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NCCI appreciates the ban removal on Bastar Panchayat

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The National Council of Churches in India appreciates the timely appeal made by the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum to the Chhattisgarh High Court in restoring their Right to Religion. The NCCI also hails the removal of the ban on Bastar Panchyat by the Chhattisgarh High Court. In times of anti-Christian sentiments, we value this decision made by the High Court in restoring peace and oneness of humankind.

Bastar panchayat ban: HC says right to religion is fundamental
TNN | Oct 15, 2015, 09.23 AM IST

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh high court has ordered that tribal Bastar region’s panchayat resolution passed last year, imposing ban on non-Hindu religious missionaries, won’t come in the way of exercising fundamental right to preach and propagate religion.

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International Prayer Day for Peace – Celebrations

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Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation

National Council of Churches in India

International Prayer Day for Peace – Celebrations

September 21, 2015, Ranchi, Jharkhand

DSC08313The NCCI Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation (CJPC) organized its annualInternational Prayer Day for Peace Celebrations on the 21st September, 2015  in Ranchi, Jharkhand, joining the SCM Jharkhand Bihar Region, CNI Chota Nagpur Diocese, GEL Church and Christian Service Agency on the theme ‘Peace and Dignity on Earth’. There were 150 participants from the different colleges, Churches and Civil Society Movements.

Rev. Fr. Aswin Fernandis, Chairperson of NCCI-CJPC chaired the celebrations. He called all the Churches to involve in doing peace and ministering for peace.

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Interfaith Discussion on ‘Right to Food and Life’

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WCC – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
NCCI – Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation &
Christian Service Agency
INTERFAITH DISCUSSION ON
‘Right to Food and Life’
16 October 2015, NCCI Campus, Nagpur
2015 is the International ‘Year of Soils’. October 16th is the International Food Day, October 15 is announced as the International Day for Rural Women and October 17th is the International Day for the eradication of Poverty.  Therefore, the World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance has initiated The Churches Week of Action on Food (CWAoF). CWAoF provides an opportunity for Churches all over the globe to act and speak together on food justice issues. It is a time to raise awareness about food production and distribution systems, examine our own food consumption, and call for policy changes that will ensure the right to food for everyone. Since NCCI – CJPC has been engaged in raising awareness among the Churches this year it is planning to work with faith communities in raising awareness on Right to Food and Life among the people.

All faiths call us to feed the hungry and care for Creation – this we can do as individuals, as Churches, Temples, Gurudwaras, Mosques and Pagodas and such worshiping places as members of faith communities.

Most of the States around the globe have come up with several policies to ensure ‘No Poverty’ through assuring livelihood securities / protections such as ‘food security’, ‘social protection’ and such policies.   In spite of all these, steady gains against hunger and poverty, today, we witness more than ten present of the population undernourished and go to bed hungry and a quarter is from India (The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2015).

Globally, millions more experience seasonal hunger and malnourishment. As also poor diets,  high in cheap processed foods are leading to a rise of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, intestinal cancers, and type-2 diabetes. At the same time, between one-third and one-half of all food produced in the world for human consumption is wasted, due to lack of storage and distribution infrastructure as well as through wasteful retail and consumer practices.

International Day of Prayer for Peace – 21 September 2015

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National Council of Churches in India

Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation

IMG_2994The World Council of Churches calls the global churches and faith communities to observe the International Day of Prayer for Peace on the 21 September which is also the United Nations-sponsored International Day of Peace. The Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation of the National Council of Churches in India joining its members in  observing the same by organizing special programmes, worships, candle light vigils and prayers and on 21 September every year to observe the International Prayer Day for Peace.

The International Day of Prayer for Peace offers an opportunity for church and faith communities in all places to pray and act together to nurture lasting peace in the hearts of people, their families, communities and societies.

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Kandhamal Day

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Kandhamal Day Homage to Communal Riot Victims tby offering Prayer for Peace.August 25, 2008 was an unforgettable day which caused a deep scar on the Indian Democracy. This was the day, when a group of right wing Hindu fundamentalists brutally attacked and tormented several hundred Dalits and Adivasis in Kandhmal (Odisha). This pre-planned and organised ‘communal attack’ against minorities was the biggest in the history of India. It is against the spirit of the Indian Constitution drafted by Dr. B R Ambedkar and against the spirit of Unity and Harmony in India.

Dr. M M Thomas Birth Centennial Public Lecture

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Prof. Dr. Ram Puniyani Delivers Dr. M M Thomas Birth Centinniel Lecture on 'Democracy and Inclusive Governance'2015 is the Birth Centenary year of the late Dr. M. M. Thomas a globally renowned Church Man, Ecumenist, Christian Theologian, Socialist and Humanist. To offer an ecumenical tribute to this great person, the National Council of Churches in India, along with CASA and in partnership with CISRS, ECC and SCMI organized a Dr. M M Thomas Birth Centenary Public Lecture on 24th August 2015 at ECC Bangalore, on the theme ‘Democracy and Inclusive Governance’.
Prof. Dr. Ram Puniyani a secularist, writer and scholar delivered the Lecture. He described how the inclusive spirit of democracy drafted and affirmed by Dr. B R Ambedkar is ‘out –casted’ by the right wing exclusivist ideologues and political parties in recent days. He called the Churches to work for an inclusive society through promoting and affirming democracy and inclusive governance rather than positioning themselves as one of the faith communities in the country.

Youth for Social Justice- Commission on Youth

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REPORT ON YOUTH FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE CAMP, BANGALORE

DSC02596The NCCI-Commission on Youth successfully organized the Youth for Social Justice Camp at Visthar, Bangalore from 3rd – 7thAugust in partnership with NCCI-Commission on Justice, Peace and Creation, International Justice Mission and Visthar. The five days camp was allocated with different social problems – Trafficking, Sexual Minorities, Child Rights and Disability.

The camp was inaugurated with a welcome address by Rev. Sweety Helen, Executive Secretary of Commission on Youth-NCCI, who gave a brief introduction about the Camp and sessions of the program which are going to be conducted throughout the Camp i.e. on Sexual Trafficking, Gender, Disability, Child Abuse and Sexual Minorities. The first day was apportioned with the theme on Trafficking. After the inaugural session, Rev. Helen conducted the Bible Study from Luke 4:18 about the proclamation of good news, recovery of sight and freedom to the oppressed. The ted talk video of Ms. Sunita Krishnan, on Child Trafficking encompassing the lives of children who were trafficked for commercial sex work and were found in the most awful manner. This ted talk made people realize that trafficking is a real and a big issue in India. The introduction session was carried out by Rev. David Selvaraj, Director, Visthar, with a game and later an interactive with thought provoking points. He emphasized mostly on criminal and social justice, i.e. retributive and restorative justice. The first session was conducted by Mr. Shantanu Dutta, Director of Public Engagement, International Justice Mission, he elaborated on the topic of trafficking which includes not only sex trafficking but organ trade and bonded labour by deceiving people showing opportunities to grow and also showed some documentaries getting the participants deep into the issue which was followed by an interactive session with Ms. Erin from IJM. In the evening an ice breaker session was organized where the participants got to know about the other and were divided into four different groups namely Othniel, Deborah, Jephthah and Gideon. In the evening, vesper was led by Team Othniel.

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NO MORE KANDHAMAL

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NCCI Commission on Unity, Mission and Evangelism

NO MORE KANDHAMAL

August 25, 2008 was an unforgettable day which marred the face of Indian Democracy with an ugly scar. This was the day, when a group of right wing fundamentalist people brutally attacked and tormented several hundred Dalits and Adivasis in Kandhamal (Odisha). This day should not have happened. It’s occurrence is against the spirit of the Indian Constitution drafted by Dr. B R Ambedkar and against the spirit of Unity and Harmony in India.

This pre-planned and organised ‘communal attack’ against minorities is among the biggest in the history of India, after the Gujarat Godhra attacks. Over 350 Churches were demolished and around 6500 houses of Dalits were looted , 90 innocent lives were taken, 40 women were sexually assaulted and over 56000 people were displaced.

Eight full years have gone by but no justice is established favouring the victims of this communal violence. Rather the culprits have been legally freed. Several cases of forced ‘ghar wapsi to hindusim’ have been initiated by the hindutva elements.

Therefore, the Commission on Unity, Mission and Evangelism of the National Council of Churches in India, appeals to all the member churches and organisations to organize events for one week around August 25, 2015 to mark the memory of Kandhamal.

We appeal to you to express solidarity with the struggle of the people of Kandhamal, in order to provide adequate pressure on the governmental institutions to provide justice for the victims and survivors.

Let us encourage all the local congregations to pray for the communal riot victims in Kandhamal and other such places.

Let us unite ourselves to pray for ‘NO MORE KANDHAMAL’.

With Prayers,

HG Rt. Rev. Dr. Isaac Mar Philoxenos
Chairperson

Rev. R. Christopher Rajkumar
Executive Secretary

Legal Literacy and Training Programme for Mission Leaders and Grass-roots Mission Staff

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Commission on Unity, Mission and Evangelism
Legal Literacy and Training Programme for Mission Leaders and Grass-roots Mission Staff
5 -7 August 2015, NCCI Campus, Nagpur
DSC08032NCCI – Commission on Unity, Mission and Evangelism on the request from Indian Missions Association (IMA) organized 3 days ‘Legal Literacy and Training Programme for the Mission Leaders and Mission Workers. There were 35 Mission Leaders and Mission Staff including 3 women from 18 Mission Organization from all over India representing 7 language groups. It was a first time experience for the participants in working with NCCI.

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NCCI Indian Disability Ecumenical Accompaniment

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Consultation on ‘Towards Inclusive Society: From Disability Perspective

 IMG_2809_credThe National Council of Churches in India’s (NCCI) Indian Disability Ecumenical Accompaniment (IDEA) joined with the Engage Disability Network (EDN) and Christian Service Agency (CSA) to organize a consultation on ‘Towards Inclusive Society: From Disability Perspective” at NCCI Campus on 21st July 2015.

30 participants including persons with disabilities, activists, social workers, pastors, academicians, educators, counselors and students participated in this consultation.

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