Council of Christian Hospitals (COCH), an autonomous body that facilitates management of medical institutions founded by Missionaries of

Canadian Baptist Mission The Canadian Baptist Mission (CBM) is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the Canadian Baptist Ministries. History It was established in 1850 by the Canadian Baptist Ministries. The CBM ...

. COCH is a

body corporate In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...

under

Indian Societies Registration Act The Societies Registration Act, 1860 is a legislation in India which allows the registration of entities generally involved in the benefit of society – education, health, employment etc. The British Indian Empire, with a wish to encourage such ...

and has its registered office in premises of one of its participating hospitals, that is, CBM Christian Medical Centre,

Pithapuram Pithapuram, historically known as Pittapore, is a town and a municipality in the Kakinada district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority. The town is home to one of the eighteen ...

East Godavari District East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549. In the Madras Pre ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. Formed on 13 April 1973, COCH sets an annual agenda in line with Missionary endeavour to serve the poor and the needy. In terms of continuing education, COCH is one of the members of the

Christian Medical College & Hospital Christian Medical College, Vellore, widely known as CMC, Vellore, is a private, Christian community-run medical school, hospital and research institute. This Institute includes a network of primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals in a ...

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...

where two members office bearers of COCH comprising Chairperson and Secretary participate in Annual General Meeting of Association of

. As a sponsoring body, COCH also communicates with members of Churches founded by Canadian Baptist Mission inviting applications for possible sponsorship to eligible students to study health-related courses at

. COCH is represented at

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

forums as a member of

Christian Medical Association of India The Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) is a forum, a gathering place, an association and an instrument for social reform. It is a fellowship of doctors, nurses, administrators, chaplains and allied health professionals who assist India� ...

, an affiliated institution of

National Council of Churches in India The National Council of Churches in India is an ecumenical forum for Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. History The Council was established in 1914 as the "National Missionary Council." In 1923, the Council constituted itself as the "Nat ...

comprising members from

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Churches in India.

Background

Baptist missionaries from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

first came to

Ramayapatnam Ramayapatnam is a small village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India on the bank of the Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangl ...

in 1868 in southern

working along with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Baptist 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 compete ...

missionaries. On invitation extended by Indian Missionary, Thomas Gabriel who was involved in propagating Gospel in parts of

East Godavari East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of 2011 Census of India, census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,54 ...

, West Godavari and

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

districts along northern coastal line of

began sending Missionaries to India in 1874 to partner with Thomas Gabriel. Apart from Church-related ministries of evangelism and leadership training, there was also development ministries that included aiding people in agricultural, health and educational development.Manorama Fritschi, ''

op. cit. ''Op. cit.'' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ' or ''opere citato'', meaning "the work cited" or ''in the cited work'', respectively. Overview The abbreviation is used in an endnote or footnote to refer the reader to a cited work, standing ...

'' In addition to intervention among

Telugus Telugu people ( te, తెలుగువారు, Teluguvāru), or Telugus, or Telugu vaaru, are the largest of the four major Dravidian ethnolinguistic groups in terms of population. Telugus are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh ...

, the missionaries also covered southern

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

working among

Soura Soura, () known as Sovur () in Kashmiri, is a notified area in Srinagar district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about 9 km north of Lal Chowk, Srinagar on Srinagar-Ladakh Highway in Jammu and Kashmir, ...

, Kui and

Odiya Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

and later in 1922, Serango Christian Hospital was opened in

Gajapati District Gajapati district is a district of Odisha State in India. It was created from Ganjam District on 2 October, 1992. Gajapati district was named after Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deb, the King of the Paralakhemundi Est ...

. William Gordon Carder, formerly Professor of Church History at

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 University G ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

wrote that it was

Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

E. G. Smith who could be termed as first Medical Missionary from

who was sent to India in 1894. During the ensuing years', a total of eight hospitals were founded by

Legal status

During latter half of nineteenth century, Missionaries entrusted leadership to their co-partners, the Indians, resulting in formation of

Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars 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 affilia ...

(CBCNC) which had also Educational, Theological, and Medical Committees. However, it was felt that Medical Committee be made autonomous and all medical institutions needed to be safeguarded and continued to be managed without any hindrances. Therefore,

Canadian Baptist Ministries Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) or ''Ministères Baptistes Canadiens'' is a federation of four regional Baptist denominations in Canada. The federation is a member of the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarter is in Mississauga, Ontario. Hist ...

, with ''

bona fide In human interactions, good faith ( la, bona fides) is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case ...

'' motives entrusted properties of medical institutions founded by it to the custody of Evangelical Trust Association of South India (ETASI),

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

(

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

). Further, on 13 April 1973, COCH was formed as an autonomous body to manage medical ministries of

.ETASI, ''health''
/ref>

Supporters

Apart from the

, the Hospitals and Nursing School of the COCH are partly funded by the following institutions: * Christoffel Blinden Mission * European Baptist Ministries * Government of Andhra Pradesh – National Blindness Control Programme

Notes

External links

* Official site of

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Council of Christian Hospitals Medical Council of India Medical associations based in India Hospital networks in India Christian organisations based in India Canadian Baptist Ministries

Background

Legal status

Supporters

Notes

Further reading

External links