# Centenary Baptist Church Secunderabad

STBC-Centenary Baptist Church Secunderabad is a Baptist Church in the city of Secunderabad, India which was established in 1875 by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABM) and was later led by the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches (STBC) through the Deccan Association. STBC-Centenary Baptist Church has a current membership of more than 3000. The original older structure and a new centenary structure built in 1991 exist side by side in the same premises. Worship services are only held in the new sanctuary. The church conducts worship in Telugu, English, Hindi and Manipuri.
Senior Pastor, The Rev. N. Thomas, STBC, who had been ailing for a long time, died on 19 April 2021. He was born on 2 March 1946 in Nellutla near Jangaon and underwent Spiritual formation in Andhra Christian Theological College, Rajahmundry and later upgraded his studies in MCI-Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur and served as a Pastor of this Church from 1991. Funeral mass of Rev. Thomas was held at 12 noon on 20 April 2021 in Centenary Baptist Church, followed by a Burial mass at 15:00 hours at Baptist Cemetery in Bhoiguda, Secunderabad.

## History

The church was established on 14 November 1875 by American Baptist Foreign Mission Society led by The Rev. W. W. Campbell, ABM, a Baptist missionary. The first member of the congregation was Richard B. Clayburn, who was baptized on 5 December 1875. The first native Pastor Bezwada Paul, STBC was appointed in 1895. The foundation stone for the existing new church structure was laid by The Rev. Louis F. Knoll, ABM on 14 November 1975 during the ministry of The Rev. K. Devadanam, STBC, exactly 100 years after the first structure was built. The church was appropriately named STBC-Centenary Baptist Church. The groundbreaking however took place five years later, in 1980. The new sanctuary was completed and consecrated by the Old Testament scholar The Rev. G. Solomon, STBC on 17 February 1991. It took more than ten years to build the existing structure.
The church now operates 35 branch churches and 15 gospel centers in around the cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad.

## Architecture

The old church is a simple Gothic structure whereas the new church is a modern structure incorporating several elements of traditional church architecture such as Gothic styled windows. A two storied bell tower forms the facade of the church.

## Programmes

The Church has been witness to many programmes, some of them which etched in the History of Christianity in India.

### 1978: Visit of evangelist Billy Graham

In 1978, during the tenure of The Rev. G. Solomon, STBC, the global evangelist Billy Graham visited Secunderabad and the STBC-Centenary Baptist Church hosted many of the programmes forming many committees and volunteers, including The Rev. J. Chiranjeevi of the Seva Bharat. Among the ecclesiastical personalities who took part in the one-day crusade in Secunderabad included Archbishop, S. Arulappa, RCM and the Old Testament Scholar Victor Premasagar, CSI, then Principal of the near-ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological College.

### 1999: Lambadi version of the Scriptures

On 25 October 1999 during the tenure of The Rev. N. Thomas, STBC, the Lambadi version of the New Testament was released here by the Bible Society of India in the presence of The Rev. G. Babu Rao, CBCNC, then Auxiliary Secretary of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary, The Rev. G. D. V. Prasad, CSI, then Translations Director of the Bible Society of India and Mr. Bidyut Kumar Pramanik, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of India. The speakers lauded the efforts of the original translator, The Rev. B. E. Devaraj, CSI succeeded by The Rev. Lal Singh Lazarus, CSI.

## Succession of pastors

The first pastor of the Church was The Rev. B. Paul in 1895. There have been pastors with scholarly aptitudes, The Rev. K. Wilson, The Rev. G. Solomon, and The Rev. A. John Prabhakar, three of whom were involved in ministerial formation of aspirants hailing from the Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Wesleyan, and other small and indigenous church societies at near-ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological College.
| Period | Succession of pastors | Academic credentials |
| 1895-1897 | The Rev. B. Paul, STBC | |
| 1897-1900 | The Rev. W. B. Boggs, ABM | D.D. |
| 1900-1901 | The Rev. W. E. Hopkins, ABM | |
| 1901-1907 | The Rev. Frank H. Levering, ABM | B.Sc., LL.B. |
| 1907-1909 | Pastor M. Annafi Rao, STBC | |
| 1909-1913 | Pastor A. M. Boggs, ABM | |
| 1913-1938 | The Rev. Frank H. Levering, ABM | B.Sc., LL.B. |
| 1938-1946 | The Rev. G. C. Jacob, STBC | |
| 1946-1952 | Pastor D. R. Samuel, STBC | |
| 1952-1956 | The Rev. F. P. Manley, ABM | |
| 1956-1957 | Francis Peter, laity | |
| 1957-1963 | The Rev. Ch. Prakasham, STBC | |
| 1963-1966 | The Rev. K. Wilson, STBC | B.D. (Serampore), M.A., (Osmania), Th.M. (Duke), Ph.D. (Syracuse) |
| 1966-1977 | The Rev. K. Devadanam, STBC | |
| 1977-1988 | The Rev. G. Solomon, STBC | B.A. Mathematics (Andhra), B. D. (Serampore), Th.M. (Eastern), |
| 1988-1991 | The Rev. P. Jyothi Solomon, STBC | |
| 1991-2015 | The Rev. N. Thomas, STBC | L. Th. (Serampore), B. D. (Serampore) |
| 1993-2018 | The Rev. T. Ephraim, STBC | B. D. (Serampore) |
| 2022- | The Rev. A. John Prabhakar, STBC | B. D. (Serampore), M. Th. (Serampore), D. Th. (Serampore) |
| 2023-present | The Rev. M. Purshotham |