Church of South India

On 19 October, Rev.

D. V. P. Ponraj of the Church of South India expressed deep happiness over the court's intervention.

He explained that the top court had ordered a status quo, ensuring their church spire will not be demolished for now.

He firmly noted that the church was built legally and that they have been using the very same space for worship for over a decade.

So a few things about me.

I am ordained into the Church of South India, which is basically one of the first uniting churches across the world.

The first that brought together the Anglicans along with the Methodists, Presbyterians and the Congregationalists, with some Baptists and some that were not happy with the Lutherans.

And when I came in, Radhika asked me, so you wear a collar? And I was telling her, this is actually a dress down for me.

In the Church of South India, where I lived and worked for at least 15 years, I could never be up in the pulpit without the alb, robes and all with my surplice.

the stole and of course for about 25 years I worked with the Episcopal Church in the US and there as well you dare be found on the pulpit without all your robes so in one sense this is a dress down particularly for all of you but enough about me let's get to my task at hand that you have privileged me with which is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ that comes from Matthew as we look at his parable of the kingdom.

So the amazing thing about parables is that it gives preachers license for much creative interpretation.

Um, the goal is for the local leadership to end up owning those things, um, and to equip them well.

So eventually, the Arcot Mission of the RCA formed as the Church of South India, which is alive and thriving today.

Yeah.

So, um, I mentioned that RC, uh, uh, that...