THE CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

The centenary of the founding of the Mission was celebrated in 1916. There were local celebrations in various parts of the Diocese, which culminated in the central celebrations at Kottayam. The Pro-Cathedral was full to over - flowing for the main thanksgiving service, and there was as recorded, at the time, 'an enormous gathering' for the public meeting held in the place where the Centenary Memorial Building was to be erected.^{18 .}

Educational institutions were going from strength to strength. The Director of Public Instruction of Travancore State wrote in 1917:   "What struck me most about the Kottayam College was what I should describe as the collegiate atmosphere.   I have never felt this anywhere in South India as I have felt it here". ¹⁹

The Diocesan Record for 1919 notes that the Christian Institute, Alappuzha was opened and which was the only Reading Room with a care for souls.

Mention of Union negotiations that finally resulted in the formation of the Church of South India, began to be mentioned from time to time in the Diocesan Magazine of that day. Bishop Azariah of Dornakal, was the inspired leader behind this union movements. Meanwhile, the idea of a Union College was conceived by a group of men of spiritual power and vision, who were seeking a way to overcome the divisions between the churches in Travancore and Cochin. The idea was to work and worship together and so grow into oneness. Thus the Union College, Aluva, run by a team of Jacobites, Marthornites and Anglicans (now C.S.I.) came into being as a resident second grade college and was opened in 1921.

DIOCESANISATION

The Diocesanisation which began in 1879 fulfilled in 1920, when Bishop Gill constituted, "Travancore and Cochin Diocesan Council" to assist in the management of the temporal affairs and financial business of the Church. Its first business was to relate all existing organizations to the Diocesan Council, and a standing Committee was appointed.

KARAPPURAM MISSION

In 1921 an extensive effort to reach a thousand Ezhava Families living in the costal areas was set on foot by an independent committee, in relation with the Church. With Miss. Isabel Baker's (C.M.S. Missionary) generous contribution, a school, hospital and a coir factory were established under the title 'Karappuram. Mission' in the Shertellai area. Later this was a famine center and a fertile ground for communism. In 1953 the Diocese undertook full responsibility of the mission but it continued to fail.

BETHEL ASHRAM

In 1922, Miss. Neve, a C.M.S. Missionary, felt the need to serve the women of the Diocese in a wider sphere than in the Training School (B.I. Pallom) ²⁰ where she was working. Miss. Rachel Joseph, a high school teacher, joined her in the new venture. They rented a house in Alappuzha and undertook various activities among the women there. The name 'Bethel' was adopted, and their work soon attracted women students from all parts of the Diocese.

Bethel moved to permanent quarters at Warikkad, Tiruvalla, in 1926. In the same year, the community school for backward class children was started. There were a home for motherless babies, a creehe, a dispensary, industrial section and all the other activities of the community. When the C.M.S. headquarters secretaries visited Bethel in 1934, they were impressed by its distinctive Indian character and the emphasis placed by the Ashram upon, "meditation and devotion. ²¹ Branches of Bethel have subsequently been opened at Trichur, Kallada, Parkal and Melukavu. 'Bethel Day' has throughout been a very popular annual feature drawing a large crowd year by year.

In 1922, the Rev. T. K. Benjamin, was appointed Archdeacon of Kottayam. and Bishop's Commissary. It was said at that time, "This is essentially a step in the right direction and cannot fail to be of great benefit.²²

PARKAL MISSION

Inspired by the example of Missionary Societies, the Diocese of Travancore and Cochin started organized missionary work in and outside the Diocese. The first native missionaries ²³ were sent out in 1924, and the field was Parkal Taluq, Hyderabad in the Dornakal Diocese ²⁴  (Now C.S.I. Karimnagar Diocese).

Progress was rather slow at first, but after about a decade the work gathered momentum. The backward Mala and Madiga castes first came under the influence of the Gospel, but later higher castes were also attracted. Today there are 10,000 baptized Christians, 100 Christian Villages, 50 worshipping centres, 19 Churches, 28 mission house, 2 orphanages, 2 child care centers, 6 schools, 2 hostels, 3 hospitals, 4 Ashram. Centres, one technical school and one nursery school. ²⁵

Bishop Gill retired after a fruitful ministry in 1924. It has been said of him; "He was the Apostle of the out-castes who championed their cause in the church, school and state. His blood boiled over in indignation at the social injustice shown to the depressed classes. He entered into the work of uplifting Harijans by granting them admission to all Mission Institutions, establishing Boarding, Schools for them and abolishing separate seats for them in churches. Vigorous opposition could not divert him from the right path." ²⁶  Bishop Gilt has also been called the Master Builder of the Church who established and nourished his congregations with paternal care and affection.

The fourth Bishop of the Diocese, the Rt. Rev. E.A.L. Moore, (1925-1937) was a missionary in Madras. He was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and was welcomed to Kottayam with much enthusiasm. Bishop Moore was a bachelor of rather austere and ascetic habits, and far from taking a salary, put back his allowances into a diocesan fund. Diocesanisation progressed rapidly and a well -drawn up Constitution was passed in December 1926 and came into force on 1st January 1928.

MEDICAL MISSION

It was at this time that the medical work was begun in a systematic way. Bishop Moore started clinics in country boats called 'Floating Dispensaries' to take medical aid to out of the way places in water ‑ logged areas, each in charge of a doctor. In one month alone we read that 2,000 patients were treated from one of these mobile dispensaries. They ran for about 20 years and thereafter discontinued. By that time small mission hospitals were growing up in different parts of the Diocese.

The Community School, Ranni, was started in 1928 to help in the development of the backward Christian boys of the Diocese. It was a middle school with a vocational basis, in the morning going for study and in the afternoon for industrial work. Bishop Moore had keen interest in the growth and development of out-stations. In order to impart knowledge and to inspire the Diocesan Evangelistic work, missionary festivals were organized at various centers. This great gathering became a strong impetus to giving, praying and working for the spread of the Gospel. Rev. C. K. Jacob was the chief adviser to the Bishop in this matter. He was created Archdeacon of Mavelikara in 1932. The Bishop accepted only genuine believers into the Christian faith, not those who came, as the Ezhavas at that time, on the wave of a desire for speedy social improvement. Even Mahatma Gandhi appreciated his attitude when he came to Travancore at the time of Temple Entry Movement. In 1936, the famous 'Temple Entry Proclamation' was issued. ²⁷  Following this proclamation several private temples in Travancore were opened to the lower castes and outcastes of Hinduism. Significantly, this proclamation made a sudden stop to the discussions about mass movements ²⁸.

It was in Bishop Moore's time that the first two men from the backward Christian community, P. J. Isaac and C.I. Mathai, were ordained as pastors. By this time the Diocese became fully organized with its Diocesan Council and standing Committee with the several Boards. The Missionary Conference was abolished and the several congregations in the Missionary Districts were brought under the District Councils. The previously existing four District Councils were sub‑divided into nine, each with its own separate chairman ²⁹. The retirement of Bishop Moore came, in the words of the Bishop of Madras, "after a long service in Madras, Tinnevelly and Travancore. He was a very fine administrator and a scholar but he was always anxious to keep in the background and avoid any display of his gifts".³⁰

The Rev. B.C. Corfield, (1938-1944) a C.M.S. Missionary in North India succeeded Bishop Moore. He was consecrated as Bishop in St. George Cathedral, Madras on 18th October 1938. With simplicity and sincerity and with a particular love for the underprivileged, he began his work. Bishop Corfield's time was a difficult one. His period roughly covered the years of the Second World War. Within the country, nationalist feelings were mounting. There was unrest among the backward Christians within the Diocese and they were more politically conscious. They began movement for a 'Separate Administration' fearing the days when a more democratic regime would mean that they were overshadowed in the Church by their more advanced Syrian brethren. ³¹

In 1938, a deaf school was started at Pallom and in 1941 it was moved to a rented house in Tiruvalla. In 1951, a section of the Tholassery Mission Compound was given for the school and good buildings were constructed. In 1940 the Kerala Christian Council was formed consisting of Marthoma, Anglican and South India United Church as its members.

The Sisterhood connected with Bethel and fore-runner of the Women's Order of the C.S.I., was formed. In 1944 a large group of women of the Church was admitted by Bishop Corfield as Associates of the Ashram Fellowship. There were about 500 members at the time of its inception.

FORWARD MOVEMENT

In 1943, a Forward Movement 'for the spiritual, evangelistic, social and economic progress of the church in this Diocese' was inaugurated. Special literature was published. Systematic giving was urged on church members and there was a consider‑able increase in the diocesan income from pastorates.

In the same year 1943, the Kerala United Theological Seminary was started at Trivandrum. The Anglican Diocese of Travancore and Cochin had taken the lead in suggesting the possibility of a union theological college of C.M.S., L.M.S. and Basel Mission. L.M.S. generously allowed the use of their land and existing buildings.

INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP

In 1944 Bishop Corfield, quite unexpectedly, resigned as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Travancore and Cochin ³². Archdeacon C. K. Jacob was selected to the Bishopric, the first non-missionary Bishop, and he was consecrated in 1945. Bishop Jacob was well known for his fervent life of prayer and his knowledge of the Bible. Besides, he had an intimate knowledge of the Diocese in all its parts and majority of the Church Workers were his students. His first Diocesan Council was memorable in that it was conducted for the first time entirely in Malayalam as well as the first under an Indian Bishop. ³³

Every year Bishop arranged a special mission to the diocese with a missioner from outside. Mr. Jardine, one missioner wrote about the lay leadership as he had observed it. "At every center I have observed that this church is rich in enthusiastic laymen. Retired officials, businessmen, teachers - all seen to give their time and energy. Quite a number of Young men - students, ex-soldiers, teachers and workers in firms have told me about their plans and desire to serve Christ" ³⁴

India became independent on August 15, 1947, and one month later, the formation of the Church of South India took place, its inauguration on 27th September 1947 was a historic event - an Indian Church in an Indian - ruled country.  

History of  Madhya (Central) Kerala Diocese.... by Rev. C.Y. Thomas  Contd......

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3