About us

HISTORY :-

Golaknath Memorial Church is the oldest church of Jalandhar City, standing gracefully with its architecture marvel and rich historical significance for more than 100 years. It is located in a prominent and central location of the city. It is a congregation in Diocese of Chandigarh, Church of North India. It was named “Golaknath Memorial Church” in memory of Rev. Golak Nath, who was the first Indian missionary in Doaba belt of Punjab. He rendered his selfless Christian ser-vices for 44 years in Jalandhar and surrounding region with great missionary zeal and devotion. Born on June 16th 1816, he was the founder of this church. He used to conduct the church services in his house only, where people from all religions came to worship and hear the word of God, from far and wide areas of Jalandhar . After his death on August 1st 1891, Rev. Charles Beatty Newton took over the charge as Pastor of this congregation in 1892. He had a desire and vision to build a church in Mission Compound for a long time, so in same year he started making efforts to fulfil this noble calling . The church members, sons of Rev.Golak Nath, missionaries, their friends and non christian friends also, contributed funds for the construction of the church. The dedicated labour, efforts, donations, pray-ers and pains made it possible to complete the church construction in 1895. The church came out as beautiful as the life of Rev. Golak Nath whom it commemo-rates.Rev. Charles Beatty Newton remained the Pastor of this Church for 14 years, though he gave 25 years of selfless Christian services to the church. Mr. William Golak Nath was the first Indian elder of the church.

ARCHITECTURE :-

It is a grand old English country style church with high slanting roof. The entrance is through a beautiful arch shaped porch. The doors and windows are made of best quality of wood having the same attractive arch shape on their top. The main entry door of the church is having exquisite engravings, lending a touch of class to the building.Comfortable, strong and tastefully made wooden benches are pro-vided for a congregation of approximately 250 persons. There are two seating wings on each side of main hall and and also a vestry at the back.

THE ALTER :-

The altar is traditionally designed and is spiritually appealing with a wooden Cross elegantly hanging in the centre. It is separated from the main seating area by a wooden railing in front and having impressive arch shaped structure on the top. The most remarkable are, the three Bible verses written in Urdu, one over the front arch on the Altar and other two, on the arches over the side wings. The use of Urdu language indicates the importance given to an Indian language commonly used at that time.They are well preserved as such till today with great reverence and adoration, even after more than a century. The verse over the the Altar arch is from Psalm100:4 “ Shukar guzaree karte hue us ke phatakon mein,aur hamd karte hue us ki bargahon mein dakhil ho” signifying that the essentials of true worship which are thanksgiving, praise and prayer must be observed by worship-pers when ever they enter the house of the Lord. Written over the right arch is the Bible verse Revelation 21:6 “ Mein Alpha aur Omega ; Ibtida aur Inteha hun ” and on the left arch is Revelation 22:17 “ Jo chahe aabe hayat muft pae”. These verses clearly communicate and remind us that the Lord is the beginning and the end and those who come to Him can have free gift of water of life. They add a perfect ambience of worship in the church.

THE CROSS :-

Many years later, a Cross was installed on the top, in the front of church exalting God’s eternal love for us and Jesus’ victory over sin and death.The Cross captures the attention of passersby and gives the hope of life promised by Lord Jesus Christ.

THE CHURCH BELL :-

The bell is the voice of the church, playing a major role in lives of its congregation. A beautiful Bell ringing strongly till date is hung securely in a special structure over the porch and in front of the “Cross”. It is made of a special alloy serving its purpose efficiently and adding glory to this majestic church. The bell is rung for various church purposes and can be heard upto a large distance. It is used every Sunday to call worshippers to the church and also for daily morning and evening services. It is also rung on special occasions such as wedding and funeral services. The melodious sound of the church bell is timeless.

A careful scrutiny of all these details speak volume of the love and concern, devo-tion and dedication which has gone into making of this historic church.

PASTOR HOUSE :-

The foundation stone of the pastor house was laid by Raja Sir Harnam Singh, who was one of the sons of Raja of Kapurthala, on February 19th, 1913. He was also elected as elder of this church in the same year. He was received into communion by baptism on February 1st 1874.

CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS :-

On 28th December 1995, the church congregation celebrated the 100 years of the “blessings and joy”of this church with great pomp and show. Bishop Joel V.Mall was the chief guest on this historic celebration and a souvenir was released by the church to mark this special occasion.

Presently the brick coloured church looks very impressive and delightful surrounded by well-maintained lush green lawns by the sides. The beautiful flowers, plants, trees especially tall and elegant palm trees add natural eco-friendly environment to the church area, making it a great place of peace, worship and spirituality.

The following priests served in this Church at different times:

Priest Name

1. Rev. C.B. Newton
2. Rev. Ralla Ram
3. Rev. G.S. Jacob
4. Rev. Hayat Khan
5. Rev. A. Ghosh
6. Rev. Y.C. Mall
7. Rev. S.P. Prem
8. Rev. Patel Kalyan
9. Rev. Mukhtiar Masih
10. Rev. Tarsem Masih
11. Rev. Philip Rakesh
12. Rev. Nelson Dean
13. Rev. Denzel People
14. Rev. Ram Lal
15. Rev. Swain
16. Rev. Bishamber Singh
17. Rev. Tanvir Ul Haqq
18. Rev. George Masih
19. Rev. Philip Rakesh
20. Rev. Joel

Years of Working

1892 - 1905
1905 - 1925
1925 - 1943
1943 - 1954
1957 - 1958
1958 - 1980
1986 - 1990
1990 - 1991
1991 - 1994
1996 - 1999
1999 - 2003
2003 - 2004
2004 - 2006
2006 - 2012
2012 - 2013
2013 - 2014
2014 - 2018
2018 - 2021
2021 - 2024
2024 - Present