A WIDER CONSULTATION ON THE RENEWAL OF CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA.
Theme: "Come, let us dialogue in the presence of the Risen Lord"
A wider consultation on the renewal of the Church of South India is planned to be held on 2nd May, 2012, at the Synod Centre, Chennai. It shall be an open forum for all to express their vision for their Church. A core group of all the Bishop’s in active service, retired Bishop’s capable of travelling, one representative nominated by the Bishop of each Diocese, present and former Principals of all the regional theological colleges and U. T. C., Bangalore, and other thinkers of the Church of South India are invited to participate in this consultation.
APART FROM THE INVITED PARTICIPANTS, OTHERS, INCLUDING THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, ARE WELCOME TO SEND THEIR OPINION IN WRITING TO THE GENERAL SECRETARY, C. S. I. SYNOD, #5, Whites Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 14, Tamil Nadu, WHICH WILL BE DULY CONSIDERED IN THE DELIBERATIONS.
HEREWITH IS ATTACHED THE COMMUNIQUE TO THE WHOLE OF CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA:-
Come let us dialogue in the presence of the risen Lord
The Preamble of the Constitution of the Church of South India, lays down that, “We, as a Church believe that we are called to participate in God’s mission in this part of the world. This mission is one of creating and recreating all our relationships according to the purpose of God and Christ for the whole world and participating in the realization of the Kingdom of God. We prayerfully commit our lives to Christ, the giver of new life and acknowledge the need to be continually renewed by the Holy Spirit so that we as a Church will be the sign and instrument of peace and reconciliation in the many conflicts around us. We stand before God in prayer, asking God’s Spirit to empower us and lead us in Christ’s way. We pledge to follow and uphold the governing principles of our Church and the provisions of this Constitution, for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the welfare of all people.”
The founding fathers and mothers of our Church gave a clear definition of our Church and the vision for the Church for all times as a witnessing Church. When the Church grows, as in the case of the Church in Jerusalem [Acts 6:1&2], difference of opinions, doctrinal differences and faith practices are bound to arise. The proper method, the apostles of the Church identified was to gather as a council, consult each other to arrive at a viable solution [Acts 15]. The Church of South India, has grown from 2,26,191 people in 1947 to the present four million people. Therefore, manifold problems cannot be ruled out. But then, what is the way out? As guided by the Holy Spirit, I request my people and the leaders, who are truly interested in the welfare of the Church, to come, meet and dialogue in the presence of the Risen Lord. Listen to all kind of opinion for our visionary Church. I appeal to all concerned, let us not take our internal issues to the pubic print and electronic media. Instead, as the apostles met in Jerusalem, let us meet in Chennai to have an open talk.
The Moderator is called to represent the mind, thought, expectation and experiences of all the four million people. Constitutionally, C. S. I. is given shape as a democratic Church. Democracy is the rule by the majority of the people. C. S. I. is called to interpret democracy in a different way. Of course, the leaders may be elected by majority votes, but they should represent the thoughts of all the people in the Church. With this in mind, a wider consultation on the renewal of the Church of South India is planned to be held on 2nd May, 2012, at the Synod Centre, Chennai. It shall be an open forum for all to express their vision for their Church. A core group of all the Bishop’s in active service, retired Bishop’s capable of travelling, one representative nominated by the Bishop of each Diocese, present and former Principals of all the regional theological colleges and U. T. C., Bangalore, and other thinkers of the Church of South India are invited to participate in this consultation. Apart from the invited participants, others, including the international community, are welcome to send their opinion in writing to the General Secretary of the C. S. I. Synod, which will be duly considered in the deliberations.
The proposals emerging out of the consultation shall be incorporated into the Constitution of the Church of South India as per the laid down principles which shall standardize the Constitution to face the emerging challenges of the present days. Further, such an exercise shall purify the Church from the charges rightly or wrongly levelled against her. Any body in this great Church has the right to opine on anything regarding the functioning of the Church of South India, Synod. While pointing out the errors if any, let me remind you not to forget the good things done in the Church in terms of evangelization, mission, ministry and the humanitarian and institutional services. The Church is not perfect as the members are also not perfect. Let us move towards perfection depending on the Perfector, Lord Jesus Christ, grace of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
The title says, “Come let us dialogue in the presence of the Risen Lord”, has a message for the Church. The Churches affirmation is that, Jesus Christ formed, redeemed and sustained the Church in His created world. Resurrection is the sustaining element of the living and vibrant Church. The principalities and powers made attempts to conceal resurrection. The stone, guards and bribery were the tools used by the enemies to hide the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Angels of the Lord said “He is not here, He has risen” [Luke 24:6]. Some people, from within and outside, maligned the Church through the print and electronic media. As I referred earlier, problems are there in the Church caused by evil persons. The fact that evil is there in those who talk about evil, should also be recognized. Their talking about evil is like “looking at the speck of saw dust in your brother’s eye and paying no attention to the plank in one’s own eye” [Mathew 7:3]. In the presence of the risen Lord, all of us are sinful, weak and fragile human beings. We all stand to be corrected by the Almighty God. Therefore, let us realize our dependence on God for empowerment from above to live a life worthy of God’s calling.
With prayer’s and Easter greetings!
Most Rev. G. Devakatasham (Moderator)
Rt. Rev. G. Dyvasirvadam (Deputy Moderator)
Mr. M. M. Philip (General Secretary)
Dr. Bennet Abraham (Treasurer)
4 comments:
What do they except to achieve out of a one-day event? If the new moderator and his team is serious about reform and about listening to serious suggestions on what needs to be reformed this meeting should be at least of three days duration. Otherwise this is only an eyewash meant to achieve nothing beyond saying we have consulted you.
Binu Thomas
Dear Binu Thomas,
One day is not enough as you said.But the sinod has come down to conduct atleast one day meeting.Let it be a starting.Let us see what will come out from the discussions.
Davids who campaign to redeem the church out of darkness of corruption instead of fighting, are going to negotiate with Goliaths who are still on bail and anticipatory jail in the meeting field to be held on 2nd May.
Dr.John S.Dorai
jsdorai@gmail.com
The meeting should mainly concentrate to include many check points in the constitution to arrest corruption by Bishops and synod officials, also discuss about the corrupt Bishops at present. But if the corrupt Bishops are the main people in the discussions nothing will come out.
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