 The Church of South India (CSI) is a union of many Protestant denominations spread throughout South India. It is the largest Protestant
Church in India and second largest Christian church after the Catholic Church in India. It is one of the four United Churches in the Anglican
Communion. The inspiration for this Union was born out of ecumenism inspired by the self-pronouncing words of Jesus Christ as found in Gospel
of john, 17.21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me. That they all may be one is also the motto of the Church of South India.
History:
The C.S.I. was inaugurated in September 1947 at St. George's Cathedral, Madras (Chennai). It was formed from the union of Anglican, Methodist, Congregational,
Presbyterian, and Reformed churches in South India. Later in the 1990's, a small number of Baptist and Pentecostal churches joined the movement. The decision of
merging South India's Protestant denominations began at a 1919 conference at Tranquebar (Tarangambadi), and the process was completed shortly after India's
Independence.The creation of the Church of South India was a historic event in Christendom where, for the first time, churches with Episcopal and non-Episcopal
traditions decided to form a union. The C.S.I. was one of the earliest forms of the united and uniting church.
Administration: The church is organized into 22 Dioceses, each under the supervision of a Bishop, including one diocess within Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The Church is governed by a Synod with headquarters in Madras (Chennai), which every two years elects a presiding Bishop, called a Moderator, who serves as head of the church. The Church has 3.8 million members in 14,000 congregations worldwide. The great majority of members are in the Indian states of Andhra pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. There are International representations in Sri Lanka, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The C.S.I. runs 2000 schools, 130 colleges and 104 hospitals in South India. In the 1960s the Church became conscious of its social responsibility and started organizing rural development projects. There are 50 such projects all over India, 50 training centers for young people, and 500 residential hostels for a total of 35,000 children. |