The Lanka Reformed Church was formed in 1996, and separated from the Christian Reformed Church in Sri Lanka, formerly the Dutch Reformed Church in Sri Lanka. It has ecclesiastical contacts with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Australia. Lanka Reformed Church is composed of a single congregation. [1]
The Dutch Reformed Church was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal family and the foremost Protestant denomination until 2004, the year it helped found and merged into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. It was the larger of the two major Reformed denominations, after the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands was founded in 1892. It spread to the United States, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and various other world regions through Dutch colonization. Allegiance to the Dutch Reformed Church was a common feature among Dutch immigrant communities around the world and became a crucial part of Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa.
Matara is a major city in Sri Lanka, on the southern coast of Southern Province. It is the second largest city in Southern Province. It is 160 km (99 mi) from Colombo. It is a major commercial hub, and it is the administrative capital and largest city of Matara District.
The extra-provincial Anglican churches are a group of small, semi-independent church entities within the Anglican Communion. Unlike the larger member churches of the Communion, extra-provincial churches are not part of an ecclesiastical province and are subject to the metropolitical oversight of the Archbishop of Canterbury or theoretically of another bishop. As of 2018 there are five extra-provincial churches. In almost every case, these churches consist of just one diocese, although the Church of Ceylon is an exception, having two.
Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. It was introduced to the island in first century. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka because of its close geographical and commercial ties.
According to the 2012 census, 6% of the population of Sri Lanka was Christian; of these, one in ten was Protestant, showing that there were approximately six Protestants for every 1,000 Sri Lankans. Later estimates suggest that this share has doubled in less than ten years.
The Jaffna Diocese is the Church of South India diocese for northern Sri Lanka. The current bishop is Rt. Rev. Dr. V. Pathmathayalan. The Church of South India is a United Protestant denomination.
Sir James Peiris was a prominent leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement, the first elected Vice-President of the Legislative Council of Ceylon and the first native Governor of Ceylon (Acting).
The Church of Ceylon is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extraprovincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at Kurunegala.
Kotahena is a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and is known as Colombo 13.
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh president of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He entered as a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa back in 2020 and ended his tenure in 2024.
The Christian Reformed Church of Sri Lanka is the oldest Protestant church on the island.
Wolvendaal Church is located in Pettah, a neighbourhood of Colombo. It is one of the most important Dutch colonial-era buildings in Sri Lanka and is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use in the country.
Sri Lanka–United Kingdom relations, or British-Sri Lankan relations, are foreign relations between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
The Dutch Reformed Church is located within the Matara fort in Matara and is situated near the entrance to the fort. The church was built by the Dutch in 1706 and is a smaller version of the church in Galle fort. It is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use in the country.
The Groote Kerk or Dutch Reformed Church is located within the Galle fort in Galle, Sri Lanka and is situated near the entrance to the fort. The church was built by the Dutch in 1755 and is one of the oldest Protestant churches still in use in the country.
The Dutch Reformed Church is located between the Dutch fort and the village of Kalpitiya. The church was built by the Dutch in 1706 and is a smaller version of the church in the Matara fort. It is one of the oldest Protestant churches in the country.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the commercial capital, Colombo, were targeted in a series of coordinated ISIS-related terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, two smaller explosions occurred at a housing complex in Dematagoda and a guest house in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals, three police officers, and eight suicide bombers. An additional 500 were injured. The church bombings were carried out during Easter services in Negombo, Batticaloa and Colombo; the hotels bombed included the Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury and Tropical Inn. According to the State Intelligence Service, a second wave of attacks was planned, but was prevented due to government raids.
Union Church, is an interdenominational church, located on Old Uddpussalawa Road in Nuwara Eliya.
Scots Kirk or Presbyterian Church, Kandy, is Presbyterian church, located at 127 D. S. Senanayake Street, Kandy.