B. P. Sugandhar

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B. P. Sugandhar

Denomination	Christianity
Senior posting
See	Medak
Title	Bishop in Medak
Period in office	1993—Incumbent
Consecration	September 1993
Predecessor	Victor Premasagar
Successor	Incumbent
Religious career
Previous post	Presbyter-in-Charge
Personal
Date of birth	September 28, 1944
Place of birth	Ramayampet, Andhra Pradesh

B. P. Sugandhar is the present Bishop in Medak of the Church of South India (CSI)^[1]. He was consecrated by The Most Reverend Vasant P. Dandin, the then Moderator of the CSI in the Cathedral in Medak in September 1993.

He is an office-bearer of the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches, (APFC) a society that incorporates Bishop's of the Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Indigenous Church traditions and whose members strive for ecumenism^[2].

Contents 1 Divinity & Pastorship 2 Bishopric 3 Theological arena 4 Participations 5 Authorship 6 Honours 7 References

[edit] Divinity & Pastorship

Choosing the line of divinity, the young Sugandhar went to the United Theological College, the only autonomous college under the Senate of Serampore College (University), in Bangalore and took his Bachelor of Divinity. After graduation, the Diocese of Medak of the Church of South India posted him to Churches in Ramayampet, Yellareddy, Utnoor, Bellampally, Medak and Secunderabad.

He served as Presbyter-in-charge at the Church of St. John the Baptist, Secunderabad before being consecrated as the Bishop in Medak. Although a Resident Presbyter has been appointed in that Church, Sugandhar continues to be the Presbyter-in-charge of the Church of St. John the Baptist^[3].

[edit] Bishopric

Asia's largest bishopric is the Diocese of Medak. Victor Premasagar's tenure came to an end in the year 1992. With that, many Priests were in fray for election. During the elections, Sugandhar managed to sway the votes to his favour. The Synod of the CSI headed then by, Vasanth P. Dandin, the then Bishop-in-Karnataka North and Moderator of the CSI, declared Sugandhar as the Bishop in Medak.

The 27th and 28th Synods of the CSI voted to elect the Bishop as the Deputy Moderator of the CSI. During the 29th Synod of the CSI held in Bangalore from 10 to 14 January 2004, Rev. Sugandhar was elected as the Moderator of the CSI replacing his predecessor The Most Reverend Dr. K. J. Samuel^[4]. Subsequently, in the 30th Synod held in Mysore, he was re-elected as the Moderator.

In the 31st Synod held in Visakhapatnam in January 2008^[5], fresh elections paved way for a new Moderator (Bishop J. W. Gladstone) to be elected in place of Bishop Sugandhar.

[edit] Theological arena

Bishop Sugandhar served as the Vice-President of the Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary of the Bible Society of India. He provides continuing leadership to the educational and other institutions in his diocese. He is also on the governing board of the following colleges, viz.:

• United Theological College, Bangalore
• Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad

The said colleges are affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) which is India's first University.

[edit] Participations

• Lambeth Conference 1998.
• Representative in the Council of Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore^[6]
• Delegate for the EMS Mission Council^[7].
• President, CSI Council of North America^[8]
• Anglican Participant, The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Anglican Communion Office^[9]

[edit] Authorship

Apart from the administratorship for which Rev. Sugandhar is known for, he also has written several works. For the fetschrift commemorating the shastipoorthi (completion of sixty years) of his predecessor, Victor Premasagar, he has also written an essay which is found in the book "The Church on the move - Edited by H.S. Wilson[10], The Christian Literature Society, Chennai, 2002^[10]

[edit] Honours

The Throne of Grace Theological Seminary and Ministries Inc. (International)^[11], Hyderabad conferred the degree of D.Min. on the Bishop^[12]. The degrees issued by this unaccredited seminary are only nominal.

[edit] References

Religious titles[1]
Preceded by The Right Reverend Dr. P. Victor Premasagar	Bishop in Medak Church of South India, Diocese of Medak Medak September 1993–Incumbent	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by The Right Reverend Dr. K. J. Samuel	Deputy Moderator Synod of Church of South India, Chennai January 2000–January 2004	Succeeded by The Right Reverend S. Vasantha Kumar
Preceded by The Right Reverend Dr. K. J. Samuel	Moderator Synod of Church of South India, Chennai January 2004–January 2008	Succeeded by The Right Reverend Dr. J. W. Gladstone[2]

Honorary titles
Preceded by '	Delegate EMS Mission Council –	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Vice President Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary –	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Participant Anglican Consultative Council –	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	President CSI Council, North America –	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Anglican Participant The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Anglican Communion Office –	Succeeded by '