Diocese of Tirunelveli of the Church of South India

The Diocese of Tirunelveli is one among the 22 dioceses of the Church of South India (CSI).It is based at Tirunelveli, in the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India. The diocese has 687 pastorates, 101 pastors, and a membership of 1,86,000.Holy Trinity Cathedral, at Palayamkottai is the Cathedral church of Tirunelveli Diocese.

History

The formation of tiny congregation at Palayamkottai consisting of 40 members, the first being Clarinda, was the beginning of the Diocese of Tirunelveli.Churches were established in different parts of Tirunelveli District. At Mudalur in 1799 the first church was established.James Hough oversaw the missionary work of the SPCK after Schwartz and Jaenicke.

Holy Trinity Cathedral

The Church Missionary Society (CMS) and the Society for Propagation of Gospel (SPG) were the main organizations which has contributed to the growth of Christianity in Tirunelveli. Apart from the Holy Trinity Cathedral at Palayamkottai,371 churches are currently under Tirunelveli Diocese. The main areas under the diocese are cluding Meignanapuram, Dohnavur, Pannaivilai and Nallur. Pettitt, John Thomas, Tucker, Schaffter, Hobbs, Barenbruck were the prominent CMS Missionaries who worked in the Tirunelveli

Nazareth, Sawyerpuram and Idayangudi were fields to which the SPG missionaries paid attention. The Rev Caemmerer and the Rev Canon A Margoschis worked for the stabilization of the Churches around Nazareth. Schools and a hospital were established at Nazareth, a model Christian settlement. Sawyer, a layman working for the East India Company, formed a village exclusively for Christians and it is called Sawyerpuram after him. Dr. GU Pope and Rev. Huxtable developed it into a model village. Dr Robert Caldwell burnt himself for the establishment and development of many churches including Idaiyangudi, a village far away from Tirunelveli.

Tirunelveli was upgraded into a Diocese in 1896. Many pastorates in the East and South have adopted a village in the northern part of the Diocese. Besides, Tirunelveli Diocese has introduced outreach ministry. It established the first indigenous missionary organization called Indian Missionary Society (IMS) in 1903 to take the news to the unreached areas in other states. The Rt. Rev V. S. Azariah, the first Indian Bishop, came from Tirunelveli Diocese

Bishops of the Diocese

• Rt. Rev. Samuel Morley (1896–1903)
• Rt. Rev. Arthur A Williams (1905–1914)
• Rt. Rev. Harry M Waller (1915–1923)
• Rt. Rev. Norman H Tubbs (1923–1928)
• Rt. Rev. Frederick J Western (1929–1938)
• Rt. Rev. Stephen C Neill (1939–1944)
• Rt. Rev. George T Selwyn (1945–1952)
• Rt. Rev. Augustine G Jebaraj (1953–1970)
• Rt. Rev. Thomas S Garrett (1971–1974)
• Rt. Rev. S Daniel Abraham (1975–1984)
• Rt. Rev. Jason S Dharmaraj (1985–1999)
• Rt. Rev. S Jeyapaul David (1999–2009)
• Rt. Rev. J J Christdoss (2009-till)

Educational Institutions under the Diocese

• Primary and Middle Schools -323
• Higher Secondary Schools-13
• Colleges -6
• Teacher Training Institutes -3

See also

• Church of South India
• Madurai-Ramnad Diocese
• Diocese of Madras
• Trichy-Tanjore Diocese
• Diocese of Coimbatore
• Diocese of Kanyakumari
• Christianity in Tamil Nadu
• Church of North India
• Christianity in India

External Links

CSI Tirunelveli Diocese