April 29, 1922: Rev. Clarence H. Swavely Bid Farewell before Departure as Missionary to India

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

April 29, 1922: St. John’s Lutheran Church has hosted a farewell service for Rev. Clarence H. Swavely, who is leaving with his wife and four children for mission work in India, taking the blessings and support of the congregation with him. He will remain there for 37 years in a very successful and interesting mission.

He became the Principal of Amthra Christina College in southern India, with a student body of about 2000 that was a mixture of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. He commented that the Hindus and Christians sat side-by-side in the classrooms and the Christian teachers mingled freely with the Brahmin [the highest caste in Hindu society) teachers. That was remarkable because anyone in India not a Hindu was considered to be an “outcast” or “Untouchable,” and he felt that his school made great progress in integrating Indian society.

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