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by Shirley J. S. Peiris

St. James' Church, Egoda Uyana celebrated her centenary jubilee and here is an account of her progress during the last 100 years written by one of her worshippers.

The strip of land wedged between the sea and the Panadura river in the southernmost part of Moratuwa is called Egoda Uyana. This garden (Uyana) on the other bank (Egoda) which was once full of luxurious coconut plantations has slowly been transformed into a suburban residential area.

Spiritually, too it has developed into a 'garden of grace'.

Almost at the northern boundary of this village stands that plain but attractive little church which was dedicated to Saint James on 22nd October, 1903 by the Rt. Rev. E. A. Copleston, the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Colombo; the church was founded by V. Johannes de Mel of "Melville", Moratuwa. Due to the large munificence of Mr. de Mel, perhaps unsurpassed in the annals of the Church of Ceylon, the Anglicans in this area have been in the very enviable position of meeting together in a place dedicated to the glory of God in Christian fellowship during the last 100 years.

St. James' with its congregation worshipping in Sinhala once a week has steadily built up a tradition of its own. The peace and dignity of church meetings, the unanimity in choice of her office bearers, the simplicity in the attire of her parishioners, the solidarity of her members, the ever willingness, readiness and enthusiasm of her youth and the progressiveness of her leaders - all these have helped to create that atmosphere of peace, unity and fellowship which is a speciality of St. James'. In these times when women enjoy equal status with men, St. James' has certainly keep pace with time by electing women to the Board of Wardens and as sidesmen.

During the past 100 years the Church has been served by a line of Anglican priests, the chain beginning with Rev. Johannes de Silva followed by Canon Jacob Mendis, Rev. J. A. Kalpage, Rev. A. B. Karunaratne, Canon W. E. Boteju, Canon D. G. A. Wijesekera, Canon R. H. J. Andradi, Revds. Neville W. Fernando, Patrick Abeywardene, Douglas de Mel, Harry Perera, Noel de Mel, Gamini Serasinghe, Patmore Pereira, Lloyd Weerasuriya, Henry Fernando, Douglas Amaratunge, M. S. Meniknayake, D. E. S. de Silva, D. D. J. Peiris, Rev. Gregory Periera, Rev. Sunil Ferdinando, Rev. Ranjith Jayawera and Rev. Marc Billimoria. St. James' Church which was originally a daughter of the Church of Holy Emmanuel Moratuwa became a part of the Southern Moratuwa Parish with St. Peters Koralawella, as the Mother Church on 1st February, 1920. From 1st May 1972, St. James' has maintained her priests fully and has fallen into the category of self-supporting parishes of the Diocese of Colombo.

The congregation of St. James has been drawn from men, women and children of every walk of life, and at different times has included Justices of the Peace and Members of Parliament, planters and visiting agents, members of the medical, legal and teaching professions, craftsmen and draughtsmen, clerks and technicians, book keepers and accountants, directors and secretaries of mercantile establishments, semi-skilled and minor employees. There have been individual benefactors who by their generous gifts have adopted the church and helped to continue her good work. They with the many not so affluent have by their labours and incessant prayers enriched this House of God.

It was the Rev. John Ayre who once remarked that "the school in the handmaid of religion" and a reference to the Sunday School and the Day School would not be out of place. It was in 1856 that for the first time in Egoda Uyana an organised Sunday School was started by the Rev. Cornellius Senanayake. This Sunday School which came under the administration of the Holy Emmanuel Sunday School Committee since then, was given to the St. Peter's Sunday School Committee in 1899, and it was only in 1914 that the administration of her Sunday School became the sole responsibility of St. James' Church. The story of St. James Sunday School, however, has not been always one of growing numbers. There have been many ups and downs during the past 100 years; there have been periods when it flourished with over 10 teachers and some hundred pupils; others when it was reduced to 4 teachers and less than 25 pupils.

Since September 1975 the Sunday School children have been enjoying a free breakfast every Sunday morning before the commencement of their lessons. In addition to satisfying the physical needs of the children, this corporate breakfast acts as a means of instilling into the young minds a sense of fellowship and togetherness, a sense of belonging to a single family where both the rich and the poor sit together for a common meal, where both the privileged and the under-privileged drink their tea from the common plastic cup, and where caste and class distinctions are all forgotten in an atmosphere where love and fellowship prevail abundantly.

The Day School, too, although it had its beginnings in 1815, was registered from the time of the inception of the Education Department in 1848. Permanent buildings were put up in 1908 while extensions came up in 1914 and 1928. In 1918 it attained bilingual status. This school which had over 200 pupils on roll a few decades ago had only about 40 in 1979 when they were transferred to a nearby state school and the building was divested and handed back to the church.

The building was renovated and named "V. Johannes de Mel Commemoration Hall" on 11th November, 1981.

This hall has become a hive of activity since March 1983 with the launching of the Multi-Service Rural Development Program of the Church. The multi-services afforded through this program are indeed felt needs of this rural community, and includes a pre-school, a motor mechanism training course, needlework class, spoken English class, a community health education course, a children's clinic, a youth recreation and a drama club and a food and nutrition program. A fair cross-section of the entire population of the village have thus become the beneficiaries of this program irrespective of class, creed or colour. St. James' Church which has got itself involved in this program invariably has taken the role of enabler, advocate and care-taker of those in need and want.

The Youth Fellowship of the Church has always been active. It's activities have been spread over a wide range of fields - worship and educational programs including cottage meetings, Bible study groups, seminars, one-day conferences and Bible quiz programs, community development projects including village statistical surveys, recreation programs including cricket and carrom tournaments and dramatic activities including Easter and Christmas plays and house-to-house carol singing. I do not feel it out of place to mention here that the Church of Ceylon Youth Movement has from time to time drawn on the resources of this Youth Fellowship for its leadership.

The story of St. James' Church would be incomplete without reference to the V. Johannes de Mel Commemoration League inaugurated on 17th February, 1957. Commemorating the name of the founder of the church and collaboration and understanding between the descendants of the founder and the parishioners of St. James's for the progress and welfare of the church, are the aims and object of this league.

Hundred years have elapsed before all this was attained. Delving into the historic records of St. James', one finds a panorama of progress down the years, a glimpse of humble beginnings; years of slow development. Case histories may different from one parish to another; but intrinsically all parishes serve one single purpose, through one single medium - that of bringing as many souls, if not all of them to God through Christ.

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