The members of St. Margaret's Tamil Anglican Church are proud and
indeed very happy to celebrate today the growth of this church for
over a decade since its founding.
Many of us here do not know the origins of our church, the
trials and difficulties it faced and how it overcame those
challenges. We do have members who have been attending the
church from its inception. But they may also not be able to
recollect its beginnings. And so, the wardens felt that it would
be appropriate to reminisce on its history and requested me to
say a few words.
It is well known that large members of Tamils came to Canada
from Ceylon due to the ethnic conflict in that country. The
nineteen eighties witnessed this influx. For the Tamils,
religion, language and culture have been their firm foundation.
Tamils always sought a place to worship and a school to educate
themselves and their children wherever they lived and in
whatever country they lived.
Among the Tamils here, the Christians belonged to various
denominations in Sri Lanka. However, perhaps due to the bond of
common ethnicity, they were keen to worship together as a
community. As Tamils, we wished to conduct our services in
Tamil. Also, we wanted to conduct our worship in our own
cultural setting as we did in Sri Lanka! This inevitably meant
that we must have a Tamil priest who knows our language, culture
and religious practices. |