The story of Vernon Memorial Methodist Church, Kalyan began over a hundred years ago.

In the year 1914, when Rev. Wilson E. Bancroft was the Pastor, the official board of the Taylor Memorial Church at Byculla decided to organize a church at Kalyan, which at that time, was growing as an important junction. By the beginning of 1917 an English service was duly started at Kalyan and by the end of that year a Methodist Church was established.

The Church then had 18 members and soon enough a church building was also erected. It was referred to as ‘one of the prettiest little churches in India’ in the report of the Bombay Annual Conference of 1918. The construction of the church building was made possible through the contribution of one family – the Burns. Mr. & Mrs. Burns’ son named Vernon had an unfortunate fall from the fourth floor of a building to the pavement below but miraculously survived, so as a token of gratitude towards Almighty God’s grace and mercy showered upon their son, the Burns family made a thanks offering which helped finance the cost of the church building. The corner stone was laid by Bishop William Burt D. D. on the 20th of Dec 1917. The opening and dedication service was led by Bishop J. W. Robinson D. D. on 24th Nov 1918 and the church then came to be known as the Vernon Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. This English church functioned with the support of the Taylor Memorial church leaders and was under the care of Rev. R.N. Duthie, who resided in the parsonage of the church.

An important role was played by the Railways in the growth of the church. The Railways was then known as the Great Indian Peninsular Railway under the British Administration. In 1920, the Railways made significant changes at Kalyan junction. According to the report in the Bombay Annual Conference of 1921, ‘no station in India has seen such important changes in Railway Administration as have taken place at Kalyan. Consequently, it boosted the growth of the region and Kalyan began to emerge as a new town with a significant number of Europeans and Anglo Indians, most of them working for the Railways. With the increasing presence of the Railway community, this church at Kalyan also grew in significance and started expanding.

The then Vernon Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church became the centre for various activities like: The District Orphanage under the care of the Pastor, development of the vernacular language in the surrounding areas, Ladies Aid and Home Mission Society, Boys Hostel and School, Young People’s Society, and publication of the district monthly paper ‘Methodist Messenger.’ The English service at Igatpuri was also conducted by the Pastor of the Kalyan church. Meanwhile the work of the church under the leadership of Rev. R. N. Duthie was acceptable to the Railway community and so the Railway Administration supported the upkeep of the church with a substantial monthly grant.

However due to certain unavoidable circumstances, by 1939, the English Church was in deep crisis, with the membership dwindling down drastically due to transfers of the Railway staff and the Railway Administration had also stopped their monthly grant to the church. A period of gloom ensued. But divine grace guided the church through those troubled times under the leadership of Rev. A. C. F. King and the others. Later on, the Marathi congregation which was growing took care of the English service. From the 1960’s the church remained on a firm footing steered by the efforts and capability of various eminent Pastors like Rev. D. Y. Gaikwad, Rev. B.A. Francis, and Rev. S. P. Lokhande. In the early 70’s, Rev. B. A. Francis’ daughters Ms. Enaakshi and Ms. Meenakshi, and also Ms. Smita Kank from the Marathi church took care of the English Sunday School. Though there would be only about six to seven children, the Sunday school teachers took pains to teach the children Bible stories, Psalms, memory verses and choruses as well. It was surprising to note that even the carol rounds during the Christmas season were taken care of by the Sunday school. Thereafter in the late 70’s, during the stewardship of Rev. C. Paulraj Athisiamony, the English Congregation was brought under the care of the Tamil Pastorate, though intermittently the Marathi church Pastors like Rev. Timothy, Rev. Waghmare, Rev. Joglekar, Rev. Ahale, Rev. Waskar, Rev. Chhatre, Rev. Thorat, and Rev. Jadhav would render their services as and when needed.

In the meantime, in 1981, the Methodist Church in India was established as an “autonomous affiliated” church with the United Methodist Church. The MCI then became an independent organisation with its own constitution and book of discipline and articles of faith.

With the growing needs of the different linguistic congregations, space in the existing church building was becoming insufficient and so it was decided to extend the existing church building. By June 1994, the extension of the church with a new Parsonage to accommodate two pastors was completed and dedicated to serve the spiritual needs of the multilingual Methodist Christian community. Simultaneously, the English congregation was also gaining membership because at that time, though the parents were from vernacular medium, their children would go to English medium schools, hence many families started attending the English church service and the English worship centre under the care of the Tamil Pastorate was slowly and steadily fulfilling the membership criteria for an Independent Pastorate.

In 1996, Rev. T. S. S. Christopher Raja along with his responsibilities as Pastor-In-Charge of the Tamil church took charge of the English worship centre and worked hard for its growth. During these budding years, there were hardly about 10 to 15 families and there were times when the Sunday attendance would barely reach double figures and the offertory would be only a few hundred rupees. But God was gracious to keep these families bound together and understand the urge and the need for a separate Pastorate. Rev. Christopher Raja’s efforts in nurturing the English worship centre with proper pastoral care helped the English congregation find its own standing and subsequently he was instrumental in paving the way for an Independent English Pastorate. Encouraged by his efforts and guidance, a few of the elders and enthusiasts of the English congregation, led by late Mr. S. P. Rao, showed keen interest in collecting and compiling the members’ individual and family records to represent the worship centre’s request for a separate Pastorate. VMMEC pays a special tribute to Rev. T. S. S. Christopher Raja and late Mr. S. P. Rao for their untiring efforts in diligently and faithfully toiling for the Pastorate. Triumphantly, in November 2004, the then Bishop Rt. Rev. S. V. Sampath Kumar, on clearance and recommendation of the then D. S. late Rev. S. G. Suryawanshi, granted the status of an independent pastorate to the English worship centre, and thus it came to be known as the Vernon Memorial Methodist English Church.

Initially, though the VMMEC was an Independent Pastorate, the Sunday worship services and pastoral care was provided by the then serving Tamil church Pastors, whereby, Rev. Sabarenjithan and Rev. N. Lancer served the English church as an additional charge for about one and two years respectively. Even after obtaining the Pastorate, the English church went through troubled times on and off in the very initial years, when the assigned pastors would not be available, especially on holy communion Sundays.

Here, a special mention needs to be made of the willingness and dedication of the then Marathi church Pastors, like Rev. Robin, Rev. Udgirkar, Rev. Naik and Rev. Kharat, Rev. Daniel and late Rev. Devodass from Ambernath Methodist Church, in offering their services as and when the need arose and administering the Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month. It was during Rev. N. Lancer’s tenure that the English church slowly and steadily grew from a position with a meagre but substantial starting budget of struggling to even pay the monthly honorarium to the Tamil Pastors who were given charge of the English church, to a position of supporting a full-fledged appointed Pastor. VMMEC will always remain thankful to Rev. N. Lancer who took keen interest in building up the English congregation with his flair for music and started the Praise and Worship session, and guided the Pastorate in all administrative aspects.

Rev. Jitesh Soans was appointed as the Pastor of the VMMEC in 2007 and continued to serve until 2012. It was surely God’s prudence to send Rev. Jitesh, a young, energetic, and vibrant Pastor to nurture the elderly and youthful mix of the congregation. It was during his tenure that many new comers started attending the English church and coincidentally, it was during these years that there were many youth who were just out of Sunday school as well as many children attending the Sunday school. The children and the youth found themselves to be comfortable as well as compatible with his zeal and exuberance. He himself took charge of the young, energetic and dynamic youth and nurtured them with a series of Bible studies and discussions and healthy participations which helped them to upgrade and enhance their faith and wisdom in vividly understanding the word of God and the importance of a righteous life. He sincerely and wisely shaped and moulded the youth to become the future torch bearers of the VMMEC. His youthfulness and enthusiasm motivated the Sunday School teachers to groom the innocent, tender and receptive minds of the Sunday School children and to instil within them the values of the Holy Bible and the importance of prayer and fellowship. The members of VMMEC take this opportunity to thank Rev. Jitesh Soans for successfully taking up the burden of shepherding the church through its initial Pastorate years from 2007 to 2012.

Thereafter in 2012, the VMMEC was yet again fortunate enough to have Rev. Tennison Peter, a dedicated Pastor and an able administrator, as the Pastor-In-Charge. Since 2012, the VMMEC has witnessed a steady growth and the membership increased by leaps and bounds. Rev. Tennison’s association with the VBS ministry brought about a change in the way VBS was conducted at VMMEC. His friendly nature and compatible approach brought about a healthy cordiality in the fellowship of the youth as well as the elders. As the word spread of the availability of an English church at Kalyan, new members started coming in from Thane, Kalva, Lodha area in Dombivli, Ambernath, Badlapur and Titvala. Rev. Andrew Samuel’s appointment as Deacon to the VMMEC in 2017 provided great support to Rev. Tennison Peter in expanding the ministry through effective evangelism. On foreseeing the need of shepherding new members to the flock of the VMMEC and the MCI at large, the church committee, in tandem with Pastor Tennison Peter and assistant Pastor Rev. Andrew Samuel, decided to open a worship centre for such people of the suburbs and the extended suburbs. Fruitfully, on the 6th of Aug 2017, a worship centre was inaugurated at Thane with about 12 to 13 families worshipping every Sunday and expectantly praying for an Independent Pastorate at Thane. Later on a worship centre in the Lodha area of Dombivli (East) was also started on the 7*h of Oct 2018 with about eight to ten families worshipping there.

The story of the VMMEC, Kalyan that began over a hundred years ago continues… as this English congregation walks into the next century holding the hand of God who has faithfully led the church thus far and has always been faithful to His promise as mentioned in Isaiah 41:10 – ‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for l am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. The VMMEC now boasts of a membership of about 70 to 75 families with about 110 to 120 full members. The members of VMMEC are greatly indebted to Rev. Tennison Peter and Rev. Andrew Samuel for their untiring efforts, guidance and support in successfully leading the congregation towards the furtherance of God’s Kingdom being true to the theme from Nehemiah 2:18(b) – …”Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to do this good work. The VMMEC assures its solidarity to the vision of Rev. Tennison Peter and the Church committee.

It is said that history repeats itself. A hundred years ago, history of VMMC was in the making when Vernon was miraculously saved and a church was erected in his memory. History is again in the making in VMMC’s Centenary year with Vernon’s grandson Daniel’s visit to the church as a historical and significant culmination of the Centenary year celebration. The VMMEC was fortunate to be blessed with a surprise visit from Mr. Daniel Keyworth, grandson of late Mr. Vernon Burn, on the 18 of Sept 2018. He shared a few memories and also some photographs of his late grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Burns and also brought good tidings for the church from his mother, daughter of late Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Burns, and his own family. All the five congregation Pastors of Vernon Memorial Methodist Church, Kalyan, along with the co-ordination committee and church members, warmly welcomed Mr. Daniel Keyworth and presented him a memento commemorating this historical visit. He stated that he was indeed very happy to have had the privilege and the opportunity of visiting this church bearing the name of his late maternal grandfather especially in the Centenary year. VMMEC members are indeed blessed and honoured and thank God Almighty for this memorable event and take immense pleasure in thanking Mr. Daniel Keyworth for his noble gesture.

The Vernon Memorial Methodist Church as a whole also presently boasts of having five Independent Pastorates, namely: Marathi (recognised even before India’s independence), Tamil (recognised in 1965), English (recognised in 2004), Telugu (recognised in 2006) and Hindi (recognised in 2010), worshiping in the same sanctuary and by God’s grace the membership of all the five congregations is ever on the increase. All the five congregations at Vernon Memorial Methodist Church, Kalyan pay obeisance to Almighty God’s grace and mercy and praise Him in unison quoting from 1 Samuel 7:12(b) – …”Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

The members and children of VMMEC sincerely and earnestly pray that God Almighty sustains the Church as a true and righteous bride of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ until His second coming, with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

All honour and glory to God the Father in the name of the Lond a Saviour Jesus Christ.