Peter Sugandhar

Bishop

B. P. Sugandhar, CSI

B. D. (Serampore)
ChurchChurch of South India (A Uniting church comprising Wesleyan Methodist, Congregational, Lutheran, Calvinist and Anglican missionary societies – SPG, WMMS, LMS, Basel Mission, CMS, and the Church of England)
DioceseMedak
ElectedSeptember 1993[1]
In office1993 - 2009
PredecessorVictor Premasagar, CSI
SuccessorT. S. Kanaka Prasad, CSI
Orders
Ordination1969
by H. D. L. Abraham, CSI
ConsecrationSeptember 1993[1]
by Vasanth P. Dandin, CSI (Moderator[1] and Principal consecrator) and Jason S. Dharamaraj, CSI (Deputy Moderator[1] and co-consecrator)
RankBishop
Personal details
Born
Badda Peter Sugandhar[2]

(1944-09-28)28 September 1944[3]
Ramayampet[3]
Died5 December 2017(2017-12-05) (aged 73)[4]
Secunderabad
BuriedCSI-Church of St. John the Baptist Cemetery, Parade Grounds, Secunderabad Cantonment
17°26′44″N 78°29′35″E / 17.44556°N 78.49306°E / 17.44556; 78.49306
NationalityIndian
DenominationChristianity
ParentsSmt. Vimalamma and Sri Christudas
ProfessionPriesthood
EducationB. D. (Serampore)
Alma materUnited Theological College, Bangalore (Karnataka)
The CSI-Medak Cathedral in Medak - it was here that Sugandhar was ordained in 1969 by Bishop H. D. L. Abraham.

B. P. Sugandhar[5] (28 September 1943[4] – 5 December 2017)[6] was the fifth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop - in - Medak[7] of the Church of South India whose bishopric lasted for more than a decade and half from 1993[1] through 2009[8] coinciding with the archbishoprics of Samineni Arulappa and Marampudi Joji of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.

It was in 1992[1] that the Old Testament Scholar,[9] Bishop P. Victor Premasagar vacated the Cathedra on attaining superannuation, following which Sugandhar contested the vacant bishopric and was appointed and consecrated in September 1993 by the Church of South India Synod led by its Moderator Vasanth P. Dandin, and its Deputy Moderator Jason S. Dharmaraj, making Sugandhar assume the Cathedra in CSI-Medak Cathedral in Medak.

Sugandhar led the Diocese of Medak through its evangelical ministry[10] which later extended far beyond the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak when he was elected to the Church of South India Synod for four consecutive bienniums, as Deputy Moderator in 2000 and as Moderator[11] in 2004 and was at the helm of leadership of the CSI Synod in the 2000s and crisscrossed throughout southern India that included not only the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, but also the Union territory of Puducherry and the neighbouring nation of Sri Lanka.

After serving the ministries of the Church as an ecclesiastical co-worker spanning four decades (1969–2009), Sugandhar breathed his last on Tuesday, 5 December 2017[12] in his quarters in West Marredpally, Secunderabad.[12] Sugandhar was one of the surviving bishops emeriti of the diocese, and his death is being mourned by the Diocese of Medak led by A. C. Solomon Raj, Bishop - in - Medak[4] and other diocesan administrators.[4] On Wednesday, 6.12.2017, the Diocese of Medak had made all efforts and kept his mortal remains at the CSI-Diocesan Office,[4] Behind South Central Railway Hyderabad railway division, Secunderabad from 9:00 A.M. through 15:00 hours Indian Standard Time[4] which, enabled the faithful to pay their respects following which the Funeral mass was conducted at 15:00 hours[4] at the CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist,[4] Sardar Patel Road, Secunderabad in the presence of Bishop Emeritus P. Surya Prakash and thereafter a Christian burial mass at 16:00 hours[4] was held at the Cemetery of CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist located in Parade Grounds[4] in Secunderabad Cantonment.

  1. ^ a b c d e f K. M. George, Church of South India: Life in Union, 1947-1997, Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge/Christava Sahitya Samithi, New Delhi/Tiruvalla, 1999, p.56.[1]
  2. ^ The Episcopal Church Annual, Morehouse-Barlow, New York, 2003, p.478.[2]
  3. ^ a b The Hindu, Hyderabad Edition, Ex-moderator of CSI no more, 6.12.2017.[3]
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad Edition, Obituaries, 6.12.2017.[4] Archived 6 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ The Church of England Yearbook 2007, Volume 123, 2007, p.404.[5]
  6. ^ Times of India Hyderabad edition, Former CSI moderator passes away, 7.12.2017.[6]
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference John was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ The Europa World Year Book 2008, 2008, p.2216
  9. ^ P. Victor Premasagar, Salvation in the Old Testament, Indian Journal of Theology, Volume 18, Issue 2-3, April–September 1969, pp.197-205.[7]
  10. ^ Adam Clapham, Beware Falling Coconuts, Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2007, p.68.[8]
  11. ^ The Europa World Year Book, Volume 1, 2007, p.2213
  12. ^ a b Church of South India Synod, Bishop B. P. Sugandhar, the former Moderator of the Church of South India, Passes Away, Tuesday, 5.12.2017.[9]