September 2015 | Pentecost Season Volume XIIl | Issue 9 | Rs.150 Per Annum 2 A Church on the move... t is sixty eight years since we began to experience the the sign of God's presence in time wonder of God's koinonia as we were called to be the and space. The Church is Christ's IChurch of South India. We join together in praising God for own hands, his mouth and his body the gift of the Church and for our leaders who were inspired by through which he communicates his the vision of unity. When the CSI was formed in 1947 it was saving acts to the world. Therefore acclaimed as a miracle of unity. The uniting Churches said the Church as God's sacrament is that their aim was 'not a compromise for the sake of peace, called to bring people into contact but a comprehension for the sake of the truth'. Although the with God's life-giving presence to Churches were able to overcome denominational divisions, discern the salvific will of God. The caste conflicts, divisions based on language and regionalism Church is the sign and instrument of continue to prevail even to this day. salvation present in her and also the anticipation of what is to come. The Constitution of the Church of South India 2003 on page four states: “The Church of South India affirms that the India, in which different religions purpose of the union by which it has been formed is the have been co-existing for centuries carrying out of God's will, as this is expressed in the Lord's in a cordial atmosphere, is now Prayer, 'That they all may be one.....that the world may believe experiencing a situation of religious Editor’s Desk that Thou didst send me'. It believes that by this union the intolerance and communal violence. Church in South India will become a more effective We have been involved in much discussion and reflection on instrument for God's work, and that there will be greater religious freedom, mission and evangelism in the context of peace, closer fellowship and fuller life within the Church, and religious plurality and emerging challenges to the mission of also renewed eagerness and power for the proclamation of the the Church. The challenge before the Church is to take the Gospel of Christ. It hopes that it may be a true leaven of unity question of equipping the people of God to be able to search in the life of India, and that through it there may be a greater for an open community. In the midst of emerging ethnic release of divine power for the fulfilment of God's purpose for identities based on caste, language and region which divide His world”. and keep humanity separated by boundaries and barriers, it is important that the Church as a communion projects a As we reflect on this and reaffirm it, we should bear in mind vision of unity that transcends denominational divisions and that the oneness that belongs to the Church has to be works for the unity of the whole humankind. While we are understood and interpreted as oneness which preserves a involved in mutual acceptance and sharing what should our richness of diversity, with diversity being an essential aspect attitude be towards people of other faiths? We need to enter of true unity. into dialogues, not merely as a matter of discussions, seminars and public meetings, but as a way of life, a spirit, a The Church as ecclesia, as the one who has been called out is mood, an attitude. also commissioned to be kerygmatic. The Church is creatura verbi, creation of the Word, the Logos. Therefore it is by its Christian institutions have played strategic roles in the own nature called to be a herald of the Word. We are the reforming process of people and communities down the Church under the Word. centuries. There has been a massive involvement of Christian institutions in the development of India with some well- The Church is called out to serve, not to be served. The defined objectives such as: involvement more fully in the Church is called to imitate the servant Lord and be the process of social change; reaching out especially to the poor servant of the servant Lord in order to become an agent of and the underprivileged; exceptional commitment to the work social change. The Church is called to be a place of hospitality of liberation, reconciliation, healing, justice and peace; and reconciliation, a place where justice, peace and joy are imparting value-based holistic education to enlighten the proclaimed through service, where people know and conscience of human beings with the message of mutual experience the embrace of grace and the comfort and acceptance and mutual sharing; and partaking and inspiration of God's all encompassing love. participating in nation-building programmes. The Church is God's design to manifest koinonia, the The Christian gospel, if it is true to its nature, will meet people communion with God, with one another and with all creation. in the point of their elemental needs and struggles. The The Church is an icon of the Trinity. Communion, whose Church of South India, through its schools, colleges, source is the very life of the Holy Trinity, is both the gift by hospitals and other service projects has tried to do this with which the Church lives and, at the same time, the gift that varying degrees of success. The institutions have been trying God calls the Church to offer to a wounded and divided on the basis of their vision, understanding and resources to humanity thirsting for reconciliation and healing. contribute to the common struggle for the remaking of Indian society. The communion ecclesiology emerges from the Biblical images of the people of God, Body of Christ and the temple of In continuum of the incarnation, the Church needs to be the Holy Spirit as a logical consequence. Two Johannine present where people face oppression, discrimination, images of the Church: that of the vine and the flock, though violence, war and famine. The Church needs to become a Christological in nature, give out a very strong notion of place of refuge and comfort where human dignity of the poor, mutual indwelling and interpersonal relationships. The the disabled, the old and the weary is restored and play a image of the vine stresses the total dependence on Christ and significant role in people's movement for freedom and justice. mutual indwelling, while the flock imagery stresses trust and The Church as the servant should continue to exhibit the obedience. The Church, as the body of Christ, acts by the marks of pain, suffering and oppression in order to manifest power of the Holy Spirit to continue His life-giving mission in the life that emanates from the cross. The Church should prophetic and compassionate ministry and so participates in become the place where the power and wisdom of God is God's work of healing a broken world. revealed through the powerless, crucified people. The Church as the continuum of the incarnation is the May the Church of South India, as she enters her sixty ninth sacrament of God, as the incarnate logos himself is the year, continue to be a Church on the move, as an instrument sacrament of God. As in logos, the Church is also called to for God's work towards greater peace, closer fellowship and make salvific intensions sacramentally visible, radiate and fuller life. manifest God's salvific plan to the whole creation, through Rev. Dr. D. Rathnakara Sadananda identification and representation. Thus the Church becomes General Secretary, CSI Mission of Jesus Christ as 'Reconciliation' of Life Inaugural Address Delivered at CSI Mission Festival 2015, held from 5th to 7th August 2015 at LITE Auditorium. The Most Rev. Dr. G. Dyvasirvadam, Moderator, Church of South India t the very outset I congratulate and Therefore, the Mission felicitate all the Missionaries both who of the Church is not limited Aare present here and all those who within the four walls alone but strive to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ in the to do with holistic welfare and farthest corners of our country. I also commend the well-being of humanity in every Department of mission and Evangelism of Church of community. Mission has South India for the timely vision to celebrate a call power to transform the life and participation in the mission of Jesus Christ. destroying forces operative in Besides the Western Missionaries who came to India the society towards an for the purpose of sharing the gospel, we recall the pioneering Indian saintly harbingers in mission like a u t h e n t i c e x i s t e n c e o f Sadhu Sunder Singh, Abdul Masih and a host of humanity. Mission belongs to Missionaries in different parts of our country. The very essence of the Church. The Church is endowed Church in India cannot ignore the powerful by God's grace and power of mission. Hence, the contribution made by Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel mission and the Church cannot be separated. Azariah, who defined mission as both the commission of Jesus Christ and a historic necessity to continue Church is an agent of God's transformative His work to shine forth the light of life in our land. power. Jesus Christ was empowered by the Holy Spirit “to bring good news to the poor ….. Discovering the Kingdom of God in our midst was the message from the heart of Jesus and to live To proclaim release to the captives and the kingdom values was His preaching.