On September 27, 1947, another page was added to the long and complex history of the Christian Church. At that time in St. George's Cathedral, Madras, South India, a union was constituted giving birth to the Church of South India. [...]

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Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1995. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 194-202).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Aberdeen, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-556).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Aberdeen, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-556).

The rites for the consecration (ordination) of bishops in the churches listed in the title are examined against the background of the development of episcopal functions through the centuries, the controversies about the nature of the episcopate as a third order of ministry, and recent statements about the nature of episcopal ministry. Four issues are isolated as being paramount for understanding the present position of the episcopate in the West: (1) the development of the doctrine of apostolic succession; (2) the theological controversies concerning the relation of the episcopate to the presbyterate; (3) in Roman Catholicism, the papal claims to an immediate jurisdiction superior to the bishops' ; and (4) in Anglicanism, with major consequence for all subsequent ecumenical discussion, the effect of the Oxford Movement with its insistence upon the importance of the historic episcopate. Three sets of contemporary documents are analysed to see how they have dealt with the four issues in light of the needs of the contemporary Church: (1) from the documents of Vatican II, the second chapter of Lumen Gentium and the pastoral decree, Christus Dominus; (2) from the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, the agreed statement drafted at Accra in 1974, The Ordained Ministry in Ecumenical Perspective; and (3) the preparatory papers and subsequent reports of the 1978 Lambeth Conference. The five rites are then examined to see how they reflect both the historical issues and the positions set forth in the recent documents. The examination of the rites is divided into two parts. First, the rites themselves are reproduced in full as head-notes with accompanying historical and liturgical annotations. Then, at the end of each rite, there is an essay discussing how the issues raised in the first three chapters have been treated and the Implications for understanding the issues in terms of text and rubric, A final essay deals with the lections appointed to be read in the services, comparing and contrasting the choices made, discussing the implications of those choices, and considering how they might be used as the basis for the ordination sermon. The final chapter summarizes the liturgical and theological approaches represented by the rites and discusses briefly how, on the basis of those rites, the ministry of bishops is to be understood in the churches which employ them.

The research is done within the diocese of Kanyakumari of the Church of South India. It examines the viability of the following training programmes to socio-political factors: the Church Workers Theological Training Programme, the Sunday School Programme, the Vacation Bible School Programme, the parish-based training programmes - for example retreats and workshops, the Women’s Fellowship Programme, the Christian Endeavour Programme, the Programme of Communication and Revival as well as that of the Student Christian Movement of India, and the Union of Evangelical Students of India. The practitioners of these programmes felt the need for guide-lines to transform their programmes to be more relevant to their socio-political contexts. Hence the present qualitative-oriented research was undertaken. The preliminary interviews and reading of the related literature enabled the researcher to identify some promoted theories, regarding the relationship between the socio-political factors and the programmes; this assisted him to set up a questionnaire for semistructured interviews. A sample for interviews was chosen with the help of the organisers of the programmes. A pilot study was conducted using the questionnaire, which led to the semi-structured interviews. The respondents narrated their experiences and reflections related to the socio-political factors. The information was organised, scrutinised, and the findings were recorded under six different pointers, which enabled the researcher to exhibit and explain the connections between the training programmes and the sociopolitical factors. Then the findings were evaluated, using the puzzle-solving method. Consequently, some guidelines were devised. These guide-lines indicate the limitations and the possibilities in making a socially-oriented training programme more vibrant and viable to its socio-political factors. Moreover, they highlight the possibilities for the existing pietistic-oriented programmes to become more relevant to the context. They also guide the practitioners to construct alternative approaches in training that are more relevant. The research is a small incentive to the emerging cooperation among the practitioners of the various training programmes in CSI Kanyakumari diocese. It will hopefully encourage them to join hands with people of other faiths and Non Governmental organisations in facilitating the social transformation in India today. Proposals are made for further related research work. / Practical Theology / (D.Th. (Practical Theology))

The research is done within the diocese of Kanyakumari of the Church of South India. It examines the viability of the following training programmes to socio-political factors: the Church Workers Theological Training Programme, the Sunday School Programme, the Vacation Bible School Programme, the parish-based training programmes - for example retreats and workshops, the Women’s Fellowship Programme, the Christian Endeavour Programme, the Programme of Communication and Revival as well as that of the Student Christian Movement of India, and the Union of Evangelical Students of India. The practitioners of these programmes felt the need for guide-lines to transform their programmes to be more relevant to their socio-political contexts. Hence the present qualitative-oriented research was undertaken. The preliminary interviews and reading of the related literature enabled the researcher to identify some promoted theories, regarding the relationship between the socio-political factors and the programmes; this assisted him to set up a questionnaire for semistructured interviews. A sample for interviews was chosen with the help of the organisers of the programmes. A pilot study was conducted using the questionnaire, which led to the semi-structured interviews. The respondents narrated their experiences and reflections related to the socio-political factors. The information was organised, scrutinised, and the findings were recorded under six different pointers, which enabled the researcher to exhibit and explain the connections between the training programmes and the sociopolitical factors. Then the findings were evaluated, using the puzzle-solving method. Consequently, some guidelines were devised. These guide-lines indicate the limitations and the possibilities in making a socially-oriented training programme more vibrant and viable to its socio-political factors. Moreover, they highlight the possibilities for the existing pietistic-oriented programmes to become more relevant to the context. They also guide the practitioners to construct alternative approaches in training that are more relevant. The research is a small incentive to the emerging cooperation among the practitioners of the various training programmes in CSI Kanyakumari diocese. It will hopefully encourage them to join hands with people of other faiths and Non Governmental organisations in facilitating the social transformation in India today. Proposals are made for further related research work. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / (D.Th. (Practical Theology))

The 2011 Indian Census indicates that children under the age of 18 constitute more than 400 million, and most of them are Children at Risk (CAR). This study suggests that the care and protection of children at risk is not a twentieth- or twenty-first-century secular enterprise but has precedents in Protestant missions in India from the late eighteenth century. In the first section, the study focuses on evaluating contemporary Protestant mission contexts in India and a brief historical survey of Protestant missions to CAR in India through case studies. The evaluation concentrates on the implications of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) for the predominant Protestant models of mission in contemporary India - which may be summarised as child evangelism, child compassion and child advocacy. The thesis argues that child care and protection is increasingly becoming secularised and professionalised. Moreover, with the emergence of new laws and with increasing, vigilance from international and national agencies, and from Hindu fundamentalists, Christian mission to CAR is itself at risk. Under these circumstances, the study also investigates whether there is a transition from ideas of 'saving' CAR to ideas of protecting the human rights of CAR. In the second section, this hypothesis is further substantiated by case studies of select Protestant churches and Christian NGOs engaging with CAR in the cities of Bangalore and Chennai. Using empirical data, it then claims that the predominant Protestant approaches of evangelism, compassion, and advocacy are still underdeveloped and inadequate primarily because the majority of caregivers working with children still perceive CAR as objects of their mission - an assumption that may be contrary to UNCRC (Articles 14 and 30). Further, it argues that the churches and agencies most active among CAR are from a 'conservative' background, who are often exclusively 'spiritual' and otherworldly in their concerns. The final and most constructive section, based on the evaluations of the empirical data, seeks to recommend a preliminary theology of mission in and through the idea of 'childness' based on Matthew 18: 2-5, an idea developed by Adrian Thatcher in the context of a theology of child participation. Based on these foundations, it suggests that UNCRC can be integrated as a set of principles for contemporary Christian missions with CAR in South India through a missiological process called 'dialogue,' emerging from a pluralistic Indian context. It further proposes that adults and children are to be perceived not as either independent (liberational) or dependent (paternalistic) agencies, but as interdependent agencies working together in God's mission. This thesis finally proposes basic principles for Christian mission to/for/with CAR - a multi-dimensional approach integrating CAR as subjects of God's mission and not just as objects.