Bishop Emeritus, P. Surya Prakash, CSI | |
|---|---|
| Bishop Emeritus – in – Karimnagar | |
 | |
| Church | Church of South India |
| Diocese | Karimnagar |
| See | Church of South India |
| In office | 2007–2014 |
| Predecessor | S. John Theodore |
| Successor | K. Reuben Mark |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 31 July 1977, Medak by The Right Reverend B. G. Prasada Rao, Bishop - in - Medak |
| Consecration | 26 March 2007 by The Most Reverend B. P. Sugandhar, Moderator |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 February 1949 Dudgaon, Nizamabad District, Andhra Pradesh |
Bishop Emeritus P. Surya Prakash was the fifth Bishop-in-Karimnagar Diocese of the Church of South India.[1] from 2007 through 2014 and occupied the Cathedra in Karimnagar's Wesley Cathedral. He retired on account of superannuation in 2014 following which the Church of South India Synod headquartered in Chennai appointed a successor to him in 2015.
After discerning his avocation towards priesthood, Surya Prakash entered the portals of a Protestant Seminary in 1972[2] in Bangalore where he studied spirituality leading to the award of the graduate degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1976 after which he began pastoring parishes within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak, Church of South India. In 1980,[2] Surya Prakash went on to major in Greek and New Testament and became a member of the Society for Biblical Studies, India in which his Professor, J. G. F. Collison was already a distinguished member. Again from 1982, Surya Prakash continued to pastor parishes of the Diocese of Medak until Victor Premasagar sent him for doctoral studies in 1987 to the Kirchliche Hochschule, Bethel, Bielefeld, Germany where researched on Homiletics specializing in indigenous movements and Churches in India, especially the work of Sadhu Sundar Singh. Roger E. Hedlund, the Missiologist with major contribution to indigenous Christianity in India terms Surya Prakash as a leading authority[3] on Sadhu Sundar Singh.
From 1991 onwards, Surya Prakash spent nearly a decade teaching Homiletics at the United Theological College, Bangalore, an autonomous College affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) until 2000 when he went to Stuttgart as India Liaison Secretary of the EMS succeeding Luise Plock who bridged the gap after C. L. Furtado.[4] After a distinguished record at Stuttgart, Surya Prakash returned to India in 2005 donning the role of a Presbyter at the Diocese of Medak until his elevation to the Bishopric in 2007 in the adjoining Diocese of Karimnagar to succeed the Old Testament Scholar and Bishop S. J. Theodore who retired on attaining superannuation.
Surya Prakash contributes as an academic and as an administrator to the Church taking into consideration not only the mainline Churches but the small and indigenous Churches in India as well. In 2006, India's first[5] University (a University under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956[6])with degree-granting authority validated by a Danish Charter and ratified by the Government of West Bengal elected Surya Prakash as a Member of its Council.[7] In 2010, the Henry Martyn Institute, Hyderabad an Institute with inter-faith concerns with focus on Islam partnered by the Canadian Baptist Ministries elected Surya Prakash as its Chairperson[8] where he provides leadership in an inter-religious setting.
- ^ The Hindu, Andhra Pradesh, 26 March 2007. Internet, accessed 30 November 2008. [1]
- ^ a b K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910-1997, Bangalore, 1997. pp.50 and 118
- ^ Roger E. Hedlund (Edited), Christianity is Indian: The Emergence of an Indigenous Community, ISPCK, New Delhi, 2000. Cited in Klaus Koschorke (Edited), in Transcontinental Links in the History of Non-Western Christianity, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2002. [2]
- ^ Zeitschrift für Kultur, Politik, Kirche, Volume 46, Verein Reformatio, 1997, p.309. [3]
- ^ Sankar Ray, The Hindu (Business Line), 11 April 2008 Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918. Internet, accessed 30 November 2008. [4]
- ^ The Senate of Serampore College (University) is a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956 under which a University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recoginsed by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal.
- ^ Senate Web Site. Internet, accessed 30 November 2008
- ^ "Henry Martyn Institute, Board of Governors". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.