Ordination of Evangelist M. Philip : During the years between 1934 and 1937 , Rev M. Philip had been working as an enthusiastic Evangelist in Thorayeri MELIM Holy Sion Lutheran Church Vaniyampadi, and Govindapuram Bethlehem Lutheran Church,Vaniyampadi and also in the surrounding villages from where some believers used to attend the Sunday Services in the Vaniyampadi Lutheran Churches, with great distinction, to win souls for Christ. In the year 1938 the Thorayeri MELIM Congregation and Govindapuram MELIM Lutheran Congragation, jointly made a Call to the then Evangelist M. Philip to serve as a full time regular ordained Pastor in these MELIM Vaniyampadi Churches..The Call given to the then Evangelist M. Philip was approved by the competent MELIM body and Evangelist Philip also accepted the Call. So the ordination of Evangelist M. Philip took place in the Govidapuram MELIM Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the year 1938 . Bro Rev. Kretzmann conducted the Ordination Service and preached a captivating and fitting Sermon on the occasion and ordained Evangelist M. Philip as a M.E.L.I.M. Pastor in the year 1938, in the presence of M.E.L.I.M Missionaries, Vaniyampadi MELIM congregation members and many others Since 1938 Rev. M. P. served the MELIM Congregations in Vaniyampadi and a few other congregations in Ambur Synod with great sincerity and zeal till he accepted a call from Nagercoil Lutheran Church As a mark of their gratitude the Bethlehem Lutheran Church [IELC ] Govindapuram,Vaniyampadi has built a beautiful Gospel Centre in Memory of Rev. M. Philip .
Rev.M.Philip Served as the First President of the AMBUR MELIM SYNOD : Ambur MELIM Synod was founded in the year 1949 and it was the first I.E.L.C. Synod among the three MELIM Synods namely [1] Ambur Synod, [2] Nagercoil Synod and [3] Thiruvananthapuram Synod . In the year 1950 Rev Philip was elected as the First President of the Ambur MELIM Synod and he functioned as the President of the Ambur M.E.L.I.M Synod with great moral and pastoral responsibility for three years till 1953 [ 1950-- 1953] . During that period Mr A. Gideon Varaprasad , B.A, L.T, served as the Secretary of the Ambur Synod and Mr H. Joseph served as the Treasurer of the Ambur Synod .Under the leadership of Rev.M. Philip , the Ambur MELIM Synod and the congregations witnessed all round growth ;- the number M.E.L.I M Church members increased , the number of MELIM Congregations increased and the financial strength and income of MELIM Congregations in Ambur Synod also increased in a notable way., Rev M. Philip loved the Ambur MELIM Synod and its members and families so dearly and he served the people with great Christian compassion and concern till he accepted a Call from Nagercoil Lutheran Church in 1953.
Rev. M. Philip Moved to Nagercoil and assumed charge as the Pastor of Nagercoil Lutheran Church ; Nagercoil Luttheran Church was started in 1924, mainly for Concordia Seminary students, Seminary Professors and their families and the Sunday Worship Services were conducted in Girls Hotel situated in the present day I.E.L.C .General Treasurer's Office Compound in Nagercoil and from 1932 the Nagercoil Lutheran Church services were conducted inside the Concordia Seminary's Library hall and afterwards in the Concordia Seminary Chapel . The number of the members of the Congregation was increasing rapidly and the LCMS Missionaries who were serving in Nagercoil area and the local M.E.L.I.M. Church leaders and members felt the need for a larger Church to accommodate more number of people and so they decided to build a larger Church in the the Tennis Court of the LCMS Missionaries situated opposite to the Concordia Seminary Nagercoil . The foundation stone was laid by the then Nagercoil Lutheran Church Pastor Rev. H.E. Miller in 1953. Dr. M.L Kretzmann started the Foundation work of the Church , In this Context Rev. M. Philip succeeded Rev. H. Earl Miller as the Pastor of the Nagercoil Lutheran Church in March 1953. As the Church building construction work was progressing at a very slow speed a new Building Committee was formed to speed up the construction work of the Nagercoil Lutheran Church. The Members of the Building Construction Committee were the following :-[1] Dr. Rittman,[2] Rev. Herbert Zorn, [3] Rev.A.J. Lutz, [4]Rev. M.Philip,[5] Rev.B.H.Jackayya ,[6] Mr.T. Williams, and[7] Rev. L Lazer . From this we can understand the truth that Rev. M. Philip played an important role for the construction of the present day Calvary Lutheran Church Nagercoil along with other prominent members of the Building Construction Committee.
Rev. M Philip served the Nagercoil Lutheran Church as real Pastor , he regularly visited the houses of the members of the Nagercoil Lutheran Church . He took real concern and interest in Sunday School affairs . It is said that he conducted preparatory classes in line with Lutheran doctrines every month regularly for the communicant members who wanted to take part in our Lords Supper and those who failed to attend that classes conducted by Rev.M. Philip were generally not allowed to take part in Our Lord's Supper . Rev.M.Philip really cared for the spiritual development and regeneration of the members of Nagercoil Lutheran Church and the congregation members in turn loved and respected Rev. M. Philip. Thus with real missionary spirit Pastor Rev. M Philip was serving Nagercoil Lutheran Church. till his retirement. on 3rd July 1966. Rev. Lazarus succeeded Rev. M. Philip as the Pastor of Nagercoil Lutheran Church on 3rd July 1966.
Rev.M.Philip Served as the First Indian Professor at the Concordia Thelogical Seminary, Nagercoil :. In line with the decision taken by the MELIM Missionary Conference Rev. M.Philip was appointed on the 6th November 1955 as the first native Indian Professor at the Concordia Theological Seminary Nagercoil . Rev. M. Philip with the permission of the Nagercoil Lutheran Church, served as a Professor in the Concordia Thelogical Seminary Nagercoil and also as a Pastor of Nagercoil Lutheran Church concurrenlty with great efficacy and enviable earnestness. Prof. Rev. M Philip had the privilege to work with L.C.M.S. Lutheran Theologians and Bible Scholars like :- Rev. H.M.Zorn, Rev. M.L.Kretzmann,and Rev.R.M.Zorn in the Concordia Thelogical Seminary Nagercoil. Dr. B.H. Jackayya was his colleague in the Concordia Theological Seminary Nagercoil .
Conclusion : Rev. M. Philip was a Chosen Man by God . He served both God and man through MELIM and later through IELC with great dedication and consuming honesty.. He was one among the First Batch Students of Concordia Theological Seminary Nagercoil, he was the First Indian Professor of Concordia Theological Seminary Nagercoil, and he was the First President of Ambur MELIM Synod .He was the only one who had the privilege to serve as President of two MELIM Synods . God used our dear Rev M.Philip in a wonderful and meaningful way to preach the Gospel of Christ to the people in line with Lutheran Doctrines . He was a strict follower of Lutheran Doctrines expounded by Dr. Martin Luther and wanted the people to do the same. He was a Christian Theologian and powerful Preacher. He had real concern for the salvation of the people, definitely I can call Rev. M. Philip as one of the pillars of MELIM and IELC . Rev.M.Philip slept in Jesus on 13th September 1975..His real life story will definitely galvanise and ignite the lukewarm faith of the present day IELC members and other Christians . I will convincingly say we need Persons and Pastors like Rev. M. Philip to overhaul our I.E.L.C . It is not possible to accommodate all the important aspects and pages of Rev. M.Phip's life within the space of this Article . So I will end this Article with the following sentence , "Dear Rev.M.Philip , we miss you, you lived a fragrant life like a pretty jasmine flower of Thovalai,we thank God for your meaningful life and we are proud of you "
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By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A,.[ All rights are reserved . This Article will be enlarged, modified or corrected later if needed ].
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