Church of North India 1.

2/20/12

Alwan Masih is a truly gifted administrator who is bringing his gifts and experiences from working for ministries of the Government to bear on the workings of the Church of North India of which he was already intimately aware from his experience on councils and boards of the church prior to his appointment. He was encouraging in my conversation with him and asked me to visit again at the end of my pilgrimage in Rajasthan. I have the particular delight to witness the impact of a transition in the leadership in the Diocese of Rajasthan. Former Bishop Collin Theodore is a member of the Delhi Brotherhood and arrived back at the House from a trip two days before my departure. He was able to give me many contact names and numbers for the places I plan to visit that were significant in my grandparents’ ministry and service. He retired in March 2011. The new Bishop WarrisMasih is making a big impact and has already turned around a rather desperate situation of eleven months back salary owed to presbyters (Pastors/Priests) in the short time of one year. I naturally did not discuss this with Bishop Collin. I have sent an e-mail message for Bishop WarrisMasih but as yet have not heard back from him. I plan to call him in the next day or two to give some indication of my arrival and to ask him to alert others in Rajasthan of my intention to visit that way giving an episcopal/official introduction. It is fascinating to observe at close quarters this melding together of three forms of polity – Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational. As it has been described to me each Diocese has a bishop. The overall Synod of CNI has a Council and is served by a Moderator on a  three year term. The General Secretary (also on a three year term – renewable) is responsible for carrying forward the actions of the Synod and helping coordinating the work in each Diocese by being in regular contact with each Bishop. Bishops can be consecrated from any one of the various backgrounds as far as denomination are concerned. So there are Free Church or formerly Pentecostal or Baptist bishops as well as formerly Presbyterian bishops. Congregationalism has its influence in that while there is both a Presbyterian polity and an Episcopal polity in place at higher levels, most congregations function on a very independent basis compared with equivalent congregations in other denominational structures. So at some important level Congregational polity reigns but within limits of per capita and other support of the wider denomination and the need for the Bishop’s involvement in their affairs too.