Diocese of Tirunelveli of the Church of South India
| Diocese of Tirunelveli | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | India |
| Ecclesiastical province | Church of South India |
| Statistics | |
| Congregations | 687 |
| Members | 1,86,000 |
| Information | |
| Cathedral | Holy Trinity Cathedral,Palayamkottai |
| Secular priests | 101 |
| Website | |
| www.csimtirunelveli.org | |
The Diocese of Tirunelveli is one among the 24 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 churches, 101 pastors, and a membership of 1,86,000.Holy Trinity Cathedral, at Palayamkottai is the Cathedral of Tirunelveli Diocese. The churches were established by church missionary society (CMS) missionaries and Society for propagating gospel (SPG) misionaries. In the year of 1947 Tinnevely Diocese Trust Association (TDTA)was formed by uniting both mission and also with baptists and presbyterians churches in the neighbourhood.
History
V. S. Azariah, the first Indian bishop, came from Tirunelveli Diocese.
In 2014, the bishop J J Christdoss ordered to change the pastors suddenly.[1]
Issues in 2015
In November 2015, the Tirunelveli diocese increased the annual membership amount (in Tamil : Kanikkai) from Rs 100 to Rs 500. The retirement age of the pastors also increased from 65 to 67, and correction was made in the rule to permit pastors to remove someone from the diocese. Against all these decisions, members raised their voices.They requested to take a vote to implement these changes, but the Bishop ignored them and said that these changes are acceptable without proper voting.The members have thrown chairs to display their opposition.Due to the decision to increase the retirement age, J J Christdoss's retirement age also increased.[2][3][4][5]
Issues in 2014
In 2014, one school teacher committed suicide as she was transferred.The diocese management was blamed for this.[6]
2008 Issues
In 2008, Due to the diocese election issues, the then bishop S Jeyapaul David was beaten stating he was not fit for the position of bishop.There were pending cases in court regarding the diocese elections.Two groups were fighting each other for these diocese elections.[7]
Bishops of the Diocese
- Samuel Morley (1896–1903)
- Arthur A Williams (1905–1914)
- Harry M Waller (1915–1923)
- Norman H Tubbs (1923–1928)
- Frederick J Western (1929–1938)
- Stephen C Neill (1939–1944)
- George T Selwyn (1945–1952)
- Augustine G Jebaraj (1953–1970)
- Thomas S Garrett (1971–1974)
- S Daniel Abraham (1975–1984)
- Jason S Dharmaraj (1985–1999)
- S Jeyapaul David (1999–2009)
- 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
- Thoothukudi-Nazareth Diocese
- 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
References
- ↑ http://www.tutyonline.net/view/32_68226/20140530184052.html
- ↑ dinakaran (daily newspaper Tamil);November 13;2015;Page 2
- ↑ http://www.dinamalar.com/twitter_detail.asp?id=1385775
- ↑ http://nellaionline.net/view/31_105349/20151112165520.html
- ↑ http://www.dinamalarnellai.com/web/districtnews/225
- ↑ http://www.maalaimalar.com/2014/06/07133309/Teacher-suicide-protesting-ag.html
- ↑ http://tamil.oneindia.com/news/2008/02/05/tn-nellai-bishop-beaten.html