St.Paul’s Church at Bahubazaar in Ranchi gets a facelift before the visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury on Monday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Oct. 11: Jet-lagged he may be, but he needs to be up really early tomorrow. After all, one cannot keep an 140-year-young host waiting.

The chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, UK-based Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, will conduct the sacrament of holy communion at St Paul’s Cathedral, Jharkhand’s oldest church, tomorrow morning.

The church, which is all decked up, will flaunt the charms of 19th century, laced with technological convenience of the 21st.

Doubtless, the scholarly Archbishop will be interested to know that the construction of the grand cathedral began in 1870 with a budget of Rs 26,000 or around 460 Euros, according to current conversion rates.

Archives reveal a fascinating history behind the establishment of the church.

Historical records reveal the total outlay for the church was out of reach for a single individual.

Funds were raised from various willing donors, including two church institutions.

Edward Tuite Dalton, eminent anthropologist and Chotanagpur district commissioner contributed Rs 3,000, while Bishop Milman added Rs 2,000 to the kitty. Private individuals in Ranchi pooled in another Rs 4,000.

Finally, two church-affiliated institutions, Society for Propagation of Gospel and Society for Propagation of Christian Knowledge, got together and funded the rest of the amount.

“St Paul’s Cathedral stands as a testimony to the collective venture of various individuals who pooled in their hard-earned money to construct a place of prayer and peace for themselves. Construction began in 1870 and its consecration ceremony was held on March 9, 1873,” said Church of North India spokesman Col Shanti Puran Khalkho.

The Gothic cathedral — which can fit a 500-odd congregation at one go — has certain unique architectural features. It is a structure sans iron rods, held up by with sandstone pillars. Its wooden beams have never been replaced since it was built.

Khalkho also said the cathedral’s main attraction was its mammoth pipe organ, occupying 700sq. ft space.

The instrument, still in apple-pie order, is played with the church choir. The giant organ also has its own separate room.

“The pipe organ is one of the largest and oldest in India. The beauty of the instrument is that it is still being played,” said Khalkho.

Apart from historical beauties, plans are afoot to welcome the Archbishop with more temporal — and technological — charms.

“The entire church is bedecked with fresh flowers, individually and in nosegays and bouquets. We are also hiring a special sound system and putting up numerous CCTVs inside the church and giant TV screens outside,” said Khalho.

In fact, the giant screens — at least two for now, and more if required, depending on the crowd count on a weekday — and the additional sound system will help thousands access the events inside the church from 7.45am onwards, preventing a stampede-like situation.

After all, the capital does want to show its best face to the visiting dignitary, the painful traffic bottlenecks ahead of the Durga Puja notwithstanding.

After the holy communion is over, the Archbishop, who is also the spiritual head of the Anglican communion worldwide, will also unveil a plaque at the cathedral and be accorded a public reception on its grounds.

But his day does not end there.

Among numerous other engagements, the Archbishop will unveil a plaque at the SPG Needle School to commemorate his Ranchi visit, and lay the foundation stone for a new diocesan building on the St Margaret School campus.

In the evening, he would participate in a seminar at the Bishop Westcott Boys School, Namkum, Ranchi, on the role of the church and its contribution to the uplift of tribals.

Archbishop Wiliams will leave for Calcutta early morning on October 13.