Topic: UNVEILING THE HISTORY OF ST. LUKE’S CHURCH, ABBOTTABAD

Modernage Girls Campus:

Class: Grade 5

Article by: Qasim Iqbal

St Luke’s Church:  St Luke’s Church is almost 200 years old and was built during the British regime in Abbottabad.I I got to know that St Luke’s Church was an Anglican church, dedicated to Saint Luke and was now under the control of the Peshawar Diocese of the Church of Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 when the British were ruling the area.

St. Luke: I read about St Luke and got to know that he was known as Luke the Evangelist and is one of the Four Evangelists who were the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical Gospels. It is also said that the Early Church Fathers ascribed to him the authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, which would mean Luke contributed over a quarter of the text of the New Testament, more than any other author. The Roman Catholic Church and other major denominations venerate him as Saint Luke the Evangelist and as a patron saint of artists, physicians, bachelors, surgeons, students and butchers. This church in Abbottabad was also named after the St Luke.

Construction of Church: According to the history of this Church it is said that the construction of St Luke’s was carried out somewhere in 1854-55. It is said that the construction faced delays due to slow fundraising and then a brief interruption due to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and it was completed and then consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1864. Interestingly at that time the jurisdiction of this Church covered most of the Hazara region including Abbottabad itself, Haripur, Mansehra and the Galiyat hill tracts. 

Visiting the Church: I visited the church on a Sunday along with my metheras I entered I was struck by the grand imposing structure of the church. I met the priest of the church Mr. Riaz Mubarak. He was kind enough to greet us and allow us to visit the church. There were a few worshippers left from the Sunday processions. If you see the church, you will surely realize its age. The construction style also tells that it is a typical colonial construction. The ambiance of the place is so great. While visiting the Church you feel a sense of serenity and calmness in the air. It is no doubt a mesmerizing site and the structure is grand and imposing .One is surrounded by the greenery. It is made with heavy stones and gives an impression of power which this place held in old British times. Birds while sitting on the tower of the church gave a scenic view and then the clouds with blue sky added to the beauty of this grey structure.

The building: The building is made from grey stone, eggs , some lentils, cloth and other locally available materials and the same structure is being maintained till date. It costed around Rs. 15000 to build this church at that time. The monthly maintenance of the church building these days is about Rs. 40-50,000 / month these days which is fulfilled by the donations. It has three gates . Lady garden gate, Queen Victoria gate and club gate. It has a beautiful rest house attached to it which was built for the British army.

Inside of the Church: Just like the basic structure of every church, the inside of St. Luke’s Church is also very beautiful . There are two tablets installed on the walls in the memory of Robert Roy Adams (1864) and John Paton Davidson (1865).At one corner of the church there is Holy place for the priest and in the other corner there is the Holiest place which is reserved for the Holy communion and only the Bishop can sit on the seat. The place is off bounds for everyone else. There is an other Holy seat in one corner there which is called ” cathedra” that was placed in 1864 for the visit of Bishop Of Calcutta due to which it is called “ as Cathedral” as well, the only cathedral in Hazara division. There are seats placed in the third part of the church for the masses separated by the spaces called aisles. There are also separate chairs placed for the choirs.

Services: There are regular services carried out in the church every Sunday. Apart from that there are separate services for the females once a week and also junior church as well which is also held once a week as well.

While visiting the St Luke’s church you feel a sense of serenity .It is no doubt a mesmerizing sight which leaves you spell bound with its grand structure. Birds sitting on the tower give a scenic view. It was a very informative visit where not only I learnt about the Christian religion but I also learnt about the interfaith harmony as well.