Church of South India Synod

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Church of South India Synod (CSI Synod) is the highest administrative body of the Church of South India. The presiding Bishop of the Synod is called the Moderator and is elected normally to hold office for two years.[1] The church is governed by a synod based in Chennai and headed by a presiding bishop bearing the title of Moderator who is elected every two years.

About the Synod

The CSI synod consists of bishops of 22 dioceses, presybters and layman (both men and women) who are elected from the respective diocesan councils to the synod. The synod members will elect the apex body consisting of a Moderator, Deputy Moderator, general secretary and Treasurer. The Moderator is the spiritual and administrative head of the Church. Only Bishops are eligible to contest for the Moderator and Deputy Moderator posts. Pastors and lay members are eligible to contest for the remaining two posts of general secretary and Treasurer.The ordinary session of the synod is held once every two years.The last synod meeting was held on January 2014 at Vijayawada. The practice has been to hold the meeting during the pongal holidays in mid January and over four days. Special meetings of the synod (between ordinary sessions) could also be convened by a decision of the Synod Executive. The Synod office is situated at CSI Center, Royapettah, Chennai.

Synod Executive

As the Church of South India synod meets only once in every two-year the power of the synod is mostly delegated to Synod Executive which is appointed by the synod and which meets at least twice a year. The synod executive is a subset of synod which has 95 members. The synod executive consists of 4 members each from the 22 dioceses of Church of South India, 3 nominees of the Moderator and 4 officers of the synod (Moderator,Deputy Moderator,General secretary and Treasurer).

Synod Working Committee

The Synod working committee is a subset of synod executive and it consists of 26 members.The working committee has a representation of one member each from the 22 dioceses of Church of South India and 4 officers of the synod.The synod working committee meetings are held based on need basis and they are held in between synod executive meetings. All the decisions of the synod working committee has to be ratified at a subsequent meeting of the synod executive.

Church of South India Synod Participants

According to the Church of South India constitution the participants in the synod belong to five categories:

  • Bishops of the 22 dioceses and assistant bishops, if any.
  • The Outgoing general secretary and treasurer.
  • Two two members of the CSI Order of Sisters,
  • The President and General secretary of the Women’s Fellowship,
  • Presbyters and lay persons representing the various dioceses who are elected by their dioceses to represent them at the synod.
  • 10 members nominated by the moderator

Dioceses send representatives based on a graded scale that starts with those having 10,000 baptised members sending two pastors and four lay persons while the maximum number of representatives to the synod come from dioceses with over 150,000 baptised members that send six presbyters and 11 lay persons.

According to the report of the 2014 synod meeting, there were [2] 135 presybters, 275 lay members and 22 bishops who participated in the synod.Other invitees to synod meetings include Accredited visitors, Heads of synod departments, Fraternal delegates (representing various CSI affiliated bodies), Special invitees, Overseas guests and Resource persons.

Quorum

  • The quorum is one-third of the total membership of which not less than two-thirds shall be lay members.

Agenda

First day of the Synod meeting consists of confirmation of minutes of the previous Synod, Appointment of various committees to oversee elections, Take up resolutions,Moderator's address, general secretary's report and Election of the four Officers of the Synod (Moderator, Deputy Moderator, general secretary and Treasurer).The second, third and fourth days of the Synod consists of a series of presentations by the treasurer, heads of synod departments, special invitees, etc. and some limited question-answer sessions. The final act of each Synod is the formal installation of the new Officers of the Synod on the last day.

Moderator and Deputy Moderator

The current moderator is Most.Rt.Rev.Dr.Govada Dyvasirvadam, Bishop of the Krishna-Godavari Diocese(Andhra Pradesh). The Deputy Moderator is Rt.Rev.Thomas K Oommen, Bishop of the Madhya Kerala Diocese(Kerala).They were elected for a tenure of two years at the last synod meeting held at Vijayawada on January,2014.

Missions and Committee

For proper guidance of the life and work of the Church the CSI Synod has set up various Commissions and Committees. The following are some of the important ones:

  • Ministerial Committee: which deals with issues relating to the ordained ministry.
  • Theological Commission: which deals with questions relating to the faith of the Church.
  • Liturgy Committee: for advising the Church on matters relating to worship and orders of service for different occasions.
  • Board of Mission and Evangelism: for promoting missionary outreach both within the CSI area and outside.
  • Union Negotiations Committee: for negotiations with other churches towards wider union.
  • Commission on Political Questions: for considering issues of justice and peace from the perspective of the Church's witness to the Gospel.

List of Synod Meetings

Synodical Sessions of the Church of South India with years, venue and elected Moderator and Deputy Moderator[3]
Session Synod Host Diocese Venue Moderator Deputy Moderator
I 1948 Madurai-Ramnad Madurai The Most Rev. A. Michael Hollis The Right Rev. C. K. Jacob
II 1950 Madras Chennai The Most Rev. A. Michael Hollis The Right Rev. Frank Whittaker
III 1952 Krishna-Godavari Machilipatnam The Most Rev. A. Michael Hollis The Right Rev. H. Sumitra
IV 1954 Madras Madras The Most Rev. H. Sumitra The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
V 1956 Trichy-Tanjore Trichy The Most Rev. H. Sumitra The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
VI 1958 Kanyakumari Nagercoil The Most Rev. H. Sumitra The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
VII 1960 Mysore Bangalore The Most Rev. H. Sumitra The Right Rev. A. G. Jebaraj
VIII 1962 Tirunelveli Palayamkottai The Most Rev. A. H. Legg The Right Rev. A. G. Jebaraj
IX 1964 Tirunelveli Palayamkottai The Most Rev. A. H. Legg The Right Rev. P. Solomon
X 1966 Madhya Kerala Kottayam The Most Rev. P. Solomon The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
XI 1968 Coimbatore Coimbatore The Most Rev. P. Solomon The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
XII 1970 Madras Tambaram The Most Rev. P. Solomon The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
XIII 1972 Madras Tambaram The Most Rev. I. R. H. Gnanadason
The Most Rev. N. D. Ananda Rao Samuel		 The Right Rev. N. D. Ananda Rao Samuel
The Right Rev. J. E. L. Newbiggin
XIV 1974 Madras Madras The Most Rev. N. D. Ananda Rao Samuel The Right Rev. Solomon Doraiswamy
XV 1976 Trichy-Tanjore Trichy The Most Rev. N. D. Ananda Rao Samuel The Right Rev. Solomon Doraiswamy
XVI 1978 Madhya Kerala Kottayam The Most Rev. N. D. Ananda Rao Samuel The Right Rev. Solomon Doraiswamy
XVII 1980 Madras Tambaram The Most Rev. Solomon Doraiswamy The Right Rev. I. Jesudason
XVIII 1982 Vellore Vellore The Most Rev. I. Jesudason The Right Rev. Sundar Clarke
XIX 1984 Medak Secunderabad The Most Rev. I. Jesudason The Right Rev. Sundar Clarke
XX 1986 South Kerala Trivandrum The Most Rev. I. Jesudason The Right Rev. P. Victor Premasagar
XXI 1988 Madurai-Ramnad Madurai The Most Rev. P. Victor Premasagar The Right Rev. D. Pothirajulu
XXII 1990 Karnataka North Dharwad The Most Rev. P. Victor Premasagar The Right Rev. Vasant P. Dandin
XXIII 1992 Tirunelveli Palayamkottai The Most Rev. B. Ryder Devapriyam
The Most Rev. Vasant P. Dandin		 The Right Rev. Jason S. Dharmaraj
XXIV 1994 Trichy-Tanjore Trichy The Most Rev. Vasant P. Dandin The Right Rev. R. Paul Raj
XXV 1996 Coimbatore Coimbatore The Most Rev. Vasant P. Dandin The Right Rev. William Moses
XXVI 1998 Rayalaseema Madanapalle The Most Rev. William Moses The Right Rev. K. J. Samuel
XXVII 2000 Medak Secunderabad The Most Rev. K. J. Samuel The Right Rev. B. P. Sugandhar
XXVIII 2002 East Kerala Melukavu The Most Rev. K. J. Samuel The Right Rev. B. P. Sugandhar
XXIX 2004 Karnataka Central Bangalore The Most Rev. B. P. Sugandhar The Right Rev. S. Vasantha Kumar
XXX 2006 Karnataka Southern Mysore The Most Rev. B. P. Sugandhar The Right Rev. S. Vasantha Kumar
XXXI 2008 Krishna-Godavari Visakhapatnam The Most Rev. J. W. Gladstone The Right Rev. Christopher Asir
XXXII 2010 Tirunelveli Courtallam The Most Rev. S. Vasantha Kumar The Right Rev. G. Devakadasham
XXXIII 2012 Kanyakumari Kanyakumari The Most Rev. G. Devakadasham The Right Rev. G. Dyvasirvadam
XXXIV 2014 Krishna-Godavari Vijayawada The Most Rev. G. Dyvasirvadam The Right Rev. Thomas K. Oommen

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ K. M. George, Church of South India: Life in Union, 1947-1997, Jointly published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi and Christava Sahitya Samithi, Tiruvalla, 1999.[1]

External links

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