The 36 th session of the Synod Council meeting of the Church of South (CSI) India will be held at the Bishop Heber College in Tiruchi from January 11 to 14.
Most Rev. Thomas K. Oommen, Moderator of the CSI, Rt. Rev. Vadapalli Prasada Rao, Deputy Moderator; Rev. Daniel Rathnakara Sadananda; General Secretary; and Robert Bruce; Hon. Treasurer, will lead the Synod.
The officers for the new triennium will be elected by the official delegates of the Synod. Around 375 delegates from the 24 dioceses of the CSI will take part in the election process, a press release issued by the office of the Bishop CSI Trichy-Tanjore Diocese said.
Twenty three bishops of the dioceses, delegates representing foreign partners, fraternal delegates, and accredited visitors will attend the Synod. The Church of South India is the biggest Protestant Church in India, with a membership of 4.5 million people across the five southern states in India.
The CSI, which has 3785 pastorates across South India, has been an active player in the fields of education and health, especially for the marginalised communities, for the last two centuries. The church operates 1,419 aided primary schools, 48 unaided primary schools, 228 aided middle schools, 9 unaided middle schools, 257 aided higher secondary schools, 84 unaided higher secondary schools, 31 aided colleges (including Bishop Heber, one of the top rated colleges in India), 63 unaided colleges, 10 aided technical institutions, 37 unaided technical institutions, 2 paramedical institutions (aided), 22 unaided paramedical institutions, one aided professional institution, 13 unaided professional institutions and 30 other educational institutions.
The church has 46 hospitals, a medical centre and three other healthcare institutions. There are 157 childcare hostels, 162 childcare homes, and 3 other institutions where the destitute children’s needs are taken care of, the release said.
