Christianity In Kottar – A Study

Christianity in Kottar is the history of Catholicism in the Diocese of Kottar. Christianity in this study area has many denominations such as Catholicism, the Church of South India and minor divisions such as Salvation Army and the Pentecostal churches. This study is limited to the history of Catholicism in the Diocese of Kottar

Children and Liturgy: Considering the Place Children Have in Liturgical Worship

The Book of Common Worship of the Church of South India (CSI, a church developed from various Protestant denominations coming together) is said to be one of the greatest Christian expressions of unity in diversity. In this article I discuss the notion of the citizenship of children in church, specifically looking at the liturgical practices in the CSI. I first give a brief historical setting of the CSI and its liturgy and then investigate the status, identity, and rights of children within the context of worship in CSI churches.

Women’s Leadership in the Church of South India

The author of this article is the first woman Bishop in the Church of South India (CSI). Her article outlines the development of women’s ministry in India, from the influence of European missionaries in the nineteenth century, and through the union of traditions which led to the formation of the CSI. Women have traditionally served in auxiliary ministries, as Bible Women or deaconesses. The story is set against the context of deeply traditional cultures. The second half of the article relates the author’s own journey through vocation and call to her present role, in which she experienced firsthand the difficulties that faced women seeking to answer a vocation to ministry.

Ecumenism and Post-Anglicanism, Transnational Anglican Compactism, and Cosmo-transAnglicanism

Proceeding from autobiography, this chapter analyses the multiple dimensions that influenced the formation of the Church of South India. Such a post-Anglican ecumenical movement was prompted by drawing away from the receding shadow of the British Empire and moving towards other native communities emerging at the dawn of Indian Independence. Against this backdrop, the chapter examines the current realignments taking place within the Anglican Communion. The emergence of ‘transnational compactism’, in which collaborations are pursued with like-minded churches, are not the same as previous movements of ecumenism. What then are the directions open for the Anglican Communion? ‘Cosmo-transAnglicanism’ is offered as a model. Constructively working with Christology, a re-appropriation of Christ as the reconciling and compassionate One, is put forward as a challenge to both the Uniting Churches and the not-so-united churches within the Anglican Communion.