Diocese of Southern Karnataka of the Church of South India
Diocese of Karnataka Southern | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | India |
| Ecclesiastical province | Church of South India |
| Statistics | |
| Congregations | 148 |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Rt Rev Hemachandra Kumar |
| Website | |
| Karnataka Southern Diocese | |
Karnataka Southern Diocese is one of the twenty-two dioceses of the Church of South India covering the southern part of Karnataka. The other Church of South India dioceses in Karnataka are Karnataka Northern Diocese and Central Karnataka Diocese. The Church of South India is a United Protestant denomination.
History
[edit]Karnataka Southern Diocese of Church of South India was formed on 1 May 1970 by the bifurcation of then Mysore diocese.
About
[edit]The diocese covers 10 districts and consists of 148 churches. The areas which comes under Karnataka southern diocese are Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Kasaragod and Talavady Firkha (Tamil Nadu).
Bishops
[edit]- Erstwhile Mysore Diocese
- Premaka Gurushantha (1947-1951)
- Norman C. Sargant (1951-1971)
- Karnataka Southern Diocese
- 1970-1978,[1] S. R. Furtado,
- 1989-1997,[1] D. P. Shettian
- 1997[1]-2004,[2] C. L. Furtado,
- 2004[2]-2009, Devaraj Bangera,
- 2009[3]-2013, John S. Sadananda,
- 2013-2021,[4] Mohan Manoraj
- 2022- Present, Rt Rev Hemachandra Kumar
Notable churches
[edit]- Shanthi Cathedral, Balmatta, Mangalore
On 30 October 1834, Rev J C Lehner, Rev C L Grainer and Rev Samuel Hebich established the first station of the Basel Mission in a rented house obtained from a Parsi family in Mission Street which was then known as Neereshwalya. The Collector of Mangalore at that time, H M Blair, bought a plot at what was then known as ‘Belmount’ and handed it over to the Basel Mission free of cost. On 11 December 1862, the new church building was consecrated and named the Shanthi Church. By virtue of its strategic location in the Southern Diocese, the Shanthi Church was elevated to the status of Cathedral in the year 1970.[5]
- C.S.I Sawday Memorial Church, Mandya
The church is dedicated in memory of George William Sawday, a missionary born in England who arrived in Mysore in 1880 and did community service for 64 years till his death in 1944. The Sadway Memorial Church is situated in Mandya.[6]
The site for the St. Bartholomew's Church was a gift from the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (1799-1868),[7] and it was consecrated in 1830. The church was constructed in 1832 with contributions from military officers and civilians. In 1847, the church was affiliated to the Anglican denomination and handed over to the Madras Government in 1852.[8]
St. Paul’s Church is located at the NW corner of the Central Maidan (now renamed Nehru Maidan)[3], in Mangalore, India. St. Paul's is the very first Protestant church to be raised in the South Kanara region, and the first vertical building to be constructed at the Central Maidan. St. Paul's was originally a garrison church, raised by the British India army of the Madras Government, built using prison labour.[9][10] St. Paul's is an imposing structure amidst the chaos of the fish market, service bus stand, and the State Bank of India.[11]
Institutions
[edit]- CSI Holdsworth Memorial Hospital (Mission Hospital), Mandi Mohalla, Mysore
The Hospital is founded by the Wesleyan Missionaries from UK in 1906. Currently it is a 300 bed multi specialty hospital.
Educational Institutions under the Diocese
[edit]- Primary Schools -43
- Nursing Schools-30
- High Schools-6
- Junior Colleges-3
- Vocational Institutions-10
- Technical Institutions-1
References
[edit]- ^ a b c K. M. George, Church of South India: Life in Union, 1947-1997, Jointly published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge New Delhi and Christava Sahitya Samithi, Tiruvalla, 1999. [1]
- ^ a b New Bishop Installed, The Hindu[dead link]
- ^ Protestant prelate´s consecration sparks hopes for better ecumenical ties. United Catholic Agency. [2]
- ^ Mohan Manoraj New Bishop, Deccan Heralad
- ^ 'Shanthi Cathedral'- History of 150 years
- ^ Man behind noble mission
- ^ A historic church in Mysore
- ^ Celebrating 175 years of Bartholomew Church
- ^ Fernandes, Ronald Anil (3 June 2011). "A mute witness to history". No. Bangalore. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ Nandalike, Walter (26 March 2006). "Exclusive St. Paul's - Canara's First Protestant Church". No. Mangalore. Daji World. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ Shet, LJ S (29 October 2010). "Old British 'Military Church' of M'lore". No. Deccan Herald. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 13 August 2015.