Our Church History

CSI Christians are an inseparable part of the Malayali Christian community in Coimbatore city. Christians of the Catholic, Orthodox and Marthoma denominations have always had their churches and educational institutions in this city. However, for generations, Malayali CSI Christians who were in Coimbatore for their occupational or educational needs had to rely on churches of other denominations in matters of faith and for Holy Sacraments. To meet this need, the following permanent residents of Coimbatore – A. T. Thomas Ambat, Jacob Samuel Modayil, P. Mathew Cherian, C. G. Thomas Ambat – initiated the necessary steps in 1992 to begin a CSI congregation here. Soon, contacts were established with other CSI Christians in the city and a meeting was organized in July 1993. A committee was formed including M/s A. T. Nainan, V. T. Thomas, M. A. Oommen, Dr. Benjamin George and Dr. Oommen Mani. Mr. A. T. Thomas was elected as the official convener and coordinator. Dr. Benjamin George gave Rs. 500 /- as the first contribution to the fund formed to run the church.

The Bishop of the Madhya Kerala Diocese at the time, Rt. Rev. Sam Mathew, provided his guidance and leadership to the endeavor. The then Bishop of Coimbatore, Rt. Rev. William Moses also extended his cooperation and encouragement and advised on the required next steps.

Rev. Thomas K. Oommen (1993-1994), who was then a vicar at Bangalore, was engaged by Rt. Rev. Sam Mathew to come to Coimbatore and lead the Sunday service once every month. As a precursor to this, a Cottage Prayer was conducted under the leadership of Rev. Thomas K. Oommen at the residence of Mr. A. T. Ninan on Saturday, 11 December 1993. The first Holy communion service was celebrated at All Souls CSI Church by Rt. Rev. William Moses who was assisted by Rev. Thomas. K. Oommen. Thus our long cherished dream was realized on 12th December 1993.

This arrangement of the service being conducted every second Sunday of the month continued till the end of April 1994. The choir, which is a significant part of worship, was led from the beginning by Mr. Umesh George. Mrs. Rajamma Thomas took initiative to start and lead the Sunday School. Several other initiatives such as Women’s Fellowship, Youth Fellowship and Senior Citizen’s Fellowship were also eventually started. Also, there were other programs such as Fasting Prayer and Bible Study as well.

From May 1994, it was decided to conduct the Sunday Service regularly and a house was rented as a Parsonage. As a result, the Diocese appointed Rev. Jacob Idiculla (1994-1995) as the full-time Vicar for the church. Around this time, permission to use All Souls Church for the congregation was revoked and there were difficulties in finding space for the congregation to gather. Each Sunday, the service had to be conducted at a different school, hall or church. Rev. William Abraham (1995-1997) who followed as the main presbyter understood these difficulties and rallied efforts to build a church for the congregation. In the event of the demise of two of the church members, they were denied permission to be buried in the CSI Cemetery and had to be interred at the Podanur Railway Cemetery.