Country India Congregations 404 Bishop Thomas K Oommen | Ecclesiastical province Church of South India Secular priests 165 Number of members 300,000 | |
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Cathedral Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kottayam | ||
The Madhya Kerala Diocese is one of the twenty-four dioceses of the Church of South India (commonly referred as CSI) (successor of the Church of England) covering the central part of Kerala. When the Church of South India was formed on 27 September 1947 the diocese was called the Diocese of Central Travancore. It was a part of the erstwhile Anglican Diocese of Travancore and Cochin founded in 1879. The Diocese was later renamed as Diocese of Madhya Kerala.
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History of the Diocese
The history of the Madhya Kerala Diocese dates back to the work of the Church Missionary Society in the state of Travancore. R. H. Kerr and Claudius Buchanan, visited the Malabar Syrians in 1806, during the episcopate of Mar Dionysius I. It was Lord William Bentinck who sent Kerr to Travancore for the purpose of investigating the state of the native church.
Anglican Diocese of Travancore and Cochin
Early in 1876, the Society began negotiations with the Secretary of State for India so that a new diocese can be formed under the Jerusalem Bishopric Act for the Church of England in the Native States of Travancore and Cochin. J. M. Speechly, then Principal of the C.N.I., was announced as the first Bishop of the New Diocese. In 1888, J. M. Speechly left for England and was unable to return, and E. N. Hodges (1890-1904), a C.M.S. Missionary from Ceylon followed him as the Bishop of the diocese. He was installed in the Pro-Cathedral, Kottayam in November 1890. During the episcopate of Hodges, the first missionary enterprise of the diocese was organised as its Home Mission, was started at Adoor in 1903. Hodges retired in 1905 and was succeeded by Charles Hope Gill (1905-1925), who was consecrated in Westminister Abbey and arrived in Kottayam in 1906. The Diocesanisation which began in 1879 was fulfilled in 1920, when Gill constituted, "Travancore and Cochin Diocesan Council" to assist in the management of the temporal affairs and financial business of the church. The diocese was earlier known as the Anglican Diocese of Travancore & Cochin, and later the Diocese of Central Travancore on the formation of the Church of South India on 27 September 1947. Subsequently, it was renamed the Diocese of Madhya Kerala.
About the Diocese
The Diocesan Headquarters is at Kottayam, Kerala. The Bishop's House and a Retreat Centre is in the campus of the Headquarters.
Newsletter
The Diocese also publishes an official newsletter named Njananikshepam (The Treasury of Knowledge) every month. The newsletter was published first in the year 1848 from C.M.S. press, Kottayam.
Bishops of the Diocese
The Bishops of the Madhya Kerala Diocese :
Anglican
CSI
The current Bishop of the Diocese is Thomas K Oommen since March 5, 2011.
Administration
The Diocese has a Diocesan Council which governs the diocese. All the clergy of the diocese and elected laymen from the local congregations are the members of the Diocesan Council.
The Diocese is divided into 2 zones (North Zone and South Zone), each headed by a District Minister. And it is further divided into 12 District Councils. The bishop of the diocese is assisted by the Executive Committee, formed by an election from the Diocesan Council.
District Councils of the Diocese
The Diocese is divided into 12 District Councils. Each Council has a chairman presbyter.
Institutions under Madhya Kerala Diocese
Ashram
Printing Press
Colleges
Higher Secondary Schools
High Schools
Theological Education
Self Financing Schools
Teacher Training Institutes
Special Schools
Important Churches under CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese
csi St.Marks church olassa