On Sunday 16th May, 2021, the Honorable Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh inaugurated the newly constructed Church of Saint John in the village of Sridampara in Tangail District through the holy communion service. Rev John Probhudan Hira, Synod Secretary and Principal of St. Andrew’s Theological College was present at the inauguration of the new church. All the priests of Haluaghat Deanery including Probhudan Hira, Taize Brothers and some priests and dignitaries of Dhaka Deanery were also present. Members of Sridampara New Parish and members of the adjoining Thanarbaid Parish attended the inaugural ceremony. In the inaugural worship, the word of the Lord was shared by Rev. Simson Mazumder.
A reception is held at the end of the opening worship. At the beginning of the reception, on behalf of the local parish, the Honorable Moderator Bishop Sunil Mankhin and Mrs. Monita Mankhin were crowned by the Garo tribal culture. After the discussion and pleasant cultural program, the inauguration ceremony of the newly built church was concluded with a fellowship lunch. Rev James Duke Baroi, Dean of Madhupur region presided over the reception.
Prior to the inaugural ceremony, members of the local parish of different ages joined the newly-built church service from a distance of about one kilometer, accompanied by musical instruments of indigenous culture, dance and music, and a procession of honorable moderators and guests. Later, the honorable moderator, along with others, cut the ribbon on the main gate of the newly built church and opened the church for public worship. At this point, Brothers Gioum and Eric from Taize Community released a dove to honour the occasion.
In addition to this, Sridampara Parish Secretary Mr. David Simsang donated two acres of land for the construction of the church. The members of the parish also donated another one acre of land.
We thank the United Thank Offering-UTO of Episcopal Church of America who have abundantly given the financial assistance to finish the construction. We are greatly grateful to them. We expect their prayers at all times.
It may be mentioned here that there is a total of 65 Garo tribal families in Sridampara will worship using the New Church Building whose main livelihood is agriculture. Moreover, the children and youth of the local community will use this place to get their ways and skills of life.
