PILGRIMf-c-i.org.uk/Pilgrim 45JRJ FCI copy.pdfpilgrim magazine of the friends of the church in india june 2014 edition 45

PILGRIM

MAGAZINE OF THE FRIENDS OF THE

CHURCH IN INDIA

June 2014 Edition 45

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FRIENDS OF THE CHURCH

IN INDIA

Mission Statement

The FCI shall seek to promote at a local level, in England, Wales and Ireland, interest in the life, work and mission of the Churches of India.

The FCI will focus on the Indian Churches’ experience of Christian Unity, and will seek to understand the religious, political, economic,

cultural and social context of their ministry and mission. The FCI will do this as a contribution to, and an encouragement of,

ecumenical relationships in the United Kingdom.

Objectives The promotion of the Christian Religion at a local level in England, Wales and Ireland by:

(a) Encouraging interest in the life, work and mission of the Churches of India, with special reference to their experience of Christian Unity

(b) Facilitating understanding of the religious, political, economic, cultural and social context of the Indian Churches’ ministry and mission

(c) Making the Public Benefit of a contribution to, and an encouragement of, ecumenical relationships in the United Kingdom

The Fellowship of St Thomas

is an ecumenical association learning from the experience of the Churches of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Burma,

and sharing these with the Churches in Scotland. Details from the Secretary, The Revd Murdoch MacKenzie, Torridon, 4 Ferryfield Road,

Connel, Argyll PA3 Email: [email protected]

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Table of Contents

FROM THE EDITOR ............................................................................................. 4

FROM THE CHAIR…………………………………………………………………………..…5

REPORTS………………………………………………………………………………6

A Visit to Amritsar, Punjab……...….……………………...………….……….…6 Living Partnership Day- A Report from Birmingham………..……...13 Old records from FCI Kept safely in CMS – Crowther library….…16 NEWS……….…………………………………………………………………………18

News from the Church of South India…………..………………..…..…….18 News from the Church of North India………………………….…..………20 Church Leadership Fighting for SC Rights for the Dalit ……..Kept in Police Custody...................…………………………..……………..…….………...22 Inauguration of the Centenary Year 2014-2015 of the Church of.... North India in North East India………………………………….…….……. 25

DIASPORA INDIANS…………………………………………………………….29 Introducing Anderson Jeremiah…………..………….…………….…….…29 Facing Death and Rediscovering Spirituality………….…………..…….30

SANCTIFIED IN TRUTH? - A book Review……………….….……,,…33 ARCHBISHOP VISITS INDIA …………………………………………………36

SPECIAL TRIBUTES…………………………….………………………………….38

Timothy John Mark…………………………………………..38

OBITUARIES ....................................................................................................... 42

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FROM THE EDITOR

“ !! !!” (Yadum Oore Yavarum

Kelir) “All the world is my world, all humanity is my fraternity:”

Kaniayan Poongundranaar – 300 BCE to 400BCE (Tamil)

” | ||

”ayaṁ bandhurayaṁ nēti gaṇanā laghucētasām | udāracaritānām tu

vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam || Discrimination saying "this one is a

relative; this other one is a stranger" is for the mean-minded. For

those who're known as magnanimous, the entire world constitutes but

a family. (Mahōpaniṣad- VI.70-73) (3rd cent BCE) - Sanskrit

These two above statements remind us about Paul’s letter to

Galatians chapter 2 - 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave

nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ

Jesus. The distinctions and discriminatory structures are human made

which are challenged by poets and people of God. Poet Gurram Joshua,

a Dalit Telugu poet – in one of his poems (Gabilam), requested the bats

that visited him from the nearby Shiva temple to convey his prayer to

God as he was not allowed to enter into the temple. Many Christian

missionaries challenged the caste practices and transformed

communities into growing and witnessing communities of Christ. Some

of the missionaries came back from India and challenged racial

discrimination in the West as well. I included in this issue some of those

prophetic activities continued today and also various reports including

about the successful living partnership day. Rev Timothy was very

helpful to me until he died recently in editing this magazine. He was

indeed a great gentle Christian. We hope to see you all on FCI day.

Please find the form attached. God bless Rev Dr Joshva Raja

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From the Chair….

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Life with

FCI for the past year was challenging and inspiring through given

opportunities. I am happy to say this magazine comes with lots of

Partnership aspects which FCI endeavours in the last few months.

‘Partnership’ reminds us not only of doing something together but

also being with people and learning together from one another’s

experience as well.

Recently one of my visits to a Church in the Cotswolds with a few

people’s presence, never fail to promote Christ’s presence. The

handful of people I met were quite old but their commitment and

faithfulness are an unforgettable inspiration to people who visit

there. Their expression of real Church Partnership starts from a

person to a person.

Partnership is a lively journey. FCI who was born soon after Church

Union in India, has a long standing history of partnerships with

different labels in the UK. Until today it has had many ups and

downs but it still has a life to share. It has people with lots of past

and present experience in the Indian churches. Our new way of

looking with perseverance is to share and to listen and to present

faith stories from people both in India and in the UK. Such sharing

will definitely lead to a lively ongoing partnership in the work and

life of FCI.

At present in the life of FCI, we have come to the point where we

reflect our past, and present and how to have a glorious future in the

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area of Partnership. Now FCI has begun to develop relationships

with other Link/Partner organisations in the UK and work with

them to be more aware of Partnership with the Indian Churches in

the context of the unexpected and ever changing situations in the

Indian church. We are planning to organise another Partnership Day

with CSI/CNI Forum in 2016.

I wish and pray that our journey together in the FCI brings a

meaningful and lively partnership between the Churches in India

and in the UK.

In Christ’s Mission,

Jessie Anand, Chair, FCI. 7th June 2014

Reports…. A visit to Amritsar, Punjab-March 2014

Andrew Wingate is Chaplain to the Queen and Canon

Theologian.

When I worked in Tamilnadu, South India, in the Hindu ‘capital’ of

Madurai, I hardly ever recall seeing a Sikh- and very few when we

made our visits to Bangalore or Madras (as it was then). Sikhs I met

only on my return, when I lived in Birmingham and then Leicester.

Here I grew to admire this seemingly cohesive community. As I

developed programmes to help Christians become aware of other

faiths, I found visiting a Gurdwara was often the place to start to

help get over fears of meeting ‘the other’. Sikhism was a clearly

monotheist faith, centred on their scripture, and worshipping in an

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environment uncluttered with multiple deities. The music was

entrancing, friendliness always evident, and the ever available

langar, a feature on every visit. Like the Jews, they are a religion

focused on their land, on family and community and ethical practice.

They are also a Diaspora movement, as with the Jews, both being

found all over the world. I was delighted when Bishop John Austin,

who sadly died several years ago, volunteered to start a Sikh-

Christian dialogue group in Leicester.

I have often been asked, ‘When are you visiting the Golden Temple?

But again and again I went to South India. But earlier this year my

daughter, who lives in Mumbai, insisted that her mother and I,

besides visiting her in Mumbai, should go somewhere new for us all,

Amritsar. My partial expertise on India did not stretch to knowing

that Mumbai was much nearer Chennai than Amritsar, and that it

needed two flights, to reach Amritsar via Delhi, and about 4 hours

flying time. This is an indication of the vast size of what is rightly

called the Indian sub-continent.

We were met at the airport by the Bishop of Amritsar’s wife, Lily,

herself a priest. We should remember that not all Punjabis are

Sikhs, Hindus or Muslims. All Saints Anglican Church in Gypsy Lane,

Leicester, is evidence of this. The Bishop of Amritsar has a diocese

covering three Indian states- Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and

Kashmir. They provided unstinting support during our visit. And

we had a good day in very poor villages, near the Pakistan border,

where we were able to meet women of the lowest castes, and their

children. This village uplift programme was impressive, as they

worked to give a voice to the voiceless, in an area so rich with

wheat- Punjab is the granary of India- but where the poor landless

men are given only 100 days work a year, and their wives hardly

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any work under a government guarantee scheme. Children are

taught in after school classes, since the government schools are

ineffective, and often dysfunctional, in this area. Some of the

women we spent time with had never been to the Golden Temple.

Our visit to the Temple itself was arranged from Leicester, through

friends Resham Singh Sandhu, and Surinder, herself connected with

Christians Aware. As a result, we were welcomed as VIPs! We had

a special guide, not only on this first visit, but also the next morning,

when my daughter wanted to take photographs of this stunning

place.

It is estimated is that 80,000 people visit the temple each day, from

around the Sikh world, but also Hindus and others, such as

ourselves. Sikhs come on pilgrimage from all over the Sikh

Diaspora, including Britain, Canada, the USA, Australia, and other

European countries. I encountered Sikhs from Birmingham and

Leicester while there. 60,000- 80,000 meals are served each day as

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langar. It is wonderfully organised, and by going to East Park Road

Gurdwara, or any of the other temples in Leicester, we can

experience basically the same thing in microcosm. There are armies

of volunteers, at least as many men as women. The crowds walk

round the great tank in the middle of the temple, and watchmen

keep them moving. They are dressed as warriors, but are friendly

enough. Those who wish can take a bath in the water, and there are

special facilities for women to get dry in peace, in a tented area. All

the time, we hear the scriptures being chanted through loud

speakers, and texts are displayed on giant screens. Offerings can be

purchased, and food that can be blessed- and intriguingly, there are

notices calling this ‘Holy Communion’!

The centre of the visit is to the Holy of Holies, where the Guru

Granth Sahib is being read. But this is at several points where the

crowds can be coped with by having readers at different places, and

having several copies. There is a strong sense of order and

reverence, and though the queues are very long, people wait their

turn (though as VIP’s, we were taken by our caring guide, right

through to the front of the queue. One or two foreigners took

advantage of this, and joined us- one woman I talked to was a Hare

Krishna devotee, from Germany, another from Belgium. We

remained for some time, and then moved on. By then it was raining,

but no-one seemed to mind, the sense of devotion was not swept

away.

Very important for the guide was for us to visit the museum of Sikh

history. This was very comprehensive, and showed the pride they

have in a history full of violence perpetrated against Sikhs, from the

foundation of the Khalsa onwards. They venerate the martyrs,

victims of Muslim, Hindu, British, and Indian government attacks.

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There are many fine paintings of Gurus, and of Sikh leaders who

gave their lives. And there are relics too, swords and armour of

these times. Great importance is given to remembering the martyrs

of 1984, thirty years ago, when the golden temple was stormed by

Indira Gandhi and the Indian Army, and Bhindranwale and many

others were killed in the temple precincts, and the golden shrine

was destroyed; Indira Gandhi was then murdered by her Sikh

bodyguards, who were then seen as martyrs themselves, and

celebrated in the temple.

We were shown stains of martyrs’ blood, on the pavement of the

temple itself, and there are lists everywhere of those who had died

in battles over the two hundred years, including the two world wars.

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But it is noteworthy that, within all this history, there is no real

evidence today of a wish for Khalistan, an independent Sikh state.

In Punjab people are realistic, and know there is no hope of this, not

least because of the strategic place where Sikhs live, on the ultra-

sensitive border with Pakistan. The dream of Khalistan is a dream

kept alive in certain Gurdwaras in Britain, including Leicester, in

Canada and in the USA. It has no practical credence, as seen from

Amritsar.

Near to the temple, in the midst of this overcrowded and in some

ways chaotic city, we were taken by our guide to another shrine, the

Jallianwala Bagh. This we may know about from our history books

is the garden where nearly 400 Sikhs were massacred, shot down,

by British soldiers, in 1919. General Dyer is a name associated with

what Churchill called, in the House of Commons, ‘A monstrous

event.’ The Sikhs were protesting peacefully about new repressive

anti-terrorist measures. They were following Gandhian methods of

non-violence resistance. They were given no chance to escape

through the narrow passage by which they had entered the gardens.

This came just after the Great War, with the great contribution Sikhs

had made to that, as they fought for their King! Today, there is

another museum, the well down which bodies were thrown, and

bullet holes in the wall around the garden. People from all over

India came to see this shrine to all the bad sides of British

imperialism. It was a powerful experience to go there nearly 100

years later, and see how this event gave a great head start to the

independence movement, and made loyal Sikhs join that movement,

led by the Hindu Gandhiji.

We had two more experiences in Amritsar. The first was to go to the

Wagha border post between India and Pakistan. This place is just

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20 miles from Lahore, a little less from Amritsar. There is no natural

barrier between the two. Punjab was just divided arbitrarily by

Lord Mountbatten’s staff, to meet a deadline when the British

government, for understandable reasons, decided to cut and run in

1947. The great migrations followed, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs,

and around a million people are said to have been killed. Today the

border remains precarious. But this crossing perhaps helps to hold

the peace, in its own way. Every day, at 5 pm, selected soldiers from

the two armies marched up to the border barrier, goose stepwise,

face each other, and walk back. This happens again and again for

perhaps 30 minutes. From the Indian side, these now include

women soldiers. And then the barrier is raised, and they meet each

other face to face, in a seemingly friendly way. The two flags are

raised- and then ceremoniously lowered, and the soldiers walk back.

What is most amazing is the vast crowd that assembles, quite far

from Amritsar, in the countryside as the crossing is. There may be

5000 people, from all over India, and from further afield- and many

also on the Pakistan side. There is a cheer leader and he goes up and

down orchestrating the crowd, with such shouts as Hindustan

zindebad, to the accompaniment of martial music. The sheer volume

of noise is quite scary, but people enjoy the outing, and the coffee

and soft drinks stalls, and the sense of the occasion. Better this than

fighting- the Punjabis are of course one people, either side of the

border. Better than what we have seen recently between Ukraine

soldiers and pro- Russian militia, or the tense border, as it used to

be, in Berlin, at Check Point Charlie. As we made the journey back to

the south, I thanked my daughter for encouraging us to make this

visit, which, overall, has given me even more respect for this sister

faith, Sikhism, and for the Christians of Punjab. Andrew Wingate

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Living Partnership Day- A Report from Birmingham

By Revd Jessie Anand (FCI Chair) & Revd Adrian Watkins (FCI Vice-Chair) The FCI proposed to the CSI-CNI Relations Forum in March 2013 the possibility of working together on a Day Conference of the theme of “Partnership” with a view to bringing together a wider range of people who were involved in India partnerships primarily, but not exclusively with the CSI, CNI and Mar Thoma churches. The aim was to extend beyond the senior staff of agencies and mission departments of churches, and also beyond FCI members, to include these who are involved in India partnerships through ecumenical, diocesan, regional church and local church links, through the Diaspora communities and others with connections and interest in India and South Asia. The purpose was to listen and learn together and build a wider and broader fellowship and connections for partnership, especially in recognition that partnership is now increasingly decentralised and the dynamic energy is often at the local church or regional level. The CSI-CNI Relations Forum readily agreed to this proposal and Revd Adrian Watkins was given the responsibility of convening the planning group from FCI members (Jessie Anand and Adrian Watkins) and from the CSI-CNI Relations Forum. Representatives of Us (Rachel Parry), the Leicester-Trichy Diocesan Link (Suresh Kumar), Partnership for World Mission (Janice Price and Sue Parks), the United Reformed Church (David Tatem) and the Methodist Church (Steve Pearce) formed the group that met at regular intervals in London (at Indian YMCA and Us offices) to plan event which was given the name “Living Partnership”. The Day itself was held on 29th March 2014 at Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham from 10am to 4pm. There were 45 participants (51 paid-up registrations) with altogether 26 different

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partnership links and relationships from UK and Germany represented (officially and unofficially), including: Derbyshire-CNI Ecumenical Partnership; Carlisle-CSI Madras Diocesan Link; Leicester-Trichy-Tanjore Diocesan Link; Links of the Methodist Church of Great Britain; Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) Germany; Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg; Lincoln-CSI Tirunelveli Diocesan Link; United Reformed Church; Church of England/Lambeth Palace/Partnership for World Mission;; Diocese of Birmingham; URC West Midlands Synod-CNI Link; Diocese of Lichfield; Episcopal Church of Scotland; Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich; Ely-CSI Vellore Ecumenical Link; Marthoma Church, Bristol; Presbyterian Church of Ireland/CNI Gujarat Diocese; CMS; Us; Methodist Women in Britain; Oxford Diocese - CSI Nandyal Diocese Link; Friends of Vellore; Church of Scotland; Southwark diocese FCI. (Council for World Mission Europe & Diocese of Llandaff-Church of Bangladesh registered but could not attend). The first address was given by Professor Kirsteen Kim of Leeds Trinity University on the theme: “How can theology of the Holy Spirit inform our relationships with partner and link churches in India?” She spoke about Indian Spirituality and the Holy Spirit in three main areas (1) Hindu-Christian Ashrams; (2) the liberation of the oppressed and a spirituality of struggle and (3) inter-religious relations and a spirituality of dialogue. She explored and contrasted the writing and theology of Vandana, Rayan and Samartha in these connections and suggested points of learning for our partner relationships. The second main talk was given by the Professor Daniel Jeyeraj of Liverpool Hope University on “Values and Practices in Partnership Relationship - Past and Present.” He spoke about early Lutheran and Protestant missionaries in India and their strong engagement with local Indian languages and cultures and then drew out points of learning for current partnership relationships.

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The day also included opening prayers led by Davidson Solanki of Us, sharing news from CSI and CNI and stories from different Partnership Links (Mrs Margaret Marshall on URC links, John and Elizabeth Hurfurt on the CNI-Derbyshire link, Barbel Wuthe from Germany on the EMS-CSI partnership). Feedback and discussion groups were facilitated by Janice Price of PWM. Rt. Revd Humphrey Southern, Bishop of Repton gave a closing reflection that drew together the themes of the day and pointed forward to the future while Revd Julie Lipp-Nathaniel led the closing prayers. And a wonderful Indian curry lunch was provided by Revd Anand Asir and the team from All Saints Church Battersea. Special thanks too are owed to Mrs Malar Lawrence for supervising arrivals and registrations and Vivien Sureshkumar for technological support. The day was one of enriching friendship and fellowship in relation to our India partnerships with special emphasis given to values such as mutuality, listening, sensitivity, equality, inter-dependence, humility, trust, openness, honesty, hospitality and reciprocity. It was observed that some old models of partnership are inappropriate and unsustainable in today’s context and that in the future there is a need for us all to continue to relate and network together in our partnership journey for greater relevance and fruitfulness in our shared mission. The day also helped people to reflect on God as a relational Trinity and a missionary God and how partnership is rooted in this character and nature of God.Both the FCI management committee and CSI-CNI Relations Forum have evaluated the day positively in their meetings and are looking to build upon it which may include another similar day conference in 2016.

Please note the FCI Day and send the attached registration

form soon back

SATURDAY 4thOCTOBER 2014

Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6AQ

200yds from Warren Street Tube Station, just off northern end of Tottenham Court

Rd

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Old records from FCI Kept safely in CMS –Crowther library

Old records always speak fresh thoughts to those who make use of the opportunity to read and reflect on the past. They make a beautiful thread to link past and future.

The historical path of Friends of the Church in India (FCI) in the UK has been amazing. FCI was started by former missionaries who, after retirement, continued to visit India. Since 1950 there have been reunions for former missionaries and the Indian Christians who came to settle in Britain, and these have been inspiring experiences. CSI Day was celebrated and after the formation of CNI, the CNI Days were also celebrated, but separately. Eventually FCI Day (both CSI and CNI Days) emerged and the missionaries still enjoy their partnership with one another, meeting and knowing more about the Indian churches, which has led them to uphold the Indian churches in their prayers and linked their memories from the past to the present.

My family are among the newcomers to Britain who joined FCI. For the past 14 years our experience with FCI made me understand more about the history of FCI. Recently the son of our FCI former secretary Rev. Barrie Scope, contacted us through Rev. Timothy Mark, the former Editor in the year 2012. John Scopes (The younger son of Barrie Scopes) said he wished his father’s noble work to be continued in a broader sense. He wrote, “I understand that you might be interested in assessing some material at my father’s house with a view to adding it to FCI archives. I found several boxes of material in the garage and there are also some further files in my father’s study. We’d be very happy for you or one of your colleagues

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to come and take a look at the material and you’re most welcome to take away anything that might be useful.”

After our contact John wrote to us, “Many thanks for making contact and for your kind words of condolence. I know how important the work of the FCI was to my father and I’m glad that you will be able to make use of the materials at his house.”

Around that time, CWM office in London informed me that they have FCI materials which they got from Barrie Scope, but as they were moving office to Singapore, they suggested that these materials be added to the FCI Archive.

So these materials (one car boot full) were collected from different locations with the help of Rev Anand Asir and kept in All Saints Vicarage, Battersea. As per the decision of the FCI Management Committee in May 2013, it was decided to archive them in CMS – Crowther Library, Watlington Road, Oxford, OX4 6BZ. After negotiations with the CMS Librarian Ken Osbourne these materials were safely archived on 27th March 2014. Ken Osbourne said, “These materials will be kept in future with the Birmingham University Library.”

FCI has the privilege to use these materials and provide access to them for research students or any theological seminary or anybody who would like to understand the organisation and the work of missionaries after they moved from India to the UK

When I saw these materials, my heart was grateful to God for the enthusiasm of our Missionaries and Secretaries/Treasurers/Editors who were so committed to the work of FCI.

By the Rev. Jessie Anand

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News from the Church of South India

The 34th Synod Session of the Church of South India was held at St. Paul's Basilica, Vijayawada, Krishna-Godavari Diocese from 11-14 January 2014. During the synod, new Officers have been elected for 2years term. The Bishop in the Diocese of Krishna-Godavari, the Rt. Rev. Govada Dyvasirvadam, was elected as moderator; The Bishop in Madhya Kerala Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Thomas K. Oommen as Deputy Moderator; Dr. Rathnakara Sadananda, Professor of Theology at the Karnataka Theological College, was elected as CSI General Secretary and Adv. C. Robert Bruce from Kanyakumari as Treasurer.

CSI-PCK-EMS Mission Consultation: Church of South India, Presbyterian Church of Korea –Evangelical Mission in Solidarity together had a Mission Consultation on 10-11 December 2013 at CSI Centre.

Mission Consultation for the Missionaries and Evangelist - CSI Diocese of Madras.

A one-day Mission consultation was organized for the benefit of the Missionaries and Coordinators working in the CSI Madras Diocese by the CSI Department of Mission and Evangelism on February 19, 2014 at CSI Centre, Chennai. At the end of the consultation the missionaries came with new proposals to start 100 new churches in the Madras Diocesan area and prepare at least 10,000 people for baptism in the year 2014.

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Training Program for Missionaries-CSI Dornakal Diocese (Mission and Evangelism)

A mission training program was organized by the CSI Department of Mission and Evangelism for Missionaries of CSI Dornakal Diocese during 4-6 march 2014 at CSI Centre, Chennai. One hundred Missionaries attended. Rev. Dr. D.R.Sadananda, General Secretary, CSI inaugurated and delivered the Keynote address. Rev. Christopher Vijayan, Director, Department of Mission and Evangelism, CSI was the Speaker.

National Consultation on Climate Justice

A three day National Consultation on Climate Justice was organized by Department of Ecumenical Relations and Ecological Concerns during 11-13 March 2014 at CSI Centre, Chennai. Mrs. Jayanthi Natarajan, former Minister for Environment and Forests, Government of India inaugurated the consultation.3 delegates from each of the 22 Dioceses of CSI participated in the consultation.

Conclusion

The new General Secretary has shared his vision in the Church of South India magazine CSI life recently with the title, “On the path to justice and peace”. He mentioned about strengthening the partnership between the dioceses, and also with historical partners. He wanted the communion of churches in India to bear witness o the God of justice and peace. His prayer with the CSI is God of justice give us peace. Help us not only become a forum but also channel and instrument of God’s justice and peace.

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News from the Church of North India

Report - MISSION AND EVANGELISM Mission is the purpose for which the church is sent into the world. The mission that the church has received from its Lord is to make disciples of all nations by proclaiming Christ. This is the ultimate answer to the question “WHY ARE WE HERE?”

EDUCATION FOR THE POOR AND NEEDY THROUGH PDS HOSTELS

There was a time when more than 143 hostels provided physical, mental and spiritual nurture to more than 7300 children from the poor, marginalized and deprived families within the CNI. However due to withdrawal of financial support these hostels got closed down. Subsequently a new PDS Model has been evolved where the Parents, the Diocese concerned and the Synod play as stakeholders and share the financial burden for the education of the poor children, needy and marginalized Christian families. We are thankful to the Lord Almighty that our Stewardship Ambassadors Ministry and Partners are actively supporting this initiative.

STEWARDSHIP AMBASSADOR MINISTRY (SAM) CNI SYNOD

Looking ahead with a vision and marching steadily forward with a mission, Stewardship Ambassadors Ministry (SAM) was constituted through a resolution of the Executive Committee of CNI Synod. This ministry supports Programme for CNI youth to prepare them for civil services exams, theological education scholarships and PDS model of hostels for the poor and needy children.

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A FUNCTIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL IN EVERY PASTORATE

Sunday school ministry fosters a change, renewal, and reformation of children during the period of their growth by the power of the Holy Spirit to conform to the will of God as revealed in Christ Jesus. Responding to the contextual realities in which the Sunday school functions, the Church of North India has developed an ungraded Sunday School Syllabus. The Sunday school teachers training at diocesan level on usage of Ungraded Sunday school Curriculum begins in November 2013. The key objective of this training is to introduce new teaching techniques with local Cultures and traditions and to introduce same syllabus in all the congregations in CNI. Moreover, these trained teachers would further train the other Sunday School teachers.

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Ely-Vellore Ecumenical Link

As part of the Ely-CSI Vellore Ecumenical Link partnership, a

Youth Visit was made to Vellore in 2013. An excellent short film

report of this visit can be watched in You-Tube and highlights

the value of this kind of visit for all involved. The link

is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERGwDuA0Azo

More information on this Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council

link to Vellore can be found on the websites of the member

churches including:

www.ely.anglican.org/mission/world_mission

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Church Leadership fighting for Dalit Christians

– Lathi Charged, Water Canoned, Arrested

Reported by ALWAN MASIH, GENERAL SECRETARY CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA SYNOD

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), the National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC), National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) along with the Church of North India (CNI) jointly organized a Dharna (protest) and a rally at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on December 11, 2013, demanding equal treatment by the Indian Government and justice to Dalit Christians by way of according Scheduled Caste status to them.

Mr. Alwan Masih, General Secretary, The Synod of the Church of North India led a strong delegation of hundreds of members from across Church of North India to protest against discrimination meted out by the Government of India to Dalit Christians by not according them SC status as Christians. Bishop M.U. Kasab of the Diocese of Marathwada, Bishop Warris Masih of the Diocese of

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Rajasthan, Bishop Younas Massey of the Diocese of Chandigarh, Bishop P. P. Habil of the Diocese of Agra, Bishop Naresh Ambala and senior Pastors from the Diocese of Delhi were personally present to lead and encourage their members during the rally.

The protestors from various dioceses of the Church of North India, which included Bishops, Pastors, Lay leaders men, women and young people, gathered at the CNI Bhavan and started for the venue of the rally at Jantar Mantar with prayers by Bishop M.U. Kasab, Bishop P.P.Habil and Mr. Prem Masih-Acting Treasurer CNI Synod. During the rally, leaders from different denominations and Dalit organizations addressed the protestors and called upon them to peacefully fight against discrimination against Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.

A peaceful Dharna holding banners with slogans protesting and demanding equal treatment by the Indian Government was organized. After the rally when the Church leaders including

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Archbishops, Bishops, Nuns, lay leaders, and leaders of Dalit Christian organizations along with the Muslim Leaders were silently marching from Jantar Mantar towards the Parliament House demanding their due rights, suddenly the police intervened and brutally cane charged them. In order to disperse the peaceful protestors, the police resorted to use of water cannons and threw cold and dirty water with unbearable pressure on the protestors. As a result, a number of the protestors got badly injured.

When despite all this high handedness by the police, the protestors refused to leave the Protest March, the senior police officers present at the occasion declared that all the protestors were court arrested. They ordered brought buses and by taking the protestors in custody took them to Parliament Street Police station and confined them to police custody. Late in the evening a message was received that the Prime Minister has called a delegation of 15 Christian and Muslim Leaders on the following day in the Parliament house, to meet him and to submit memorandum to him. After this the protestors were released from the police custody. The Prime Minister gave a patient hearing, apologized for uncalled for police Lathicharge and water cannoning of the clergy and lay leadership of the Church, and assured the delegation to put up the matter before the Cabinet Committee to take necessary decision in this regard.

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Inauguration of the Centenary Year 2014-2015 of the Church of North India in North

East India

Since 2013, the Diocesan executive Committee had engaged itself in planning for this historic Centenary Jubilee of the life and growth of the Diocese. Established as a Diocese on January 10, 1915, we enter our hundredth year on this day this year 2014.

The Inauguration was held in the special Shamiana (Tent) at The All Saints’ Cathedral, Shillong between the 11th and 12th of January 2014. The Cathedral family under the leading of the Vicar, Rev. Presley B. Lyngdoh had worked hard to make the event truly memorable, meaningful and grand.

Our Moderator, the Most Revd. Dr. Philip Marandih arrived on the 10th evening, Rev. Philip Brooks of the Derby Diocese on the 7th, the Rt. Revd. E.W. Talibuddin our former Diocesan Bishop arrived on the 8th, while the representatives of all Pastorates, Diocesan Boards and Institutions arrived on the 11th morning.

On the 12th (Sunday) morning, the Sung Holy Communion Service was celebrated by our Bishop. A colourful and impressive Procession was led by the young people in traditional attires, Drums and Flutes, and traditional dances, followed by the Office-Bearers of DYFC, DWFCS, Boards, Institutions and Diocesan Council; then followed by the Deans, the Bishops and the Moderator. All along the route, Sunday School Children and young people lined up waving their flags and streamers

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It was so unique and commendable to see that Church-leaders of other Denominations and Representatives of other Faith-Communities participated in the whole service. In the Worship, the local young people, as well as from other Congregations presented cultural dances, adding to the beauty, richness and solemnity of our worship of God. Assamese, Punjabi and other dances were performed.

On the Sunday, the 26th January 2014, after the Morning Service, our Bishop planted a tree at the Cathedral premises in the presence of all Church-members and Clergy. The tree is called “A Centenary Tree”. We hope the tree will live and grow to tell the story of our First Century.

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Assamese Dance

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Bodo Dance Adivasi Dance

Bamboo dance Khasi Dance

!

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Introducing Anderson Jeremiah

Anderson Jeremiah, is currently Lecturer in World Christianity, the department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, at Lancaster University. He is an ordained priest from the diocese of Vellore, Church of South India and presently serving in the diocese of Blackburn (Church of England). He earned his doctorate from School of Divinity, New College, University of Edinburgh. He is married to Dr. Rebecca Aechtner, an academic researcher and we have a beautiful 15 month old daughter called Sundiya.

His doctoral research was on rural Dalit Christians in South India, focusing on their religious identity and theological expressions. Dalits, more commonly known as ‘Untouchables’, are a socially marginalised group living and struggling within a ‘caste’ dominated society. This research brings to light the missionary encounters with the caste system in the church history of south India. It is also an enquiry into the understanding of Dalit Christian identity, their religious worldview, and how they utilise various religious symbols and performances to advance social change. The research also attempted to articulate a relevant theological understanding of Dalit Christology using Gillian Rose’s philosophical concept of ‘Broken Middle’. (This work has been published as a book, Community and

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Worldview, Bloomsbury, London 2012). His doctoral research of looking at Dalit Christians in India resulted in two important research trajectories: firstly developing a broad perspective on World Christianity and secondly deepen his understanding of Dalit communities in all their complexities.

His other research centres on ‘Dalit Christians and Political Activism in India’. Active political participation of Dalit Christians in India has seen a gradual development in the past decade. His research develops a localised perspective of the growth and expansion of Global Christianity. From anthropological and sociological perspectives he accentuates the heterogeneity and plurality of lived Christian experience in different contexts, thus bringing to focus the interface between culture, worldview and belief.

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Facing Death and Rediscovering Spirituality:

Revd Hamilton Inbadas, PhD Student, Faculty of Medicine and Health

Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK.

Palliative care – the branch of healthcare that delivers care for the

terminally ill – is a relatively recent addition to the Indian health care

system, which in many ways is still in its infancy. The conceptualisation

and thereby the provision of appropriate care at the end of life has to

be grounded on contextual understandings of the meanings of life,

death and the process of dying. The rich and diverse spiritual and

cultural traditions in the care of the dying in India provide a useful

resource to understand the features of spiritual care in the caring of the

dying from a historical-cultural perspective. Such socio-cultural,

historical, philosophical and theological perspectives are crucial for the

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development of appropriate care practices for attending to the spiritual

needs of palliative care patients in India.

The aim of my research is to explore the historical-cultural

understandings of spirituality in the care of the dying in India and to

examine their relevance on the contemporary perceptions of the caring

for the dying towards building a model of spiritual care for Indian

palliative care practice. It also addresses fundamental questions in

practical theology pertaining to the realm of pastoral care for the dying

in India. Historical traditions are not only carriers of traditional wisdom

for the care of the dying, just as for other significant events in life, but

they also contain deep-rooted meanings that shape the perception of

death and caring for the dying in the present. I have used oral history

methodology and have interviewed older adults from Kanyakumari

District, Tamil Nadu for this study.

My research interest in the subject stems from several years of working

as a chaplain and spiritual care educator in the palliative care

programme of the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. My

ordination as a minister and my educational background in theology

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and bioethics, have also been significantly influential. In many ways this

research is about building bridges: between theology/philosophy and

medicine, between the past and the present and between Indian life

context and western academia. Undertaking this research has been a

rich experience so far and I look forward to completing it within the

next year.

Humour from India

A Televangelist a Rabbi and a Hindu holy man, had car trouble in the

countryside and asked to spend the night with a farmer. The farmer said:

"There might be a problem; you see, I only have room for two to sleep, so one

of you must sleep in the barn.""No problem," chimed the Rabbi, "My people

wandered in the desert for forty years, I am humble enough to sleep in the

barn for an evening." With that he departed to the barn and the others

bedded down for the night. Moments later a knock was heard at the door; the

farmer opened the door, there stood the Rabbi from the barn. "What's

wrong?" asked the farmer. The Rabbi replied, "I am grateful to you, but I can't

sleep in the barn. There is a pig in the barn and my faith believes that this is

an unclean animal."His Hindu friend agrees to swap places with him. But a

few minutes later the same scene reoccurs. There is a knock on the door,

"What's wrong, now?" the farmer asks. The Hindu holy man replies, "I too am

grateful for your helping us out but there is a cow in the barn and in my

country cows are considered sacred. I can't sleep on holy ground!"

Well, that leaves only the Televangelist to make the change. He grumbled and complained, but went out to the barn. Yep, you guessed it! Moments later there was another knock on the farmers door. Frustrated and tired, the farmer opens the door, and there stood the pig and the cow.

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Sanctified in Truth? - A book Review Revd William Allberry, MA is a retired priest in the Church of England,

UK, and spends part of each year teaching English in Tamilnadu

Theological Seminary, Madurai.

Rev. Dr. Joseph G. Muthuraj, is Professor of New Testament Studies at United Theological College, Bangalore. ‘… That They May Also Be Sanctified In Truth’ was published in 2012 jointly by ISPCK and Thoothukudi-Nazareth Diocese; pp. xiii + 146.

Dr Muthuraj’s short book, ‘… That They May Also Be Sanctified In Truth’ begins with a highly apt quotation from Hans Küng: ‘A Church in which theologians have to keep silent becomes an untruthful Church’. The book is a response to a paper written by the Moderator, the Most Rev. G. Devakadasham of the Church of South India (now the former Moderator) which seems to suggest that the way to meet the perceived problems and failures of the Church – principally lack of integrity in the administration of money and property, and the divisive processes of selection and election of bishops – should be to strengthen the Bishops’ Council.

In his outspoken and hard-hitting response, Dr Muthuraj, a highly respected theologian and teacher at UTC Bangalore, takes issue with the Moderator on this and other points. He is well qualified to do this, having written two volumes, We Began at Tranquebar, tracing the origin and development of CSI episcopacy. In a useful appendix, which also contains the Moderator’s paper and a paper of his own given on the role of theological education in relation to the Church and its leadership, he gives the text of the 1919 Tranquebar Manifesto, recalling the separate traditions which came together to move towards unity, achieved in 1947; in particular he reminds us that the CSI accepted the historical episcopate, locally adapted, and in a constitutional form. The Tranquebar Manifesto emphasised the

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priesthood of all believers, and the organic nature of the hoped-for united church – ‘for we aim not at compromise for the sake of peace, but at comprehension for the sake of truth’. The Moderator’s paper speaks of revitalization and renewal, speaking euphorically of the CSI as ‘an empowerment by God’, boasting a Constitution providing ‘for procedural measures that can be legally and constitutionally resorted to enable renewal and revitalizing of the church’. ‘It was certainly something,’ he adds, ‘that was divinely guided all along.’ An observer might note that the CSI has not developed in the ways that were envisaged in the heady days of its inauguration, and wonder at which point the divine guidance left off. The democratic processes have developed into unedifying politics with highly undesirable campaigning, with divisions frequently on caste and language lines, and there is evidence of gross mishandling and misappropriation of the church’s assets, often enriching individuals (including those on Synod and Diocesan Committees) to a considerable extent.

Having referred obliquely to these matters the Moderator refers to the need to strengthen the Bishops’ Council without offering any reasons for this, or the precise ways in which this strengthening should be achieved (as if the bishops did not have far too great powers already), and makes some apparently arbitrary recommendations; namely, that the CSI should adopt the secretive practice of the Roman Catholic cardinals in electing their leader; that the Deputy Moderator should automatically become the Moderator; and that the General Secretary and Treasurer should be appointed rather than elected. ‘When such suggestions are considered,’ he adds, ‘it may be the right move to appoint a commission to study certain reforms and present it at the next Synod.’

As the Moderator proudly proclaims, the CSI was formed in accordance with the prayer of Jesus ‘that they all may be one’; Dr Muthuraj points out that Jesus went on to pray ‘… that they also may be sanctified in truth’ (John 17:19). He gives a robust response to

35

the Moderator’s paper, and he is not afraid to be highly critical of it. At the same time, he says much that is positive about the CSI and its Constitution which encourages the Church’s growth and development, if used aright; he includes a fascinating account of the developing relations between the constituent churches which produced the Tranquebar Manifesto and led to the ground-breaking formation of the CSI in 1947.

Muthuraj takes issue on many points in the Moderator’s paper, and opposes particularly strongly the notion that CSI episcopacy has a sacerdotal sense; he reminds us that the CSI Constitution provides specifically that ‘No individual and no one order in the Church can claim exclusive possession of this heavenly priesthood.’ A major weakness of the paper, Muthuraj says, arguing with historical evidence, is its assumption of federation ideas rather than the organic unity envisaged at Tranquebar and on the later inauguration of the CSI. There are sections on the establishment of the CSI Trust Association (CSITA) and its management of the properties it holds for the church; electioneering for the episcopate; the Church’s mission; and its liturgy and leadership. He invites the Church to open its heart ‘to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us through the Scriptures and respond to the call for repentance, the most fundamental experience of the community of believers.’

The former Moderator encourages all to participate in the ongoing process of renewal. ‘There is room for retrospection and healthy renewal,’ he writes, and later: ‘The right to opine one’s concerns, criticisms and ideas is sacrosanct and the CSI Constitution adequately provides for it.’ One wonders why, in this case, Bishop Devakadasham (as the current President of the General Body of Dr Muthuraj’s College) should have responded to this book by requiring the College Principal to issue a memorandum of warning towards initiating disciplinary proceedings against the author. Hans Küng must surely be turning in his grave.

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Archbishop visits India

Archbishop Justin Welby and his wife, Caroline, pay respects at Raj Ghat

in Delhi, 31 May 2014.

The India leg of the trip began on Saturday when the Archbishop arrived in Delhi, where he spent two days at the invitation of the Moderator of the Church of North India (CNI), the Most Revd Dr P P Marandih.

In Delhi the Archbishop visited Raj Gaht, the memorial to Mahatma Gandi, and India Gate, the country's war memorial, to pay his respects. He also met with met with church leaders to hear about the work of the CNI, and preached on the Ascension at Delhi's St James Church.

Yesterday the Archbishop travelled south to Chennai to visit the Moderator of the Church of South India (CSI), the Most Revd Dr Govada Dyvasirvadam. During two days in the city the Archbishop addressed CSI bishops and heard about their work, and celebrated the Eucharist at Chennai's St George's Cathedral.

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Archbishop Justin plans to visit all his fellow Primates around the Anglican Communion during his first 18 months in office. His aim is to express solidarity, build personal and professional bonds, understand the primates’ work in their local contexts, and lay foundations for good collaboration over the coming years.

Archbishop Justin Welby told Anglican bishops of the Church of South India Synod in Chennai yesterday they must be "ambassadors of reconciliation" as they seek to address India's social challenges.

“Reconciliation is what we need. You must be ambassadors of reconciliation and that is only way in which social issues that this country faces can be overcome,” Archbishop Justin said. Source –www.ArchbishopofCanterbury.org

India News: Modi, the former Gujarat Chief Minister has

been elected as the Prime Minister of India. He represents

BJP party – a Hindutva political group. He has promised

the people that he would lead the country towards

development and prosperity. We all hope for the best.

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SPECIAL TRIBUTES

Timothy John Mark

Bridgend United Church, 11th April 2014

We are a congregation gathered together to thank God for the life of

John Timothy Mark, to honour him and to celebrate his personal and

family life: his remarkable character, his committed ministry and his

distinguished teaching career. He was born in Penarth on 4

February 1934. His parents died when he was in early childhood

and he moved with his sister Anne to live in Nottingham where they

were brought up by their Aunt and Uncle who were Methodists. He

became a local preacher in Nottingham at the age of seventeen and a

little later was accepted to train as a Methodist minister. After two

years of National Service he went to Didsbury College, Bristol.

Several of us here today have known him since those early days

when his love of learning and adventure began and where he

became interested in church unity and ecumenical relationships. It

was a natural progress after gaining a Post graduate certificate in

Education from Bristol University and training for overseas work at

St Andrews, Birmingham that Methodism should send him to serve

in the Tiruchirappalli-Thanjavur diocese of the Church of South

India.

There he was ordained deacon in 1959 and presbyter in 1961 and

after a year of language training in Bangalore he was stationed first

in Karur, then Dharapuram where from 1962 to 1964 he was

Manager and Correspondent of the Church of South India Boys

School. After a year’s furlough he became presbyter in charge of St

39

Peter’s Church, Thanjavur. He conducted worship and preached in

both Tamil and English. His assistant presbyter, the Revd

Nallamuthu Gabriel became a life-long friend. Whilst there, Bristol

University awarded him the degree of Master of Letters for a thesis

on “The Church of South India: its doctrine of the Church as embodied

in its Church Order”.

The years in India were formative ones. His vocation was tested

there and confirmed, and he warmly responded to a culture which

was totally new to him. He had great respect for the Church of South

India which was still in its infancy having been founded eleven years

before, and these were days when many of us hoped that it could be

the catalyst for other church unions in this country and elsewhere,

which was not to be the case. He felt at home with the basically

Anglican tradition of the diocese and maintained contact there for

the rest of his life,; from as recently as 2009 he edited nine editions

of Pilgrim, the Magazine of the Friends of the Church in India. As he

himself would say he enjoyed dressing up: you will have noticed

that even on his scooter in those far away days in India, he wore a

white cassock. Vestments came with the job and helped to define it.

Timothy’s working life can be divided between that Indian ministry

and Doncaster College of Education, with a short time as a teacher in

Harlow where he was head of religious education. It was partly as a

result of the secular theology debate of the 1960’s that led him to

ask permission of the Methodist Conference to move into education,

permission that was granted. In Doncaster where he and I renewed

friendship from college days, he taught psychology and sociology of

religion, he held a variety of responsibilities, teaching psychology

and the philosophy of education, moving onto becoming principal

lecturer in the department of social and personal studies and

40

culminating as the acting Head of Business and Professional Studies.

Lorna was one of his students; to his surprise, as if being a bachelor

was how it would always be, they fell in love, married and her early

death was a sorrow over which it must have been hard to overcome.

She was lovely.

Timothy was indeed a remarkable person, perceptive, highly

intelligent, a traditionalist perhaps in his churchmanship but always

a free spirit. Whilst formal in his dress and speech, he could also be

outrageous in the things he said, one of the many contradictions

which provided the richness of his character. I think it may be true

that political correctness was virtually unknown to him, though a

genuine interest in people was.

It is possible, should you be so inclined, to distinguish ministers of

religion by their theology – radicals, evangelicals, conservatives,

charismatics, liberals, also-rans and those who have had it straight

from the Lord and so on. Timothy defied all categories. He was

entirely himself. It was just so at college when all of us were

impossibly young, but there is a sense in which Timothy was never

young or perhaps that he remained young for ever. His formal

manner partly concealed an inquisitive interest in all manner of

people, and affection for them.

He was a born teacher and by choice and ability, a scholar. He could

speak to you as if he was sorting out one of his less able students.

He wrote and published several books, one of them a somewhat racy

detective novel. He thought deeply and was enthused by whatever

his latest interest might be. In retirement he joined the Doncaster

Astronomical Society and edited their magazine. He was a member

too of the Danum Social and Literary Society. There was always a

41

book on the go, and if you had the misfortune not to have read his

latest or worse, not even heard of it, he would look at you curiously

but kindly, and give you a brief summary to compensate for your

deficiency.

In his last days, Timothy could have been near to desolation but as

these difficult last months have shown, he was an extremely brave

man enduring a series of medical set-backs with fortitude, and

bearing considerable pain. His reading during this time was often

centred on suffering, why it happens and how as a Christian it can be

borne. He was a man of faith. Positive to the end, says Anne, he

knew where he was going and that it would be another adventure.

He was enormously sustained during difficult times by Anne, their

marriage a joy in the years of his retirement, and by the love and

prayers of his children Kathryn and Richard, grandsons Oliver and

Archie, and his many, many friends.

Writing after one of the last times I saw him, he said ‘I have been

greatly blessed with two beautiful wives, Lorna and Anne, and our

two children, Kathryn and Richard.’ It will be very strange for you

not to have him around to share, support and where appropriate,

advise, you. An inveterate planner, he hoped that his funeral would

be a happy event, a bit of humour, and a sense of thanksgiving for

his life, ‘despite my many weaknesses and inadequacies’. Well we

are thankful.

And there is happiness of course, but we must allow each other also

to be sad as well, as personal grief becomes a public event. And yet

moving from the private moment and the concerned fellowship of

the church here which were so important to Timothy and Anne in

recent years, to a wider one may bring a different sort of comfort,

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for we all have experience of loss and understand the need to share

it, as we do now. Death can bind the wounds that break human

fellowship and bring us to our common humanity, for all of us have

to face bereavement and are strangely united by it.

As a company of people united by our memory of him, we thank God

for Timothy Mark. We rejoice that we have known him and we

commend his joyful and questing spirit to the realms of eternity and

to the everlasting God, whom he loved and served.

OBITUARIES

Rev Timothy John Mark, Bridgend United Church,

11th April 2014

Rev Nigel Gilson, aged 91, died on 29 December 2013.

He was a life member of FCI. He served Rhodesia but

showed a lot of interest to read Pilgrim regularly.

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