The Diocese of Medak is one of the prominent Dioceses in the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence. The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Pr ...

, a Protestant Uniting Church with its headquarters in Medak comprising nearly 200

Presbyters Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...

ministering to

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, Lambadi, Tamil,P. Y. Luke, J. B. Carman, ''Village Christians and Hindu Culture'', Lutterworth Press, Cambridge, 1968, pp.15, 17, 2

/ref> Kannada language, Kannada, Malayalam,

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

( Hindi and Urdu), English and other linguistic groups numbering nearly 1/3^rds of a

million One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the au ...

spread over 105 pastorates and administered through 3 District Church Councils (DCC), ''namely'', the Town DCC, the Medak DCC and the Godavari DCC geographically located in the erstwhile civil districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Rangareddy, Hyderabad and

Mahboobnagar Mahabubnagar is a city in Mahabubnagar District of the Indian state of Telangana named after the 6th Nizam, Mahboob Ali Khan. It is the headquarters of Mahabubnagar mandal in Mahabubnagar revenue division. The city is also the largest in th ...

in Telangana.

History

Christianity in India

Gondophares receives a letter from St, Thomas

Saint Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles landed

George Nedungatt George Nedungatt (21 December 1932 – 26 October 2022) was an Indian Jesuit priest of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and expert in Oriental Canon Law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordin ...

, ''Quest for the Historical Thomas Apostle of India: A Re-reading of the Evidence'', Theological Publications in India, Bangalore, 2008.

/ref> in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and began his mission in Kalyan and was followed by Saint Thomas who landed in Gujarat during the reign of King

Gondophares Gondophares I (Greek: Γονδοφαρης ''Gondopharēs'', Υνδοφερρης ''Hyndopherrēs''; Kharosthi: 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨥𐨪 ', '; 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨥𐨪𐨿𐨣 ', '; 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨂𐨵𐨪‎ ', ') was the founder of the Indo-Parthian K ...

and initiated the Gospel in parts of

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

and

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila (; sa, तक्षशिला; pi, ; , ; , ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and ...

before traveling southward to Kerala in 52 A.D. where he won many converts and established many churches, eventually traveling to Tamil Nadu where he was martyred in 72 A.D. After centuries of inactivity, the missions were again revived with the arrival of Saint Francis Xavier in 1542 followed by Robert de Nobili in 1605 who arrived in Goa on the western coast. The first Protestant missionaries arrived in 1706 with Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Plütschau of the

Lutheran Missions Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

who landed at Tranquebar on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. However, the modern missions began to take shape only with the arrival of the Baptist Missions in 1793 led by William Carey, the Father of the Modern Missionary Movement. It was with this backgroundManohar Samuel, ''Christianity'' in S. Muthiah (Edited), ''Madras, Chennai: A 400-year Record of the First City of Modern India,'' Volume 1, Palaniappa Brothers, Madras, 2008, pp.160-184

/ref> that Jawaharlal Nehru, the first

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

remarked in a parliamentary debate in 1955 in the Lok Sabha that,

Christianity in Telangana

The Roman Catholic missionaries first set foot in the erstwhile

Hyderabad State Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

in 1535 during the sixteenth century followed by the American Methodist missions in 1873, the Baptist missions in 1875, the Mennonite Brethren missions then followed by the Wesleyan Methodist missions in 1878 during the nineteenth century.

The beginnings of the church

Once the

Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles We ...

set foot in the erstwhile

in 1878, the missionaries led by Henry Little, William Burgess and the Indian Evangelist Benjamin Wesley who pioneered the spread of the Gospel and helped in establishing of churches in areas northward of Hyderabad City winning of new converts to the fold of Christianity. Meanwhile, efforts were made by visionary Pastors to form the Church of South India for which missionary societies came forward for negotiations who included Anglicans,

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

, Lutherans, and Wesleyan Methodists. However, the talks towards Church Union did not go well with the

laymen In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

hailing from the

and the Lutherans in spite of efforts by their ClergyD. J. Jeremiah, ''The Relationship of the Baptist Churches in Andhra Pradesh to the Church Union Movement in South India since 1919'' in ''Reflections on Theology Today: Papers Presented by the ACTC Faculty during the Academic Year 1988–89 on Theology and the Mission and Ministry of the Church'', Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad, 1990, pp.54-73.

/ref> led by Professor

Muthyala Theophilus M. Theophilus (7 May 1895 – 10 December 1946) was a Baptist Patriarch and Spiritual Formator of the Protestant Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, a major congregation along the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh, India that exten ...

CBCNC The Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC) is a Baptist Christian denomination in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The churches are part of the Telugu Christian community of Southern India. Its language is Telugu. It is affiliat ...

and

William Powlas Peery William Powlas Peery (May 21, 1922 – January 20, 2000) was a Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America/Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church who taught theology at ecumenical institutions, the Andhra Christian Theological College at its ...

, AELCCSI-Lutheran Inter Church Commission
/ref> to join the Church of South India. Meanwhile in 1923, the

participated in the negotiations towards Church union and formally agreed to join the

in 1947 and

Frank Whittaker Frank Whittaker (born 1894;Rajaiah David Paul, ''The First Decade: An Account of the Church of South India'', The Christian Literature Society, Chennai, 1958, p.26/ref> died 1961''The Church of South India, The Indian Missionary Society, Madras, ...

became the first Bishop of the Diocese of Medak.

The CSI and aftermath

From 1947 onward, the church came under the Church of South India overseen by a Bishop residing in Medak, the ecclesiastical headquarters of the Diocese of Medak and was overseen by Bishops beginning with Frank Whittaker. The Bishops used to appoint Pastors to lead the congregations in Christian love and faith so that the Christians lead selfless lives and set example for others. The Clergy consisted of Pastors who had theological grounding under able scholars in seminaries either at the

Andhra Christian Theological College Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the Universi ...

or at the

United Theological College, Bangalore United Theological College (UTC) is an Eccumenical Christian seminary founded in 1910 situated in the southern city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka in South India and affiliated to India's first Theological University, the Senate of Seram ...

. The church also had visiting preachers from the nearby seminary, the Andhra Christian Theological College as well as other non-CSI churches in the city.

Ministerial formation

The Ministerial Secretary of the

Diocese of Medak The Diocese of Medak is one of the prominent Dioceses in the Church of South India, a Protestant Uniting Church with its headquarters in Medak comprising nearly 200 Presbyters ministering to Telugu, Lambadi, Tamil,P. Y. Luke, J. B. Carman, ' ...

acts as the Vocation Promoter and for those discerning their avocation towards priesthood, the

through its Ministerial Secretary examines candidates to determine their preparedness for the priestly vocation at varying points of time. First, candidates are admitted to the

and attached with a Priest in congregations and after a year or two they are sent for ministerial formation to a seminary affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University). Presently, the

divides candidates between the

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

and to the

. It was in MedakAnthony Tyrrell Hanson, ''Beyond Anglicanism'', Darton, Longman & Todd, 1965 , p.65.

/ref> that the first seminary was established prior to 1947. Incidentally, this College moved over to

Dornakal Dornakal is one of the largest town in Mahabubabad district of Telangana, India. The town is important as a Railway Junction where a branch line emanates to Manuguru and Bhadrachalam Road and is also on the Vijayawada - Warangal - Secunderabad ...

and became the Andhra Union Theological College which later in 1964J. Herbert Kane, ''A Global View of Christian Missions from Pentecost to the Present'', Baker Book House, 1971, p.120

/ref> joined hands with the Anglicans,

, Lutherans, Methodists and Wesleyan Methodists to form the

, originally located in Rajahmundry and moved to

in 1972. The Diocese is also represented in the

which was established in 1910. The

through its scholarly Clergy who have been involved in ministerial formation both at the

and at the

. Some of its Clergy who have been sent on '' lien'' to teach in such spiritual formation centres include,

Diocese administrators

The Bishops that have led the

were notable and exemplary and having focused on the objective of the Mission and Evangelism as shown through the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. The lives of the Bishops have been documented by Church historians and available in book form include, * Rajaiah David Paul, ''The First Decade: An Account of the

'', published by the Christian Literature Society, Chennai, 1958, * Rajaiah David Paul, ''Ecumenism in action: a historical survey of the

'', published by the Christian Literature Society, Chennai, 1972, * K. M. George, ''

: Life in Union, 1947-1997'', Jointly published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi and Christava Sahitya Samithi, Tiruvalla, 1999, * ''A note on Assistant Bishop - in - Medak (Bishop

Bunyan Joseph Bishop Bunyan Joseph (20 August 1894 – 25 October 1986) was the first and only electedChurch of South India, ''Order of Service for the Consecration of the First New Bishops of The Church of South India'', Printed at London Mission Press, Na ...

)'' During the 1950s, the Diocese accommodated Bishop

of the erstwhile

Anantapur-Kurnool Diocese Rayalaseema Diocese is a diocese of Church of South India in Andhra Pradesh state of India.The diocese one among the 22 dioceses of Church of South India. History Rayalaseema diocese was carved on 15 July 1950 out of then Cuddapah Diocese and ...

which had since been integrated into Rayalaseema Diocese. He was AssistantSir Stanley Reed (Compiled), ''The Times of India Directory and Year Book Including Who's who 1957'', Times of India Press, Calcutta, 1957, p.90

/ref> Bishop - in - Medak and worked together with

Eber Priestley Eber Priestley was the first successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak The Diocese of Medak is one of the prominent Dioceses in the Church of South India, a Protestant Uniting Church with its headquarters in Medak comprising nearly 2 ...

, B. G. Prasada Rao and others. Bunyan Joseph also served as Presbyter - in - Charge at the CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist, Secunderabad during 1956-57 and 1960-61CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist, ''History of the Diocese - Presbyters'

/ref> until he finally retired in October 1963.Rajaiah David Paul, ''Ecumenism in action: a historical survey of the Church of South India'', Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1972, p.10

/ref>