Page:A Statistical Account of Bengal Vol 16 GoogleBooksID v9UMAAAAIAAJ.pdf/429

 428 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF LOHARDAGA DISTRICT. I have mentioned above that the church and mission buildings, which belonged to the original Gossner Mission, remained in the possession of the Lutheran Missionaries, when the elder members ot that communion were received into the English Church. At firs:, therefore, the English Mission services were held in a large she: like building of sun-dried bricks, which could only accommodate about 600 persons, so that on festival seasons a large portion of the congregation had to sit on the ground outside. Subscriptions were collected in 1870 to supply this want; the first stone of a new church was laid in the autumn of that year ; and, on the 8th Mara 1873, the building, still incomplete, was consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta. Other buildings have been added from time to time a; they were required, and as funds were available ; but the Mission is still in want of a regular school-room, with suitable class-rooms attached. The ordinary work at Ranchi, the head-quarters of the Mission, is thus described in the Report for 1874-75 : — " Daily morning and evening services, the one about a quarter of an hour before sunrise, and the other at sunset, have gone on uninterruptedly during the year. Holy Communion is celebrated weekly—early in the morn ing, except on the Sunday after each full moon, and on great fes tivals, when the service usually begins at io-3o, in order that peopie from a distance may be able to arrive in good time. To mark fes tival times, the choir, who ordinarily sit with their schoolfellows in the body of the church, wear their surplices, and sit in their proper place in the chancel on Saturday evenings, Sundays, festival days, and their eves. On Saints' days, Sec, a short sermon is preached on the persons and events commemorated." A church council chosen from members of the congregation meets at intervals during the year; and at the February Harvest Festival, which takes the place of the Mdgh Parab or Desatili Bonga of the unconverted Kols, a general panchdyat or conference of the whole congregation is held. At the general panchdyat of February 1871. the following subjects were discussed : —(1) The duty of educating children by sending them to village schools, and teaching them at home the elements of religion, such as the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commandments, which every baptized adult has learned by heart. (2) Marriage. On this subject it was agreed that money prices should not be paid for daughters, and that couples formerly united by the native rite should be re-married on becoming Christians.

^