1892-Present
Judson Chapel Church
Rangoon, Burma Yangon, Myanmar
As Rangoon Baptist College (Judson College) came to maturity in Rangoon (see entry 1872-1965), the Burma Baptist Convention determined a church should be planted in the midst of this growing corpus of Christian students and thus organized the Rangoon Baptist College Church on July 29, 1892. David C. Gilmore, recently arrived missionary who could not yet speak Karen, was ordained as the first pastor (it would be an English-speaking congregation) in addition to his duties as instructor in the Pali language and creator of a new teacher education department. From 1905 to 1909, 75 students were baptized into the Christian faith.[1]
As Rangoon Baptist College became Judson College in 1919, Rangoon Baptist College Church was rebranded as Judson Chapel. By that time the ministry had grown beyond students and five Sunday schools were offered each week.[2] Adoniram Judson had envisioned that each church would support a pastor and a missionary and the Judson Chapel accepted the challenge. Not only did they support their pastor financially but also a missionary, Saya Myat Min, an alumnus of the college who was working in the Shan states. Additionally, the Rangoon Baptist City Mission headquartered with the Judson Chapel.[3]
When the college moved to its new University Estate on Kokine Lake in 1929 the church moved with it. As the new college campus was constructed, a new pastoral manse and impressive chapel were built in 1932 with a major gift from John D. Rockefeller. The chapel and pastor’s home still remain in Baptist hands though the rest of the campus as been absorbed by the Burmese government and its military junta.
Today the tallest building at the University of Rangoon is Judson Tower, a part of the Judson Chapel. Although Judson College no longer exists and restrictions abound, Judson Chapel is allowed to open for worship each Sunday with capacity crowds. It remains a witness for the Christian message in the midst of academia and political unrest.
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[1] Maung Shwe Wa, Burma Baptist Chronicle (Rangoon: Board of Publications, Burma Baptist Convention, 1963), p. 298.
[2] Naw, p. 103.
[3] Ibid.