Commission on Unity, Mission and Evangelism
National Council of Churches in India
Ecumenical Open-air Prayer for National Integrity and Societal Harmony
Over 500 Unity Octave Observances all over India
More than 250 Christians including Bishops, Clergies and Believers from over 25 different denominations including Church of North India, Methodist, Lutherans, Marthoma, Jacobite, Catholic and Front Line, Independent and Pentecostal traditions, Mission Agencies and Christian Institutions gathered together at Samvidhan Square (Reserve Bank of India Square) in Nagpur with the Indian national flag to pray for National and Social Harmony as part of the global observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Participants of the prayer service were led in prayers for the nation and its well-being. The prayers affirmed the importance of unity in the midst of diversity and stressed that by being together as Indian, transcending differences and accepting others as they are, there are bountiful blessings to be received. Prayers were said for the National Leaders such as the President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Governor, Municipal Commissioner, Mayor and all other Government Officials. The prayers also expressed impassioned pleas for God’s guidance and wisdom to Political Parties, Peoples Movements and also for ‘Goodwill, Unity and Cooperation’. The prayers also agonized about various issues challenging the Churches and Indian society at large, namely injustice and all sorts of discrimination, and sought God’s help in the struggles for social and economic justice, peace and harmony, and the blessing of a spirit of Love to pervade all creation. In the course of praying with a collective consciousness, in fact ‘prayer became an advocacy tool’ to inform the congregations about social issues, and motivated them to be part of the spiritual journey of social liberation.
Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad motivated the participants to identify the divisive and discriminative forces, and urged people to triumph over such in love and justice as Christians and good citizens. He also encouraged them to look beyond the differences and join together as Indians and Christians for the cause of our National integrity and Societal Harmony.
Rt. Rev. Paul Dupare, the Bishop, Church of North India – Nagpur Diocese appreciated the efforts of coming together to pray for Nation at large and wished this initiative should continue. Rev. Satish Nandha of Church of North India and Pastor Devashish Dubey of Full Gospel of Church coordinated the event.
This prayer event was part of the one week long prayer observances taking place all over Nagpur. More than 25 such prayer events were scheduled in different Churches, Christian Institutions, Ecumenical and Mission Organisations, and Theological Seminaries all over the city. Nagpur set an example by inviting all the denominations and institutions including NCCI, Catholic fraternities and Frontline, Independent and Pentecostal Traditions.
Similar such events were initiated all over India by Member Churches, Organisations and Regional Councils of NCCI in Delhi, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Odisha, Mumbai (Maharashtra) North East India, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Chattishgarh, West Bengal and several other states. Over 500 observances took place all over India. There were pulpit exchanges, carnivals, youth gatherings, discussions, panel discussions, concerts, fasting prayers and all-night prayers. 24th January 2016, NCCI Sunday, was observed by Members Churches on the theme ‘Unity in Praxis: The Will of God’. An NCCI Sunday special offertory was collected for victims of natural disasters. In general, Christian Communities in India came together to pray for Social Harmony, Peace, Social Justice, National and Political Leaders and for the socially, culturally and traditionally excluded communities, and expressed the hope of seeing the evolution of an inclusive India.
HG Bishop Isaac Mar Philoxenos Rev. R. Christopher Rajkumar
Chairperson Executive Secretary
A Citizen Journalism national consultation and training program “Pathways to Digital Frontiers: Communication Rights and Inclusion” was organized from March 11 – 12, 2016 in Panjim, Goa. It’s a program of the Commission on Communications and Relations of National Council of Churches in India (NCCI-COCR), Christian Service Agency (CSA) and World Association for Christian Communication (WACC). There were 30 participants of various profiles: Theologians, Church leaders and Pastors, Social Workers, Community Development workers, Grassroots community enablers, heads of Institutions, Heads of NGOs, Communication leaders, and publishers. Many of NCCI’s constituent member bodies and all major regions from across India were represented. The concept of Citizen Journalism as communicated in the course of this national consultation and training program was a serious take on the responsibility and privilege to enable information sharing by developing communication pathways to digital frontiers in a way that opens up possibilities for advocacy and self-advocacy towards wider engagement, inclusion and ensuring communication rights.
500 Years of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther will be observed and celebrated in 2017 in Germany as well as all over the world. The Special Envoy of the Celebration, Bishop Dr. Margot Käßmann visited India as part of the preparation for the celebration. The NCCI organized an interaction with Church Leaders on 19th February, 2016 at YMCA’s National Council office. Around 30 Church leaders and ecumenical organisations participated in this meeting. The meeting was chaired by Bishop Collin C. Theodore, Secretary NWICC.
In the evening, Dr. Margot Käßmann gave a public lecture at the German Embassy in Delhi on “Reformation and Education.” She highlighted that one of the aspects of the Reformation in middle Europe in the 16th century was education, and this helped people in being able to think, reflect, speculate, understand and ask questions. Her lecture was well received by the audience.
The National Council of Churches Quadrennial Assembly is at the threshold. The theme of the Assembly is “Towards Just and Inclusive Communities”. NCCI is mobilizing and inviting churches and communities to participate in this pilgrimage and celebration. Various Pre Assemblies or Forums are being organized. “Our aim is to creatively engage communities, churches and people to share their stories and contributions and join us in our pilgrimage to build just and inclusive communities. Building just and inclusive communities also calls for just relationships with mother earth” states Rev Dr Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary of NCCI. Ten young women dalit and tribal artists were invited to share their notion of just and inclusive communities through traditional Warli art form by painting murals embracing walls around the trees in NCCI campus. These young women are from indigenous and dalit background and are trainees from adopted slum communities of Church of North India – Social Service Institute (CNISSI) of Nagpur Diocese. Church of North India is member Church of NCCI.
On the occasion of visit of Most Rev. Ralf Meister, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover with his delegation to India, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in India Dr. Martin Ney hosted breakfast on 28thJanuary, 2016 at his residence. Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See to India Salvatore Pennacchio also joined for breakfast along with few Indian Church leaders.
On the 30th of January 2016, thousands of Nagpurians with black ribbons strapped around their mouths marched out on the street to protest against the death of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit research scholar from Hyderabad University. The ribbons were tied symbolically to indicate the voices of marginalised people like that of Rohit Vermula being suppressed and their rights being denied. In order to fight for Rohith’s case and such discrimination based on caste, thousands of people from around 50 different organizations gathered at Deekhshabhoomi, the place where the great Dalit leader Dr. Ambedkar embraced Budhhism to do away with the caste system.
The celebration of ‘Christmas joy through carols’ was arranged by National Council of Churches in India and North West India Council of Churches (NWICC) on 5th December 2015 at Free Church (CNI), Sansad Marg . Mr. Justice Vikramajit Sen, Supreme Court of India, was the Chief Guest of the event. He emphasized that as a Christian Community we should contribute to Nation Building.
A delegation of National Council of Churches in India met Shri. M. Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India and greeted him with Christmas wishes on 22nd December, 2015 at his residence.
2015, 15, December, Nagpur. The St. Ursula Girls High School and Junior College is commemorating the International Day for the Persons with Disabilities on Dec 15 joining the Engage Disability a (National Network of the PWDs), Indian Disability Ecumenical Accompaniment (IDEA) a standing forum of National Council of Churches in India, World Vision India (Nagpur), Christian Service Agency and organized a Walkathon with 500 Children from 8 educational institutions including, Seventh Day Adventist Hr. Sec School, Bishop Cotton School in Dharapmpet, Orange City School, St. Ursula Primary School, Gardener High School, Bishop Cotton High School – Civil Lines, and St. Ursula Girls High School and St. Ursula Junior College.