Members of IPC Shalom rejoice in the fact that their church is the first IPC Church that was established in Karnataka. Many eminent men of God have ministered and sacrificed a lot to see the church established and grow. 

The history traces back to 1964, when late Pastor Oommen Abraham and his family arrived in Bangalore and stayed at a house in Coles Park. As a result of their earnest prayers and dedication the first worship service took place with 12 members on April 5th 1965 at Sampangi Rama Nagara in a weaver’s house which was rented for Rs 45/-.!! 

In 1966, the place of worship shifted to another building (due to lack of space) where the church celebrated its first anniversary. By then, the number of believers had grown to about 40 and the members were actively involved in various church activities including Sunday school, PYPA etc. Pastor P A Georgekutty was appointed as the Pastor of the church, since Pastor Oommen Abraham often had to travel to Kerala to teach at the Hebron Bible College in Kumbanad while his family was in Bangalore. The prayers and support of this family continued to be of great encouragement to the church. 

Due to various reasons, the church services later took place at a rented house near Shivaji circle. In1967 the church held its first public convention at the Gymkhana grounds during which late Pastor K E Abraham preached God’s word. In 1968 Pastor George Oommen took over as church Pastor. This year too a convention of the church took place at Gymkhana ground. Servants of God such as Pastor PM Philip, Pastor Kurien Thomas proclaimed the word of God. 

Pr K.K Cherian pastored the church from 1970 – 1972 after which Pastor Jacob Thomas (late) was appointed as Pastor. During this time the worship was conducted at a rented house of a member of the State Legislative Assembly. 34 people joined the church as its members through baptism within a period of 2 years. Ministry was also started at Mathikere and Thippasandra. The believers went to various places in and around Bangalore to evangelize. 

In 1974, Pastor John Daniel (late) took over as Pastor. During his time the church was shifted to 97, Mosque Road, residence of Pastor T.T. Joseph (late). Though Pastor T.T. Joseph and family were residing in Bahrain, he was gracious to allow worship services to continue there. 

It was during this time that the need was felt to have a church building. A committee was formed for taking initiative to buy land for a church building. In the days that followed land was bought for construction of church building at Lingarajapuram.   

On 7th September 1977, the church building at Lingarajapuram (IPC Zion Hall) was dedicated for God’s glory.  This was also the first church building for IPC in Karnataka. Late Pastor P.M Philip, Late Pastor T.T. Joseph, Late. Mrs. K.E Abraham were the chief guests on this special day. 

Later, through the earnest prayers of the church and their evangelistic activities many other IPC churches were established in Karnataka. 

In 1984 Pastor KS Joseph was appointed to lead the church. In the later years that followed Pastor T.D Thomas, Pastor Varghese Mathew, Pastor V.D John, Pastor Rajan John, Pastor Varughese Philip ministered as pastors. God blessed the church abundantly in every way through the dedicated services of these pastors and their families. 

During the tenure of Pastor Rajan John the church felt it necessary for new premises as the space in IPC Zion Hall was not big enough to accommodate its members during worship service and meetings. Hence after much prayer a land was bought at Kammanahalli. Under the leadership of Pastor Varughese Philip and with much support and earnestness of the believers a new church building was constructed and dedicated as “SHALOM WORSHIP CENTER” on 26th January 2006 where the church gathers today.  Worship services in four languages started after shifting to the new premises 

Today, under the leadership of Pr P.P Joseph, services continue to be held regularly on Sundays at IPC Zion Hall and IPC Shalom Worship Centre. The church has a rich heritage and much of it’s history also overlaps with that of IPC Karnataka State, details of which can be found at www.ipckarnatakastate.org