I give these suggestions knowing fully well that I am not "Current" and may not even be "relevant". Those on the ground will have to take these and do with it whatever they feel is the best for the FUTURE of our Basel Mission Community.
I was born fully into that community, baptized,confirmed and married in the Basel Mission Church and educated in that community institutions. I guess that gives me a certain privilege to write these.
Here are my thoughts:
There has to be changes that will give the elected leaders at the Diocesan level the final say in any transactions involving our properties, institutions and in the appointment of members to their governing Boards.
The issue of the legality of CSITA should be looked into & dealt with .
There should a majority of elected LAY members in the major standing committees of the Diocese.
Sale, use or rental of properties attached to each parish or congregation has to have prior approval of the concerned Pastorate Committee & also the Diocesan council.
Realizing that currently there are enough younger qualified and experienced members of our community available people who are asked to lead the Boards&Managing committees of our institutions should be of age less than 70.
Programmes and activities will have to be devised & planned to keep the Malabar Basel Mission Community Continually mobilized, including?especially the younger members .
Our Basel Mission Identity & heritage has to be preserved& nurtured without any dilution.This involves larger social context.
My dear friends, I have no personal motive in writing these except the satisfaction that I am trying my best though distance& time keep me away from the current realities in our Diocese& in CSI in general.
I understand that I still have the option of corresponding with you in future?
With much love& Best Wishes,
Jayakar(David Jayakar Daniel) ----------- An open letter to the officers of the diocese for consideration.
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JACOB REGINALD
Attachment 25 July 2011 15:26
To: jayapal.samuel@gmail.com
Bcc: jeevanandjohn@gmail.com
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From 24.07.2011
D. Jacob Reginald, Phone: 9447613860
IX-79, Laksham Colony,
Munnar – 685 612,
Kerala.
To
All the Officers of the Diocese,
Diocesan Office,
Shoranur.
Respected Officers of the diocese,
Warm greetings in our Lord’s most precious name.
I praise the Lord for having heard the cries of everyone who are concerned about the happenings in the diocese and brought a change in the administration. I congratulate both the interim administrators who conducted elections and yourselves and other members who won the elections for the various positions. God has given a great responsibility on your shoulders to take the diocese forward. May God bless you all and use you to the glory of God in a wonderful manner. I hope that you will discharge your responsibilities in a fair and just manner. I take this opportunity to give a few suggestions among various other aspects which came to my mind to make our diocese, the No.1 amongst the entire dioceses of CSI:
Spiritual Development and Evangelism - As stated in the constitution, we should give priority for the spiritual development of the entire families of the diocese and reaching the unreached of this country. The department of mission and evangelism should be strengthened with the induction of pastors and laity who are interested in the area. Our church believers should be motivated to reach the unreached neighbors being effective witnesses and service. We should have yearly target to start new worshiping groups or churches.
Youth, teens and children – Our children should be counseled and cared in a proper manner taking the present social circumstances into consideration. Youth, teens and children are misguided and they need lot of counseling. We are required to give special concentration to our children. We can think of forming a 24 hour helpline to our youth/teen who are in trouble for the diocese and even for the public. We should also conduct career counseling sessions for students of our diocese. The diocese level youth competitions are often conducted in namesake manner and concerned people don’t take interest that is required. Our traditional songs are totally neglected and the youth of our diocese should be motivated to learn the traditional songs. The beautiful histories of such songs should be narrated to the congregation.
Missionary societies - The missionary societies which are associated with CSI and recognized by the Synod may be allowed to share their ministry experience to our churches to revive our churches. Their experiences will inspire our believers to sacrifice and win the unreached for Christ.
Corruption and injustice - We must take a pledge to root out corruption from our diocese. It is absolutely essential to exhibit transparency in the entire functioning of the diocese. A system like the one provided in the Right to Information Act may be put in place in the diocese to get any information by any communicant member with regard to property deals, minutes of the committees, appointments etc. from the diocese. The minutes of the General Body or Pastorate Committees or other committees or District councils should be circulated to the church members immediately but not later than 7 days of the meetings by way of displaying on the church notice boards. Minutes should be prepared in the particular meetings itself. All members of the church have the right to know what is happening in the diocese. It is pertinent to note that since June 2008, my request to the Bishop to give a copy of the agreement made with SN group in Munnar by the diocese is pending till date. That itself proves that something corrupt has taken place in the entire deal.
Disciplinary action - During the tenure of the present Bishop so far, he has totally acted against the principle of natural justice and debarred or dismissed the laity. This must be stopped. Whether it is clergy or laity, the principle of natural justice should be exercised if pastorate committee is bypassed. The church constitution should not be misused. When people like me were debarred from the General body for filing cases, members like Aron James who filed cases against moderator is still a member of the diocesan council. It is ridiculous.
Grievance Procedure - Any grievance given by members either to diocese or to the various committees should be redressed then and there. This is one of the important area and when we fail, matters are taken to streets. Just because, the bishop was deliberately sitting on an appeal against Munnar pastorate’s election, a member namely Mr. Bhagiaraj filed a case and the Munnar elections still in a mess. There are so many instances in the diocese.
Amendments to the constitution - Certain clauses of the constitution is totally detrimental to the development of the diocese and should be amended. General assembly of all the churches should be conducted at least once a year and accounts of the pastorate should be passed in the assembly. A copy of the accounts passed by the G.A. should be sent to the diocese for information by each pastorate. If church assemblies are conducted regularly in a proper manner, matters will not be taken to streets. The constitution should be translated in Malayalam and Tamil and should be made available on demand.
Economically weak amongst the Laity - Each pastorate should find out the families which are economically weak besides members suffering from deadly diseases and the diocese should help them in all possible manner. A certain percentage of jobs in the diocese should be reserved for such families. The scholarships to the students should be enhanced several folds and we should make arrangements to disperse the payment at district level itself in the presence of scholarship committee members.
Marriage counseling - This should not be made compulsory whereas every year there should be an annual counseling camp or bi-annual camp for teens/youth over the age of 16 years and married couple separately with the participation of experts. The presbyters should not deny the conduct of the marriage under any circumstances quoting this as a deficiency which is illegal.
Training for the Clergy, elected representatives and Church workers – Regular training should be conducted to equip them better in communication, inter-personal relationship, leadership qualities etc. with the help of experts.
Salary & amenities of full time workers – Considering the cost of living and other aspects, they should be paid well in par with the benefits being given by other dioceses. Economically weak full time workers should be identified and helped by the church in all possible manners. Whereas there should be norms or ceiling for the usage of electricity, phone bills, etc. as many are misusing such amenities.
Under utility of experts amongst our members – God has blessed this diocese with several prominent personalities (Rtd. IAS/IPS officers, Rtd. Professors, Judges, Defense officers etc.) who have enormous experiences in various fields. Such people are not utilized gainfully by the diocese. They must be approached and they should be co-opted to different committees as a special case to make such committee’s functioning very fruitful.
Suggestion scheme - The diocese should invite suggestions from the members of the diocese on various issues so that concrete steps could be taken on various issues.
Women power – Mother groups should be encouraged to pray and visit church members regularly. They may be encouraged to form area prayer groups which will strengthen the fellowship. The church workers or pastors may keep an eye on such prayer groups without making much interference.
Self assessment of full time workers - All the full time pastors and church workers may be given a diary to make entries about their daily activities to assess their own performance by themselves. An annual assessment should be done by a panel of clergy for each presbyter and accordingly they should be encouraged to perform better.
Planning – The diocese should have annual plans, bi-annual plan and five year plan etc to achieve various projects and to go forward with the development even if there is change in the administration.
Like the above, you may have got lot of suggestions from several quarters. My slogan is that be transparent and just, then there won’t be any problems in the diocese. I hope that positive steps would be taken by your good selves for the development of our diocese.
With kind regards and prayers,
Yours sincerely,
Jacob Reginald.
c.c. The Executive Committee Members
