BISHOPS IN METHODISM

 On the 30th of December 2021, the centennial birth anniversary of the late Rev. Somasiri Kumaradas Perera was remembered. As a student and a ministerial colleague of Rev Soma, I am writing this while reminiscing on very happy memories of Rev. Soma and also his beloved wife Aunty Ruvini.

The late Rev. Soma and my late father Rev. Theodore hailed from the Charles Place, Rawatawatte, Moratuwa. My father's ancestral home was at Galle Rd. end while Rev. Soma's was at the Lunawa end of Charles Place. Both of them offered to the Methodist Ministry from the Rawatawatte Methodist Church and were close friends.

My close acquaintance with Rev. Soma and Aunty Ruvini came on track when I entered Theological College of Lanka, Pilimathalawa in July 1977. Rev. Soma was my Principal for one and a half years of my training until he moved over to Kurana Negombo Circuit at the end of 1978. While doing my registration in his office at TCL he commented on my age 19 + with his unique smile saying "Asiri Oya podi lamayek" (Asiri you are a little boy). That was enough for my batch mates and I was nicknamed "Podi Eka", with which some of them still call me.

It was my great privilege to sit at the feet of Rev. Soma, my New Testament Guru. His lecture was well prepared with his notes written on a monitor's exercise book. His teachings on the background to the New Testament, The Synoptic Problem etc. were crystal clear and it was a treat. He was very relaxed and informal during the lecture and often he would bend his right knee place the right leg under his left leg, and comfortably carry on the class.

Rev. Soma and Aunty Ruvini played the role of "caring parents" to all the students at TCL. One morning we complained to him that the 'Roti' at breakfast was not edible. He immediately came with Aunty Ruvini to the Dining Room tasted a 'rotiya', then turned to Aunty Ruvini and said "Ruvini, we have to get food for the students from our home". Immediately bread and two bottles of Jam came from their home. The two of them were always approachable and were always ready to accommodate us like their own children. During the 1977 communal riots, Rev. Soma lined up together with us in facing a mob that came to attack the College. His bravery to form a defence line with us was a moral strength. We were miraculously saved through the intervention of an Army squad that came to our rescue.

Rev. Soma had a great sense of humour though he was generally a quiet person in my opinion. Our noisy laughter and fun was never a problem to him. In the early hours of an April fool's day, a few of us went into action by mixing the flower pots of Aunty Ruvini (Anthurium pots) with Fr. Donald's flower pots. Rev. Soma and Aunty Ruvini guessed who did it but made no complain about it. When presenting a skit at a 'Kokila Night' of TCL, the mischief Rev. Soma played as a nursery student was rib-tickling and hilarious.

The equal partnership of a couple ministry in the Church was always visible in Rev. Soma and aunty Ruvini and it was a role model for all Ministers and their spouses. Rev. Soma preached the homily at our Marriage Service and encouraged us to serve God together using the gifts that God had given both Sharmila and me.  

Their home was a place of welcome to everyone. The way how Aunty Ruvini kept the Mission Houses, Principal's Bungalow and the Clough House (President's Official Residence) was par excellence. They did not have any high class household items. But what they had was well kept and you could feel that it was not a sudden or an uncommon arrangement but was the norm.

Rev. Soma was a great listener. When I had a very decisive moment in my placement of ministry, he sat down with me one night from 8.00 p.m to 2 a.m. the next day listening, talking and praying with me and encouraging me to trust God for a new direction to my ministry. If not for that night of decision making I would not have passed through certain significant milestones in my life of service to God.

During my years of Church leadership, the boldness of the late Rev. Soma was very much inspiration for the role I played in addressing national issues. When the 52-day undemocratic government was established by Mahinda Rajapaksha in 2018, the religious leaders of Sri Lanka were silent for the first few days. However, I was persuaded by God to make a response within 24 hours, single-handed. My persuasion apart from God came through my reflections on the boldness Rev. Soma had when J.R. Jayawardena opted for a referendum instead of an election in 1982 and the darkest days of 1983 communal riots. I always thank God for the Church leader Rev. Soma was in awakening the Church, a sleeping giant, to stand up with courage and fortitude to the tyranny and racial discrimination in Sri Lanka. Some within and outside the Church misunderstood and criticized him for his stand and the statements he made. But it was more imperative for him to be obedient to the divine compulsion and be a voice in the wilderness. What Rev. Soma foresaw was the trend of political dictatorship that Sri Lanka could fall into beyond his lifetime. 40 years after his prophetic voice, I see the emerging of that dictatorial rule and the elusive dismantling of the pillars of democracy today. According to my perception, the present-day protestant church has a deficiency in having such calibre of Church leadership to play a prophetic role. When celebrating the life and ministry of Rev. Soma we are challenged to go on our knees before the Lord and say "Do it again Lord, do it again!"

Rev. Soma and Aunty Ruvini spent their retirement in the quiet and serene surroundings of Rajagiriya. After a few more years of active life, Rev. Soma moved into a phase of quietness. The terminal illness and the passing away of Aunty Ruvini was a heavy blow on him as they were very attached. In God's providence I was at the bedside of my beloved Guru on the 29th of August 2011, to commend his soul when he breathed his last. He had no struggle but slipped away very peacefully into the mansions in the house of God prepared by his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

 

Rev. Asiri P. Perera

Retired President Bishop

Methodist Church Sri Lanka

 

January 7, 2022