The village of Sendurai is located near Natham town in the district of Dindigul, and it is surrounded by beautiful hills. It is 40 km away from the district headquarters in Dindigul. According to the tradition cherished by the people, the origin of Christianity in Sendurai village is traced back to the evangelization of St John de Britto, SJ, who visited this interior village and preached the Gospel. In the beginning, Sendurai was a substation of Malaiadipatty parish which is situated on the national highway between Trichy and Dindigul, belonging to the diocese of Trichy. When Palackurichy was established as a separate parish in 1910, Sendurai became its substation. A small Church dedicated to St Joseph the Worker was built here by the people which served the sacred place of worship for the small Christian community here. After a long time, when Natham was raised to the status of a parish in 1938, the village of Sendurai was added to the care of Natham parish. The parish priest of Natham proposed to divide the parish and erect Sendurai as a separate parish with Nallapitchampatti as its substation. Consequently, Most Rev Antony Pappusamy, the bishop of Dindigul bifurcated it from Natham parish and erected it as a separate parish.
As the bishop already knew well about the missionary work of the MSFS fathers, he entrusted the new parish to them. Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS the Regional Superior of the Chennai Region at that time gladly responded to the bishop’s invitation and designated Fr. P. Stephen, MSFS to be the parish priest and he took charge of the parish as the pioneering missionary on 5 June 2005. This was the first parish that the MSFS missionaries took up in the diocese of Dingdigul after the creation of Chennai Region. This parish has 13 villages as substations but only one substation has a chapel. The total number of families including the substations are over 250.
Developments undertaken at various times
Fr. P. Stephen, MSFS as the first parish priest initiated to plan out and mobilize funds needed for the construction of a presbytery and he successfully completed the work with the help of the people, the province and the diocese. The house was opened by Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS the Regional Superior and blessed by Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Pappusamy, the bishop of Dindigul on June 17, 2007. He also started a by-monthly Magazine named “Valan Malar” which was becoming popular among the people. Through such an innovative ministry, the parishioners, especially the youth and the children, had the opportunity to develop their talents of writing stories, poems and articles on different topics. It could not be carried on after a few years due to practical reasons.
Fr. S. Susairaj, MSFS succeeded Fr. P. Stephen, MSFS as the parish priests and superior of the community. During his time, he worked hard and took lots of initiatives to organize and animate the people to grow in their faith life and get involved in the developments of the parish. He took the initiative at the guidance of the province to buy 53 cents of land in the year 2008 to construct a church and 5.47 acres of land on the way to Natham to construct a school. As the parish priest, he also started to mobilize the needed funds with help of the diocese, the province and support through a mission project and built the new parish Church in the year 2011. The parishioners wholeheartedly supported generously in building the parish church. With his hard work, a beautiful Church was built, and it was blessed by Most Rev Dr Anthony Pappusamy, the bishop of Dindigul and opened by Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS the Regional Superior on Decembr 27, 2011. He then initiated starting a primary school as for the direction of the province in the church premises itself, using the small hall that was already existing there.
Fr S. Arockiya Christuraj, MSFS succeeded Fr. S. Susairaj, MSFS as the parish priest and he was actively involved in organizing and guiding the parish. He took the initiative to build 14 Stations of the Cross in front of the Church around the flagpole, and it was blessed by Most Rev. Dr. Anthony Pappusamy, the bishop of Dindigul and dedicated to the people on May 5, 2013. He served the parish for two years.
Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS succeeded Fr. S. Christuraj, MSFS as the parish priest and superior of the community. He served the parish for three years. He supported the people’s effort in organizing various activities in the parish and guided the people to deepen their faith. He supported the effort of the people of Nallapitchampat and organized them to mobilize the funds needed, and a beautiful new Church was built. It was blessed by Fr. K. S. Arockiasamy the diocesan administrator of the diocese of Dindigul at that time and it was inaugurated by Fr. K. Ignaci Muthu, MSFS the Provincial in the year 2016. He also realized the need to build a grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health to promote people’s devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary. Hence, he took the initiative with the help of the people and support from the province and constructed the grotto in front of the Church at Sendurai, and it was blessed by Most Rev. Thomas Paulsamy, the bishop of Dindigul and inaugurated by Fr. K. Ignaci Muthu, MSFS the provincial in the year 2017.
Fr. K. Joseph Xavier, MSFS succeeded Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS as the parish priest and he animated the parish with kindness, love and hard work, guiding the people to grow in their faith life. He also served as the correspondent and procurator of SFS Matriculation Higher Secondary School. He served the parish for one year.
Fr. A. Arockiyam, MSFS succeeded Fr. K. Joseph Xavier, MSFS as the parish priest and he also served as superior of the Fransalian community in the parish. He organized and guided the people with great dedication and enthusiasm. As the superior of the community, he successfully animated the members of the Fransalian community with fraternal love and unity, fostering a sense of collaboration and cooperation among the confreres. Under his leadership he organized the people to mobilize the funds needed and erected the flagpole in the parish church at Sendurai, and it was blessed on May 5, 2021.
Fr. A. Innaci Muthu, MSFS succeeded Fr. A. Arockiyam, MSFS as the parish priest and the superior of the community. He successfully organized the pastoral ministries and guided the people in their faith life with dedication and love. As the number of confreres working in the parish and the school increased in the community, there was a need for additional rooms and with the approval of the provincial he started the renovation of the House. An extra room and a dining hall were added in the house, and the renovated house was blessed by Rev Fr. K. Ignaci Muthu, MSFS the provincial of South-East India province on September 29, 2022. He introduced the charismatic prayer service for the people on the last Sunday of every month. He organized to provide 200 bibles to the people and thus created interest to ready God’s word. He served the parish for four years and he was succeeded by Fr. X. Vincent, MSFS as the parish priest and superior of the community in 2025.
Participatory Structures in the Parish: “Uravin Murai” Nattamai, BCC 7 communities Associations in the parish: Legion of Mary, SFS Youth Group, Altar Servers,
Faith Formation team
Institutions under the Parish: SFS Matric School, Sendurai managed by MSFS fathers
Succession of Parish Priests
Fr. P. Stephen, MSFS 2005 – 2007
Fr. S. Susairaj, MSFS 2007 – 2012
Fr. S. Christuraj, MSFS 2012 – 2014
Fr. A. Lawrence, MSFS 2014 – 2017
Fr. K, Joseph Xavier, MSFS 2017 – 2018
Fr. A. Arockiam, MSFS 2018 – 2021
Fr. A. Innacimuthu, MSFS 2021 – 2025
Fr. X. Vincent, MSFS 2025
Assistant Parish Priests
Fr. S. Antony Raj, MSFS 2009 – 2010
Fr. Antony Christopher, MSFS 2010 – 2012
Fr. A. Innacimuthu, MSFS 2013 – 2014
Fr. L. Jayaraj, MSFS 2016 – 2017
Fr. X. Vincent, MSFS 2017 – 2018
Fr. John Jayapal, MSFS 2018 – 2020