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ABOUT US

Formation of CSITCNY

 

About 15 Telugu families gathered in the name of the Lord with the sole aim to worship and glorify Him in our native language, 'TELUGU' and to receive his blessings.

    This church was registered under the non-profit organization in the Queens County. The name of the church was incorporated as "Church of South India, New York, Inc.", on July 19, 1999.

    The Rt. Rev. B. P. Sugandhar, Bishop in Medak, Church of South India, inaugurated the church on August 15th, 1999. Subsequently on March 27th, 2000 to protect its uniqueness the name was amended as:
                  "Church of South India - Telugu Congregation - New York, Inc."

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CSI History

The Church Union Movement in South India which eventually resulted in the birth of the Church of South India on 27th September, 1947 is one of the greatest miracles ever performed by God in the first half of the present century.


The story of union is a story of a collaborative venture fraught with innumerable difficulties of one kind or the other. By the Grace of God and by the fortitude of the Union leaders, those difficulties were frankly faced and finally overcome. It was a venture in which the Divine hand guided the people involved constantly. It was a stupendous task in which the leaders of
the movement clearly discovered God’s will and in utter humility tried to fulfill it, if not always. After twenty eight years of joint consultation and trying patience and fervent hope, the negotiating churches eventually entered into an organic union.

 

1947 ! The year of freedom , the creation of New India. The bitter struggle for political independence ended. A new chapter was opened on August 15 when Pandit Nehru, the first Prime Minister of free India, delivered his memorable speech under the caption “Tryst with Destiny”. The same year also witnessed the end of the long process of negotiations for church union.
The Methodist J.S.M.Hooper, the pilot of the Union Movement in South India, preached the Inauguration sermon, interpreting the significance of the year: “God has matched us with His hour; the Church of South India has an unparalleled opportunity. The reconciliation between our divergent elements enables us with fresh conviction and force to proclaim the Gospel of reconciliation to all the clashing elements in this nation’s life. Thus the CSI was constituted by the union of the Madras, Madura, Malabar, Jaffna, Kannada, Telugu and Travancore Church Councils of the South India United Church; the South India Province of the Methodist Church, comprising the Madras, Trichinopoly, Hyderabad and Mysore Districts; and the Madras, Dornakal, Tinnevelly, and Travancore and Cochin of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon.

 

The Church of South India began with fourteen Dioceses and membership of 10,17,184 of whom 2,63,680 were communicants.

The Great Event

A special committee composed of leading laymen and ministers of all uniting churches had been set up and entrusted with the task of making preparations for the service of Inauguration of the united church. It had divided the whole area of the uniting churches into fourteen dioceses, selected presbyters who where consecrated bishops at the inauguration and allotted them to the fourteen dioceses. The committee also has made necessary arrangements for the inaugural function.
 

The six bishops and the nine bishops-designate met for a three-day retreat from Saturday 20th September in the Women’s Christian College. The retreat was led by Bishop Pakenham Walsh. After the retreat the bishops and bishops-designate took counsel together about the different problems which will arise then in their ministry as Bishops. Bishop Leslie Newbigin a bishop designate says: “The last five days of retreat and conference have been a wonderful preparation for this great day. In three days of silence we have had a blessed opportunity for steadying will and desire and directing them to God alone.

Statement of Faith

1. We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, as the inspired and written Word of God, without error in the original writings, as the complete revelation of His Will for the salvation of all people, as the final authority for all Christian faith and practice.

 

2. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit in accordance with the Apostle’s Creed* and the Nicene Creed*.

 

3. We believe that Jesus Christ is the true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. Further, He rose bodily from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the God the Father Almighty.


4. We believe that man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is therefore lost; and that he cannot gain salvation by his own reason or strength save through regeneration by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ.


5. We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, to regenerate the sinner by guiding, instructing, in the believer for Godly living and service.


6. We believe that we are justified by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ through faith by His atoning work. And whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.


7. We believe that God provides means of Grace by which we can receive His mercy and forgiveness. We are baptized and made heirs of his Heavenly Kingdom. We receive the presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion for forgiveness of sins and strengthening of our faith. We grow in that faith through active use of God’s word.


8. We believe in the imminent (second) coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this Blessed Hope has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.


9. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; we believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead; and in the everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord. And so, we subscribe to the letter and spirit of both the Apostle’s Creed* and
the Nicene Creed*.

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