Tangalle Methodist Church

Methodist Church, Tangalle
Photo credit: Google Street View

The Methodist Church in Tangalle (Sinhala: තංගල්ල මෙතොදිස්ත පල්ලිය) is situated near Old Dutch Fort in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka.

History
The history of the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka dates back to the early 19th century (Melton & Baumann, 2010). The Methodist Bishop Thomas Coke (1747-1814) who hoped to open Methodist missions in the East Indies, set sail for Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) on 30 December 1813 with six other missionaries including William Ault, Benjamin Clough, George Erskine, Thomas Hall Squance, William Martin Harvard, and James Lynch. However, during the voyage, Coke died and was buried at sea (Melton & Baumann, 2010). The six others, except for Harvard (he remained in Bombay, India due to family circumstances but arrived in Sri Lanka later), arrived in Galle on 29 June 1814, six months after they started their journey and one year before the fall down of the Kingdom of Kandy.

This church in Tangalle was built by Methodist missionaries in 1903 (Abeyawardana, 2004; Bohingamuwa, 2005).

The building
The walls as well as the foundation of the church are built of rubble (Bohingamuwa, 2005). The roof is covered with Calicut tiles. Doors are built of timber and the windows are of stained glass (Bohingamuwa, 2005).

References
1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Ruhuna: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 955-575-073-4. p.97.
2) Bohingamuwa, W., 2005. Preliminary Survey of Tsunami-affected Monuments and Sites in the Maritime Region of Sri Lanka. Part VI. ICOMOS Sri Lanka. p.115.
3) Melton, J.G. and Baumann, M. eds., 2010. Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, [6 volumes]. abc-clio. p.1868.

Location Map
This page was last updated on 5 May 2023
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