50th Anniversary of the Fellowship of the Least Coin observed

The 29th of October, 2006 was celebrated as the 50th Anniversary of the Fellowship of the Least Coin. The thanksgiving programme was held in the CNI-Christ Church, Jablpur. There were about 600 people who attended the celebration. The Most Reverend J.V.Mall the Moderator of the CNI, graced the occasion and challenged the delegates to follow the legacy left by Mrs. Shanti Solomon, the founder of the Fellowship of the Least Coin. Rev. Dr. Enos Das Pradhan, General Secretary, Church of North India Synod also graced the occasion and appreciated the Fellowship started by Mrs. Solomon which has now become a movement. He called upon the delegates to keep up the spirit and witness through this Fellowship. Ms. Sushma Ramaswamy, the Communication Secretary of the Church of North was also present for the programme.

The Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) is a world wide ecumenical movement of prayer for peace and reconciliation. The idea for the Fellowship of Least Coin emerged as a vision from God to Mrs. Shanti Solomon of India. In commemorating the FLC movement the CNI-SWFCS has raised 11 lakhs as an endowment fund which will be utilized to help two women from the Church of North India each year for their theological studies. The role and contributions of CNI-SWFCS, particularly its President Mrs. Prabhjot Masih single handedly took the initiative and raised this huge amount. A souvenir on the celebration of the Fellowship of Least Coin was also released by the Moderator and the General Secretary of the Church of North India respectively. The programme ended with a fellowship dinner arranged by the Jabalpur Diocese.
 

CNI Reaffirms Its Commitment for Safeguarding Minority Rights

It was reaffirmed once more by the youth of Church of North India when a group of 37 youth from different Dioceses came together at DISHA Centre, Kalimpong from 17th to 20th October 2006, that human rights are not given to a person by any person, religion, governments, howsoever powerful might be; every human being is born with it. As a church, it is imperative on our part to safeguard the human rights from being violated.

Delivering the Keynote Address Rev. Dr. Enos Das Pradhan, General Secretary of Church of North India Synod and the Chairman of Commission for National Polity and Governance, National Council of Churches in India exclaimed the importance of safeguarding minority rights, particularly of Christian communities, considering the facts that Religious Freedom Acts are being amended and secular fabric of India is being fragmented by fundamentalists. He cited the example of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Orissa and Tamilnadu where targeted violence and attack against Christians are rampant and challenged the delegates to stand against all odds to protect the life and dignity of individuals upholding their rights to religions.

Welcoming the delegates, Mr. Navaratna Pradhan, Principal of SUMI and Secretary of DISHA Centre, Kalimpong, Diocese of Eastern Himalaya greeted the delegates while the local pastors and youth offered khaddas (traditional scarf) to each delegate. Bishop Naresh Ambala delivered the Inaugural Address and challenged the delegates to lead a life pleasing and acceptable to God so that all of us can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to protect the rights of our fellow brothers and sisters.

In line with the thoughts shared by Rev. Pradhan, Mr. Sudipta Singh, Director of Programmes, Church of North India Synod facilitated a process of identifying issues of human rights violations in the local context from which the delegates belonged. Mr. Singh highlighted some of the instances found in the Bible in relation to protection of human rights as a Biblical mandate and integrated his thoughts with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Referring to Indian Constitution, he challenged the delegates to understand ways and means, both legal and practical aspects to protect the minority rights as human rights.

Mr. Bibhudutta Das, an advocate in Orissa High Court, conducted workshops in which he helped the delegates to understand provisions enumerated in the constitution of India for safeguarding human rights and also minority rights. In nutshell he taught the participants about how to file an FIR and PIL and also explained how the church can engage itself in the work of advocacy.

Mr. Philip Peacock, a theologian and human rights activist, lecturer in Bishop’s College, Kolkata dealt with the theological perspective of minority rights through contextual Bible Studies on Justice, Peace and Integration of whole Creation. He stressed on inter-faith dialogue as a means of minority and human rights protection in a multi-religious country like India. The plenary was facilitated by Mr. Philip Peacock, Mr. Kasta Dip and Mr. Suman Biswas. Creative presentations on minority rights were made by representing Dioceses delineating with recent case studies which was later on conventionalized as the Statement of the Programme.

Church to focus on harnessing Gender Justice through awareness

A four days training programme on the theme, “Role of the Church in Harnessing Gender Justice” was organized by the Church of North India-Synodical Women’s Fellowship for Christian Service at the CHPD Centre in Nagpur from 20-23 October, 2006. A group of 23 women from 11 Dioceses from the Church of North India took part in this training programme. The training programme included morning worships being conducted in a creative way by the participants, group works and discussions, group presentations, individual exercises, role plays, interactive sessions through which real life instances came out of many inhibitions and finally summing up with an Action Plan for Starting a New Beginning. Mercy Kappen and Latha Paul from VISTHAR, Bangalore were the resource persons for this training programme.

Workshop on Re-reading the Bible held

A one day workshop on the theme “Re-reading the Bible with a Women’s Perspective” was organized by the Church of North India-Synodical Women’s Fellowship for Christian Service at the Vikas Asha Kendra, Jabalpur on the 28th of October, 2006. A total number of 55 women from 16 Dioceses of the Church of North India attended this workshop to affirm that gender is designed by God for appreciation and not for discrimination. In a male chauvinistic society like India, women have been seen as lesser human being and made confined within the four walls of kitchen only. Of course, thanks to the ecumenical movement for empowering women over the decades for which the trend is now changing and so is the attitude of people. The church has a vital role to maintain justice and equality in the society by creating space for women and bringing them to the limelight of leadership and professions.

The workshop included participatory worship, Bible Study and session on “Discipleship of women in the Church today” and “How can we work together towards discipleship of women”. There were also some group works and presentations which finally ended up with challenges to each participants. Rev. Dr. Evangeline Rajkumar from the Lutheran Church, the resource person for the workshop also took time to discuss the barriers and implications of re-reading the Bible with a new eye in our everyday life to strengthen our Christian faith.

CNI visited by PCUSA and Methodist Church, UK

In a friendly gesture to strengthen the relationship with Church of North India, two staffs from the Methodist Church, UK working in the department of Children Concerns visited Church of North India last week to understand the issues of street children, child labor, children at risk and girl child. Mr. Steve Pearce, Children’s Secretary and Doug Swanney, Children’s Work Development Officer from the Methodist Church, UK were given exposures to reality of lives these vulnerable children are living in New Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur. Giving accompany to them, Mr. Sudipta Singh, Director Programmes of Church of North India gave an overview of the initiatives taken by Church of North India to protect the rights of children and create opportunity for their holistic development.

In India, due to malnutrition and poverty, the Infant Mortality Rate is higher than any other developing countries in Asia. Due to illiteracy and ignorance, poor people do not realize the value of education for girls. CNI is engaged in behavioral changing education for parents so that girl children are not deprived of their rights to education. In Nagpur, the visitors were impressed by the initiative taken by CNI-SSI to establish a night shelter for street children called Umang (desire). Umang caters to the holistic needs of the children sheltered here. Church of North India’s Ministry to Children was well appreciated by the visitors as there were inspiring stories shared with them from different projects.

In a similar gesture to strengthen the partnership with Church of North India, Mr. Insik Kim, Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific Office of Presbyterian Church of USA, also paid a visit CNI Bhawan, the headquarters of Church of North India Synod. Mr. Kim spent meaningful time interacting with Rev. Dr. Enos Das Pradhan, General Secretary of CNI in New Delhi. Rev. Pradhan shared with him some of the projects and new initiatives undertaken by CNI to realize the coming kingdom of God.