives in Ceylon for the first time. (Born July 22 1876) in Denmark into a theatrical family of partly Jewish ancestry, she had been an actress, both on stage and in at least one silent film. Copenhagen was the cultural capital of Scandinavia and in the entertainment field could compete with Paris. The period 1890-1920 was considered the golden age of Danish theatre. However, she was radically converted under the ministry of Thomas Barratt who preached in Copenhagen in 1908-9 soon after returning from India. Saved on 27th April 1909 and baptized in the Holy Spirit on May 13th 1909, by the time she came to Ceylon in 1919 Ms. Lewini was a mature woman in her forties with 10 years of solid Pentecostal experience and witness behind her.

he held meetings at the Tower Hall in Borella, and in the group that responded was another Baptist lay-preacher, John Samuel Wickramaratne (Pastor Colton’s Father) who had already received the Holy Spirit baptism 2 years prior. She was apparently accompanied by two other missionary ladies, Sisters Pauline and Margaret, about whom nothing else is now known.In this group were some of the later leaders of the main Pentecostal churches in our country.

Galle
Carl F Graves and his wife Bertha appointed missionaries to Ceylon from USA. From 1931-1934 they supervise the already-established work in Colombo, during the absence of Pastor Clifford. At this time (Sept. 1931) the address of the church is given as “Glad Tidings Hall,” Wellawatte, Colombo.

In 1935 they took over the work begun in Galle by Walter Clifford. They constructed the Galle church in 1936. The Ceylon Bible Institute was begun in 1937 at Galle by Rev Carl Graves and shifted to Melbourne Avenue Bambalapitiya. The Graves couple ministered in Ceylon until 1955.

Jaffna
The Griers’ work touched Colombo, Peradeniya and Nuwara Eliya. Little did they realize that the seeds they planted sacrificially in those early years would bring an abundant harvest in the years to come.

They left in 1917, handing their work to Rev George H Doyal. Rev Grier’s ministry had  touched a number of locals, among whom was J J B de Silva, a Baptist lay-preacher who received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

In 1924, his work with the Government Audit department took him to Jaffna, where he found a good response to the gospel, and founded the Assembly of God, Jaffna in 1927. He was the first Pentecostal Sri Lankan to establish a Church in the country.

Colombo
Walter Clifford – 1923 (at this time an AG missionary appointed to North India) first arrives in Ceylon, as part of a month-long healing mission tour of South India (including Bangalore, Salem and Tuticorin) and Ceylon. His first public meeting is held at the Jampettah (Methodist) Church. He ministers in Colombo, Jaffna and Madampe, and a number of remarkable healings and deliverances take place. While on furlough in 1924, Walter Clifford receives a definite invitation to return to Ceylon and in 1925 with an AG missionary appointment to Ceylon he returned with his wife Gertrude and their 3 children to Colombo.

In 1927 Clifford’s wife Gertrude dies aged 41, followed a month later (June 23) by his eldest daughter Queenie aged 8. (They had already lost their first baby in India in 1917). He is left alone with 3 small children aged 5, 3 and 1. Grieving and seriously ill, he takes a break at Landour in North India where he meets Viola May Nourse, an American missionary whom he marries there later the same year (November 1st).

Walter Clifford saw the church in Kandy as established by him. The Cliffords took charge of the work in Colombo, where the Colombo Gospel Tabernacle was built at Wellawatte in 1936.

Bible College
he Assemblies of God Bible College with its laid out campus at Ja-Ela and bustling student body of over 100, gives no hint of its beginnings in the 1950s (as the Ceylon Bible Institute) and its re-awakening in 1971, in the face of challenging circumstances.

The Assemblies of God, born in the fires of the Pentecostal revival of the early twentieth century, came together at a convention focused on “(1) doctrinal unity, (2) conservation of the results of evangelism, (3) a foreign missions programme, (4) a legal church organisation, and (5) a Bible School plan.”[1] Almost simultaneously the effects of the movement were felt in distant Sri Lanka, and it is not surprising that these concerns came into focus here too as diligent missionaries, together with committed locals consolidated the work on the same basis.

Early Days
While the work spread to key cities, Colombo, Jaffna, Galle and Kandy, it was in the work of Rev Carl Graves that the first evidence of a Bible School is seen – initially as modular type classes for workers in Galle, in the early 1940’s. Thereafter Rev Graves rented a building for the purpose and his work was further developed by Rev Alfred Cawston. By 1947 there were nine students, but growth of the Bible School was constrained by meagre funding. The school shifted to a rented building at 15, Melbourne Avenue, in Colombo 4. Rev Clifford, who had come to the country as the first official Assemblies of God missionary in 1924, joined Rev Cawston as a teacher and served until they left in 1948.

When the Assemblies of God of Ceylon was incorporated in the State Council of 1947, it is significant that due mention is made of the Ceylon Bible Institute in the Incorporation Ordinance.[2] Rev Graves who was out of the country at that time made it a point to be there at the first Graduation service on 25th March 1949. He stayed on for the next six years, as the founder Principal, while simultaneously serving as Chairman of the Assemblies of God of Ceylon. He left an indelible mark on the theological training of the Assemblies of God of Ceylon.

Most of those who were trained have gone on to accomplish much in the development of the Assemblies of God of Ceylon.

Among the first graduates were: Mrs Rosamund Goonetilleke, Miss. Beryl Mendis[3], Calvin Wickramaratne, Gnanam David, Miss. Dorothy de Silva (her father, J.J.B de Silva planted the church in Jaffna), Sis. Muriel, and Mrs. Samuel Muthuveloe. Clinton Wickramaratne also studied at CBI.

In 1950, eleven more were following classes: Vincent Abrahams, William Allagakoon, John Edwards, Ronald Peiris, Stephanie Guruswamy, Earl Loos, David Smith, Colton Wickramamratne, Eddie Thirumalai, and Sam Sumaiya.

Teaching was in the capable hands of Rev Carl and Mrs Bertha Graves, Bro C V Newman, a gifted teacher from India, Rev Derrick and Mrs Dorcas Hillary, and was expanded to include Rev Harold Kohl, Rev Ralph Elmore and Miss Mollie Baird. Miss Rosa Reineker was visiting lecturer and Miss Gunasekera taught Sinhala.

The next to join CBI were Jacob Perera, A.R Thangiah, Lewellyn (Lyn) Jansz, Paul Arumanaigam, Johnson Wilson, Tiddy Senapathiratne, Miss Ila D’Alwis[4], Miss Beulah Mendis and David Arumanaigam.

It is also significant that students from India too came to the Ceylon Bible Institute for their theological training, but by July 1952, with the establishment of the Southern Asia Bible College at Bangalore, this was no longer necessary.

The growth of the school and the impetus it was having on the growth of the work in Sri Lanka, created the need to move from rented premises to a permanent facility. Rev Graves raised the funds, and the Assemblies of God of Ceylon purchased an 80 perch property with a residential house and adjacent bare land on it at 75 Watrappola Road, Mount Lavinia. Dick Ephraums, a blind piano tuner, whose vision for the gospel in the country was bright, donated the funds for the adjunct ‘L’ shaped building which would be home to the Ceylon Bible Institute. The building was dedicated in October 1953, and was put to use immediately.

The first intake of students at the new building included, Miss Ruth D’Alwis[5], Miss Rita Morel[6], Freddie Perera, Andrew Wickramaratne, Mrs. Mercia Wickramaratne, Marshal Karunapala, Joseph Kevitiyagala, and Miss Grace Arumanaigam.

When the founder principal, Rev Graves, completed his term and left the country in 1955, his successors in office, Rev Ralph Elmore, Rev David Smith and Rev Nalliah, were able to serve in the position of principal only briefly, causing a leadership crisis.

This was the time when the nation was swinging towards the national languages, and it was decided to take a bold step to shift the medium of instruction to the vernacular. The leadership of the school was handed to Rev Colton and Mrs. Susanne Wickramaratne (April 1958 to March 1959) and thereafter to Rev Elphege and Mrs. Ila Fernando (April 1958 to March 1960). But it became clear that the transition to national leadership was further ahead in God’s plan.

At this time, the Southern Asia Bible College had been established in Bangalore as a regional school of the Assemblies of God. The education there was in English and its facilities were more attractive, so students from Sri Lanka opted to go there, and the focus shifted from the CBI at Watarappola Road, and its work ceased. The house which had been the principal’s residence, was given for the use of the last official foreign missionary serving in the island, until he left in 1963. Thereafter it was separated from the rest of the property and sold. Plans were even considered for turning the classroom block into cottages which could be rented.

This was a time of bleakness, but it could also be seen as the ‘chrysalis stage’ which preceded the reawakening in 1971.

Reawakening in 1971
Elphege and Ila Fernando said they would take the whole building on rent, without renovations, and they would hand it back to the Assemblies of God of Ceylon whenever they needed it. It was clearly by the Lord’s design since they used the school buildings without alteration.

The building had its own challenge to the new residents. Ila says, “As I swept the place, my eyes would fall on the tablet embedded in the wall declaring insistently, ‘This building is dedicated for the training of workers’ – producing a burden for the Bible School, which I never stopped carrying. I used to talk to the Lord about it and wait for His time.”

In 1971 that time came. The cocoon of the chrysalis opened! National leadership emerged in the Assemblies of God of Ceylon which would carry the vision forward. A vision that would look beyond the ‘mudukkuwa‘[7] of its present and see its future potential in the work in Sri Lanka.

Ila says, “we tried to start day classes without boarding facilities but it never worked out, although we had a curriculum drawn up.” What was needed was a proper plan. Ultimately it was decided to re-open the Bible School in January 1971 with just three students – Vernon Perera, R. Premaratne and Sam Devasagayam. The opening service was simple and significant, with Rev Alfred Cawston (who happened to be visiting the island) giving the message and Sis. Rosa Reineker also present.

Even with just three residential students, the school ran as the nucleus of what had to come. Rev Colton Wickramaratne was appointed Principal and Rev Vincent Abrahams the Vice Principal. Elphege and Ila were to be in residence and attend to the day to day running of the school. The Assemblies of God of Ceylon was not able to adequately fund the school and Elphege gradually took the burden of fund-raising, and saw to it that the bills were paid. His tool was the typewriter, and perched before it in the wee hours of the morning and late at night he would painstakingly tap out news of the work in the island and spell out in his letters the needs for funds, which brought a heartening response. He also found ways and means of support for the students who could not afford to pay fees. Elphege did an amazing job, working in the background and funding himself from a small business as a ‘tent-maker’ since he did not savour taking a salary for his work.

Ila notes, “We lacked notes and study books in Sinhala and Tamil and had to produce translations while we taught in English, and relied on intensive English language classes to form the bridge. Since facilities were at a minimum, there was also no equipment for reproducing notes. We managed in the best way we could.”

Running school and residence together also had its own problems. The meagre comforts had to give way to the more pressing needs of the school. Ila says, “We chose to move the family into two of the rooms and give the school the rest of the building. We had a family of five and we did not realize the price our three boys would pay in losing their privacy, facilities and the freedom of a normal home. A corner of the school’s ‘office room’ had to serve as our dining room. But all this did not seem a sacrifice – the joy of what we were doing for the kingdom made it worth it all. The need for accommodation increased with the influx of students, and we had to obtain a rented house to accommodate the male students. The accommodation was not even basic, but that was all we could manage at that stage.”

In the mid-1970s the school had an important change. The resounding response to the healing rallies with Rev William Caldwell in Ja-Ela opened new doors. Rev Caldwell saw the need to establish a church in Ja-Ela and to move the Bible School there too. Rev Caldwell very generously helped to buy a property at Courts Road, Ja-Ela, which had sufficient extent for the future development of the School. He also funded the first dormitory – a two storey building.

Rather than approach the building of the campus in a haphazard manner, Ila asked her brother Noel D’Alwis, a professional draftsman, to set out a plan for the buildings of the future, the funds would be raised and the campus would be constructed, building by building, over a period of time. Miss Rosa Reineker, whose burden for Sri Lanka and the Bible School spanned many decades, also focused her attention on fund raising. She was later heard to say ‘When I saw Elphege and Ila sacrificing I thought I would sacrifice too’! Elphege plodded on almost single-handedly raising funds to run the school and for the building and Sis. Reineker donated personally – her savings and legacies – and spent herself in travelling and presenting the need for funds.

Sister Reineker wrote in 1978 “A Bible School building is a great necessity, as they cannot continue in the crowded unhealthy quarters in which they have bravely carried on since 1971. I admire Elphege and Ila Fernando and their three sons for being willing to put up with such inconveniences. It is also a great credit to the students for being willing to attend such a School where there are no comforts or conveniences. The place is unbearably hot but the students sit in that place with hardly any fresh air and the teachers are willing to teach under these conditions!”

Rev Colton’s leadership of the school as its Principal continued for 24 years. In earlier years he had been conferred with an honorary doctorate by the Southern California Bible College and was among the handful that was granted this distinction by the College up to that time. In later years Rev W J G Beling, who shared in the teaching, too was conferred an honorary doctorate in Divinity by the School of Bible Theology and Christian Dynamics, California, USA. The first teachers included Rev Arthur Speldewinde, a former Chairman of the Assemblies of God of Ceylon and Andrew Wickramaratne. English Language was taught by Mrs. Florence Blok and Miss Roma Wiratunga and Sinhala Language by Miss Laura Ratnayake. Among those who taught in the school at Watarappola Road were those who had graduated from CBI in the previous period or had training at SABC in Bangalore. Ashley Gnanamuttu, was making a valuable contribution when he lost his life suddenly in a car accident in January 1977. Vincent and Ruth Abrahams (formerly Ruth D’Alwis), Seelan Mathiaparanam, Elphege and Ila Fernando, and later, Vernon Perera, Freddie Perera, Chandra and Piyadasa Kumbukage joined the teaching staff. Visiting missionaries – Rick Seaward, Jim Roane and many others – contributed to the teaching in short courses.

Campus at Ja-Ela
Once the main buildings at Ja-Ela were completed in the latter half of 1983, the school was able to shift into more comfortable conditions. It was an uneasy time in the country with the devastating riots in July, and the civil unrest clouding the air. The school had to function in a new national paradigm of security which was to last thirty years. Willie Chelliah, who had been trained at SABC joined the teaching staff on a full time basis. Later, Dishan Wickramaratne, Cedric La Brooy, Yohan and Rebecca Fernando, Ian Weerawardena, Simon Fuller and Rohan Dissanayeke joined the teaching staff on a volunteer basis. Thereafter, Anulanda Ratnavira and then Sandra Chelliah joined the staff on a full time basis. Additionally a number of local and foreign visiting lecturers have augmented the teaching, in short term courses and seminars.

Particular mention must be made of Rev. Clarence and Mrs. Irene Cope who, in their ministerial retirement, visited the island on a regular basis, contributing to the teaching their vast pastoral experience and contributing generously towards the development of the school.

Another significant change at this time is the change of name from Ceylon Bible Institute to the Assemblies of God Bible College in the 1980s.

It was felt that the ethos of the school should harmonise with the culture of the nation so that the students who go into village areas would relate better to the culture of their area of ministry. Accordingly after the first graduation of the newly opened school, attire changed from that of coat and tie to that of the national dress for male students and saris for the female students. The décor at significant events was also similarly contextualized. “Regrettably,” says Ila, “this was not continued beyond 1995.”

Accreditation
Academic recognition is important as a Bible college gains maturity. In 1993, we invited the accreditation team of the Asian Theological Association to visit our college and evaluate it with a view to making an application for accreditation. They informed us that our Diploma in Theology was, with a few changes, equivalent to a Bachelor in Theology, and as we also had the qualified faculty required, accredited our Diploma in Theology. They also advised us to launch a Bachelor in Theology programme and encouraged us to have our other full-time teachers B.Th. qualified and work towards having our B.Th. accredited.

In September 1994, Elphege who had been working despite a serious health issue, decided to resign from his position and hand the responsibility to others. Prior to this, at the invitation of Rev Colton Wickramaratne, Rev William Farrand and his wife Alvera returned to Sri Lanka to evaluate the work and study programmes, and recommend any needed adjustments. Rev Farrand had years of experience in the Asian context at the Far Eastern Advanced School of Theology in the Philippines. They stayed on campus and worked closely with the members of the faculty in upgrading the Bible College. Rev Farrand introduced many new features. A trimester curriculum, dividing the academic year into five blocks of eight weeks; the study period for the Diploma in Theology trimmed to two years; an annual focus on World Missions in which the students participate and raise funds; and structural changes in the constitution and administration of the school.

In the same year, Rev Dr Colton Wickramaratne, who had served for twenty-four years as Principal, decided to relinquish his responsibilities. He was succeeded by Rev Michael Dissanayeke and in 1999, by Rev William Chelliah, who currently serves in this position.

In 1995, the B.Th. programme was launched with six students, two of whom were faculty members, with a view to faculty upgrading; two of the other four, Senaka de Silva and Frances Ratnavira, joined the faculty the next year. The overseas faculty included Dr Everett and Evelyn McKinney, Dr Bill and Alvera Farrand, Rev Deryk Tan and Rev Jim and Jeanne Lowell.

The ATA accrediting team evaluated the B.Th. programme in January the following year and provisionally accredited the programme, outlining three areas for development – which were the library collection, faculty upgrading and physical facilities.

In 1999, Rev Dwight and Anita Dobson, who had served in the 1960s as missionaries in Sri Lanka, and had after a recent visit been burdened to throw their weight behind the development of AGBC, arrived to stay on campus and do their part.

With the assistance of Rev Dwight Dobson, the number of books in the library was doubled, to more than ten thousand volumes. By 2008, the collection had grown to twelve thousand volumes, with electronic and audio visual resources as well. Providing a comprehensive collection in all three languages has been a boon to the students, particularly those in the local languages. The librarian, Sis Ira de Silva had professional training at SABC/ATA the next year and the facility was enlarged as well.

The faculty upgrading programme was launched in 1997. Sis Sandra Chelliah was sent to Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in the Philippines and returned the next year with a Master in Ministry qualification. By 1998 the entire faculty, both full-time and part-time, had been trained at B.Th. level, with two at Masters level. Rev Anulananda Ratnavira returned from SABC with a M.Div. degree in 1999. Rev Senaka de Silva received his M.Min. degree in Singapore, making it possible for AGBC to handle the Bachelor’s Degree with its local faculty. In 2005, the Principal, Rev William Chelliah, completed his Ph.D. in Counselling, and in 2008 two other faculty members, Senaka de Silva and Sandra Chelliah pursued their doctoral studies at SABC. Other junior members of the faculty have also been sent abroad for further studies.

With the growth of the school, there has always been pressure on the available facilities. Rev Dobson would pointedly ask, “Do you have a dream?” He certainly had and was used much by the Lord in realising it. He would relentlessly pursue the construction of buildings, purchase of land and focus attention on the funding need both here and abroad. With unbounded energy he made his dream a reality. Gigantic costs were only a mountain to be moved by faith. It was not only buildings, but also the provision of modernised communications with computers and office equipment.

As early as 1996 five new apartments were constructed on top of one of the buildings, to provide residential facilities for student families. In November 2001, work began on the construction of a three storey building with accommodation for forty girls, and two apartments for visiting faculty, and an 8-bed pastors dormitory. It is a huge ‘faith project’ with funds raised both locally and abroad. In 2004, a property with a factory building on it, adjoining the AGBC property, became available and it was bought and made into a Pastors’ Resource Centre. It extended the reach of AGBC in the Assemblies of God of Ceylon family to the continuing education of serving pastors. In 2009, it was decided to revamp the administrative and chapel building, in keeping with the growing needs of the school. It contains an air-conditioned auditorium, now seating 700, an additional hall, classrooms, an enlarged library, with the existing administrative rooms on the lower ground floor. The building was dedicated in March 2011, and the enlarged auditorium was appropriately named Dobson Auditorium, in recognition of Rev Dwight Dobson’s immense contribution to developing the school.

Apart from buildings AGBC has been blessed with costly equipment – an electricity generator (2001) to keep energy costs down, and a 26-seater bus (2002) to facilitate student ministry projects in the outstations.

When the ATA accreditation team visited the college in 2002 they were impressed with the progress over the years, and having asked for minor adjustments to the credit hour calculation, were pleased to give full accreditation to all AGBC’s programmes.

A Greater Blessing to Churches
The relationship with the churches of the Assemblies of God of Ceylon has always been special. AGBC students came from the churches, many of whom sponsored their students with sacrifice and every weekend the students would be sent to minister in their churches. But it was clear that there were many more needing training who may not be able to follow the courses at Ja-Ela The Jaffna Extension Bible School was mooted in 1999 and set up in 2001 with Rev Jason Selvarajah as coordinator. The extension school taught the first year of study, and the students who wished to complete their diplomas and graduate had to thereafter do so in Ja-Ela. Extension courses were also taught in the Regions of the Assemblies of God of Ceylon where there was a need for this. In 2010, the Colombo Extension for pastors of the South Western Region was established, and a similar school at Kurunegala for the Central Region. At Ja-Ela, a night Bible School had been inaugurated in 1999 with a view to training lay church leaders. The Bible School also provided special training courses for pastors related to ministry upgrading requirements of the organisation.

The range of academic programmes which at the start was just the Diploma in Theology, has over the years been widened to the Bachelor in Theology (from 1995), and thereafter, in conjunction with SABC, a M.Div., and the Master of Arts in Christian Ministies (in 2011). The equipping of pastors already serving in ministry was given consideration, and two courses of two-year duration in which they give five days each month, were launched in 2007 – the Diploma in Christian Ministry and the Bachelor in Christian Ministry. These two courses together with all others being offered were accredited by the ATA in 2007.

The year 2006 was a landmark year with 52 students graduating from AGBC, the largest number in any one year up to date. This was because the graduation of the previous year had to be postponed due to the relief work as a result of the devastating tsunami of December 2004. The AGBC graduation is a significant event before the whole church, and to give it time for preparation the graduation was shifted from December to March the following year from 2004. Special awards to recognise outstanding students were incorporated in the graduation from 1996 – the Campus Life Award, the Academic Award, and the All-Round Student Award. In 2002 the Women’s Servant Leadership Award for Compassionate Ministries was endowed in honour of Sis Vijaya Gnanamuttu.

Ministry in the Holy Spirit, the Pentecostal distinctive of the Assemblies of God, and developing a heart for Missions are focal points of the training the students receive. Students learn not only in the lecture halls of AGBC, they learn by participating in the active spiritual life programmes and evangelism ourtreaches, they learn by taking responsibility for tasks and chores in day-to-day college life. They learn by interaction with faculty and other students, and when they graduate they continue to be part of AGBC through its Alumni Association.

The presence of Dr Jim Roane, the son-in-law of one of the School’s founding fathers, Dr Alfred Cawston, on the 2011 visiting faculty, is an apt reminder of the turning wheel of time, when one generation hands the torch to another. Generations have passed through the hands of dedicated teachers into their respective fields of work, shaped holistically to meet the challenges of ministry in Sri Lanka. AGBC has a vision for the ‘whited harvest’ in Sri Lanka, and forty years on, is busy fulfilling its special role in preparing the labourers whom the Lord of the Harvest has called.

General Superintendent / Executive Chairmen Since 1946
Rev. Walter Clifford                      1946 – 1947

Rev R N Asirwatham                    1947 – 1948

Rev. Alfred                                    1948 – 1949

Rev. Carl F Graves                       1949 – 1955

Rev. William Farrand. 1955 – 1957

Rev. A O Speldewinde                  1957 – 1964

Rev W J G Beling                         1964 – 1970

Rev. Dr. Colton S Wickramaratne 1970 – 1994, 1998 – 2000

Rev. David Beling                          2000 – 2002

Rev. Dishan M Wickramaratne      2012 – 2016

Rev. Michael Dissanayeke            1994 – 1998, 2002 – 2012, 2016 – 2020

Rev. Dr. Chrissokumar Handy       2020 to present