The Diocese of Tirunelveli is one among the 24 dioceses of the Church of South India (CSI).It is based at Tirunelveli, in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, southern India. The diocese has 687 churches, 101 pastors, and a membership of 1,86,000. Holy Trinity Cathedral, at Palayamkottai is the Cathedral of Tirunelveli Diocese. The churches were established by church missionary society (CMS) missionaries and Society for propagating gospel (SPG) missionaries. In the year of 1919 Tinnevely Diocese Trust Association (TDTA)was formed by uniting both mission and also with baptists and presbyterians churches in the neighbourhood.

History

V. S. Azariah, the first Indian bishop, came from

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tam ...

Diocese

Issues in 2015

In November 2015, the Tirunelveli diocese increased the annual membership amount (in Tamil : Kanikkai) from Rs 100 to Rs 500. The retirement age of the pastors also increased by the CSI synod from 65 to 67, and correction was made in the rule to permit pastors to remove someone from the diocese. Against all these decisions, members raised their voices. They requested to take a vote to implement these changes, but the Bishop ignored them and said that these changes are acceptable without proper voting. The members have thrown chairs to display their opposition. Due to the decision to increase the retirement age, J J Christdoss's retirement age also increased.

Issues in 2014

In 2014, one school teacher committed suicide as she was transferred. The diocese management was blamed for this.

2008 Issues

In 2008, the then administration led by a bus company owner rigged the election and but were eventually defeated in the election.

Bishops of the Diocese

* Samuel Morley (1896–1903) * Arthur Williams (1905–1914) * Edward Waller (1915–1923) * Norman Tubbs (1923–1928) *

Frederick Western Frederick James Western (24 February 1880 – 24 November 1951) was the fifth Anglican Bishop of Tinnevelly in the mid-20th century. He was educated at Marlborough and Trinity College, Cambridge. He joined the Cambridge Mission to Delhi in 1904 ...

(1923–1928) *

Stephen Neill Stephen Charles Neill (1900–1984Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, p. 488.) was a British Anglican bishop, missionary and scholar. He was proficient in a number of languages, including Ancient Greek, Latin and Tamil. He went to Trini ...

(1939–1944) * George Selwyn (1945–1952) * Augustine Jebaraj (1953–1970) *

Thomas Garrett Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

(1971–1974) * Daniel Abraham (1975–1984) * Jason Dharmaraj (1985–1999) * Jeyapaul David (1999–2009) * JJ Christdoss 2009-2020) * ARGST Barnabas 2021 -

Educational Institutions under the Diocese

*Primary and Middle Schools -323 *Higher Secondary Schools-13 *Colleges -6 *Teacher Training Institutes -3

References

External links

CSI Tirunelveli Diocese
{{Churches in India

Christianity in Tamil Nadu

Tirunelveli district