OIC - The Oldham Methodist Church History

Rev. D. O. Fox	1872-1876
Rev. John Blackstock	1876-1879
Rev. J. A. Northrup	1879-1881
Rev. Shrieves	1881-1883
Rev. John Blackstock	1883-1887
Rev. D. O. Fox	1887-1888
Rev. J. O. Denning	1891-1892
Rev. J. E. Robinson	1893-1893
Rev. James Bruere	1894-1995
Rev. W. W. Bruere	1894-1995
Rev. H. H. Crane	1896-1897
Rev. Denis Osborne	1897-1902
Rev. C. B. Hell	1903-1907
Rev. J. B. Thornton	1907-1908
Rev. C. R. Vickery	1909-1909
Rev. Fawcett Shaw	1910-1910
Rev. W. L. Clarke	1912-1913
Rev. W. W. Bruere	1914-1927
Rev. W. L. Clarke	1928-1928
Rev. A. Richards	1929-1936
Rev. R. D. Bisbee	1937-1944
Rev. S. K. Page	1944-1946
Rev. E. Bolton	1946-1951
Rev. F. Sweeten	1951-1952
Rev. S. C. Crawford	1952-1956
Rev. M.S. Garrison	1956-1959
Rev. G. T.Johnson	1959-1962
Rev. A. Holdereed	1963-1964
Rev. J. N. Navgiri	1963-1964
Rev. G. T. Johnson	1964-1969
Rev. M. Look	1968-1969
Rev. S. E. Downes	1969-1975
Rev. John Silas	1971-1972
Rev. P. H. Wasker	1975-1976
Rev. Fred Wray	1976-1978
Rev. P. H. Wasker	1978-1980
Rev. Jebaraj Martin	1980-1983
Rev. P. H. Wasker	1983-1984
Rev. S. P. Lokhande	1983-1984
Rev. M. A. Daniel	1984-2000
Rev. S. A Joglekar	2000-

We thank God for the above Ministers who laboured hard in the Church to keep its great heritage.


The Methodist History	About Oldham Church	Oldham Church Pastors	Interesting Christian Links

About Oldham Church Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham was born on the 15th of December 1852 at Bangalore. His parents were Roman Catholic Britishers. His father James Oldham was an officer in the Indian Regiment. His mother Mary Elizabeth Burling, died when he was a baby. The long journey in those days around the tip of Africa was too long to send the child 'home' and he was left to the care of servants. After his mother's death he grew under the care of a woman helper. His first impression of religion was at 6 years of age when a missionary couple visited his father. The lady taught him how to pray. The prayer she taught was - "O LORD SAVE ME. O LORD CHRIST, CONVERT ME." This prayer stuck in his mind so strongly that for the next fifteen years he kept repeating the same prayer before closing his eyes at night.
	"Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord our Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee" Thanks be to Our Jehovah God that the work of The Methodist Church began in India in 1856 by Mrs. & Mr. Butler from the USA. On November 1871, William Taylor came to Bombay and established the Methodist Church on February 4, 1872. Taylor came to Poona for rest. In August 1872 he started holding Gospel meetings in homes.
On August 14, 1872, during one such meeting, he challenged people to form a Church. The Methodist Episcopal Church, Poona was founded on September 28th, 1872, by Rev. William Taylor, with 37 members. The first Quarterly Conference of the M.E.C. met on January 6th,1873 at the house of Dr. A. G. Fraser who was the local preacher and class leader. Rev. William Taylor chaired the meeting and Rev. D. O. Fox was the Pastor-in-charge. There were 95 members by then and 18 children in the Sunday School.
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"Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.' From its very inception, this was the underlying theme behind every activity of the M.E.C. There was tremendous emphasis laid on sound, Bible-based Sunday School teaching) and at every meeting there was a detailed report of the Sunday School program and of how many children were led to Christ. Right from the start, the M.E.C. was missionary-minded. Evangelism was its main objective and it was pursued in the form of weekly street-preaching, and open-air meetings thrice a week. For the spiritual nurture of the members there was a Bible Class initially conducted by Dr. Fraser and there were frequent house meetings. This early church recorded a great number of conversions, much to the joy of its devout members and the mission of Christ was being accomplished with much zeal and fervor. There was a chain reaction and Methodist Committees were initiated in Lonavala, Deksat, Solapur and Shahbad, Karachi and even Quetta.
"Savior like a shepherd lead us, Much we need Thy tender care. Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus Thou has bought us, Thine we are." The Methodists in Poona met in a Baptist Church. In 1873 they moved into Kyte's Castle on Convent Street. Two years later they moved to a hall on East Street and paid Rs.1 2,000/- in rent for the next fourteen years. On June 19, 1886, the old church which was purchased for Rs.5, 716/- was dedicated. And the MEC marched down with the same faith and determination. With the dawn of the next century, the membership had grown and so did the needs.
The members decided to purchase Sankey's Hymnbooks with the soft cover, and a hundred of them were purchased. The MEC was a giving church from the very beginning, supporting several evangelistic bodies like the Anglo Indian Evangelization Society, and aiding a social cause like the Nursing Fund of t he Sassoon Hospital. In the year 1911, the members resolved to purchase the Methodist Hymnals and include the meaningful and hearty repetition of the Apostle's Creed during the worship services. Plans were floated to renovate the church building, as well as the Parsonage.

	It was as early as 1919 that a reference is made to the Ladies Aid Society, which shouldered tremendous responsibility in all church matters. The then Official Board transacted a deal with a certain Mr. W. Willis and purchased his house and cottage for an amount of Rs. 15,000/- The Ladies Aid Society undertook the task of using the offering for the poor, for the needy cases and submitting a report regularly to the Quarterly Conference.
A special mention must be made of Mrs. & Mr. H. Cross, who made several generous contributions to the church for the purchase of a new organ, electric fans and even offered Rs.13,000/- towards the purchase of the new property on a nominal interest. Before the 2nd World War Pastor Bisbee discussed plans for a church tower and other facilities. In 1951 the Official Board decided to hold the Dawn Prayer Meeting near Baker's Hill on Easter morning. It was also resolved to name the Poor Fund the Social Service Fund'
"Rise up O men of God, The church for you doth wait,Her strength unequal to her task, Rise up and make her great." The Indigenous Ministry Committee was set up to support the Pastors of the English Churches in the Bombay Conference and the MEC contributed Rs.100 towards the same. Inspite of limited funds, the Methodist Episcopal Church contributed generously to the Mission to lepers in India. It was sometime in the 1950's that the MEC was renamed the Oldham Memorial Methodist Church. By this time both the Youth Group and the Choir were actively involved in the worship services. The Marathi and Kannarese congregations too had begun worshipping at the OMC the Secretary of the MCSA called for particulars of the Oldham Church property to be included in the all Church Property for registration under the Bombay State Public Trust Act of 1950. However it was unanimously resolved that the Secretary write to Executive Board, informing them that since the Oldham Church Property was the property of the Congregation, a separate registration was being applied for by the Trustees of the Church. A special committee was set up and a programme drawn up to celebrate the 8Oth Anniversary of Methodism. A special programme was planned to celebrate the church's anniversary on Saturday 28th. A new Building Fund was inaugurated with the future needs of the Church and community in view. Under Rev. M. Garrison the plans took shape and during Rev. G. T. Johnson's ministry, the blue prints were drawn up.

Dr. Stanley Jones preached at OMC in March 1954. Funds were raised for the Assam Flood Relief Fund. A special mention in due appreciation must also be made of Mrs. Hutchings who served the church in numerous capacities and rendered substantial financial aid to the church and the Taylor High School. Several visitors including soldiers conveyed their great appreciation of the hospitality and Christian fellowship extended to them at OMC. Efforts were on to prepare the Church history. In 1957-58, Dr. Parkhe generously paid for the new P.A. system for the church and also drew up a plan for the extension of the church. The first ever Breakfast Sale was organized at OMC in September 1959. Mrs. Knight too had served the church in numerous ways, especially as the organist for over ten years. From the time of the church's inception, Children's Day was celebrated regularly in the form of a special service. The Taylor School was renamed Hutching's School.
"Blest be the tie that binds, Our hearts in Christian love, The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above." Rev. Stanley E. Downes laboured hard to translate the blue prints into a building. Everyone at Oldham joined in the venture to raise funds for this purpose. The Hutching's School hall was used for worship while the new building came up. The Oldham Choir presented a musical concert in March 1 970, to boost the building fund. The choir concert artists even performed in Bombay that year.
Every now and then the Oldham congregation would assemble at the construction site to check if any help, was needed and would go back with a greater resolve to raise funds and speed up the work. An elaborate programme was chalked out for the dedication of the new sanctuary. Beautiful chandeliers were purchased.Several ministers who had served at Oldham in the past were invited with their spouses for the dedication, which took place on June 27, 1971 at 9:30 a.m. The new Church building was named "Oldham' after the renowned Methodist Bishop W. F. Oldham after his death in 1937. The same evening the choir presented Haydn's Oratorio "Creation'. The 100 voice ecumenical choir with the orchestra was a performance par excellence and it enthralled all that attended it. A Youth Rally was organized by John Silas. Two music groups from Bombay participated other than one of our own and it was a great time of music and testimony. As part of the dedication programme, a symposium was organized, open to non-Christians and the topic discussed was, "Religious response in changing India". A brochure was published on the occasion. By the time the construction of the new sanctuary was undertaken, Rev. S. E. Downes was the Pastor-in-charge at Oldham.