T. B. D. Prakasa Rao

Bishop

T. B. D. Prakasa Rao, CSI

Ayyagaru
Bishop -in - CSI-Krishna-Godavari Diocese
ChurchChurch of South India (A Uniting church comprising Wesleyan Methodist, Congregational, Calvinist, Presbyterian and Anglican missionary societies – ABCFM, Dutch Reformed Church, SPG, WMMS, LMS, Basel Mission, CMS, and the Church of England)
DioceseCSI-Krishna-Godavari Diocese
SeeCSI-St. Paul's Centenary Church, Vijayawada (since 2001, the Cathedra of the Bishop has been shifted to St. Andrew's Cathedral, Machilipatnam)
Elected1981
In office1981–2001
PredecessorN. D. Ananda Rao Samuel, CSI
SuccessorG. Dyvasirvadam, CSI
Previous post(s)Auxiliary Secretary, Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary, Bible House, Secunderabad (relocated in Guntur in 2016)[1](1976-1981)
Orders
Ordinationby Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society
Consecration18 November 1981[2]
by Moderator Solomon Doraiswamy, CSI (Principal Consecrator) and Deputy Moderator I. Jesudason, CSI (Co-consecrator)
RankBishop
Personal details
Born
Thumaty Babu Deva Prakasa Rao[3][4]

(1939-12-17)December 17, 1939[5]
Andhra Pradesh, India
DiedMay 30, 2018(2018-05-30) (aged 78)[5]
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
BuriedCSI-Garrison Wesley Church Cemetery No. 12, Karkhana[6]
NationalityIndian
DenominationChristianity
ParentsThe Rev. T. Joseph,[7] AELC
OccupationAnglican priest
Education
Alma mater

Bishop T. B. D. Prakasa Rao[8][9] (born 17 December 1939; died 30 May 2018)[5] was the fourth[2] CSI-Bishop[10] - in - Krishna-Godavari of the Protestant Church of South India who occupied the Cathedra placed at CSI-St. Paul's Cathedral,[11] Vijayawada. The Bishopric of Prakasa Rao lasted for two decades from 1981 through 2001, one of the longest[12] in the history of the Church of South India Society. Prakasa Rao led the bishopric of Krishna-Godavari that comprised the Christian missions established by the London Missionary Society[13] (LMS)[14] and the Church Missionary Society (CMS)[15] which merged its South India[16] Christian missions in India into the Church of South India Society which was inaugurated in 1947 at the CSI-St. George's Cathedral, Madras.

Prakasa Rao earlier led the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary from 1976 through 1981 especially during the period when common language[17] translations into vernacular languages were being undertaken by the Bible Society of India throughout the country from the original sources comprising the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Novum Testamentum Graece under the direction of The Rev. C. Arangaden through its translation team comprising Old Testament Scholars well-versed in Biblical Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew and New Testament Scholars with expertise in Biblical Greek comprising M. P. John, John Philipose, G. Babu Rao,[18] Basil Rebera, and Nitoy Achümi. During Rao's stint with the Auxiliary, common language translation of the scriptures into modern Telugu language were already being undertaken by G. Babu Rao[19] together with his graduate companion[20] S. Israel.[19]

On Wednesday, May 30, 2018,[5] Prakasa Rao died while at his quarter in Bandlaguda Jagir and his funeral mass was held on Friday, June 1, 2018[6] led by the present Bishop - in - Krishna Godavari, The Right Reverend T. George Cornelious[21] and other clergy hailing from both the Diocese of Medak and the Diocese of Krishna Godavari at the CSI-Garrison Wesley Church Cemetery at Karkhana, Secunderabad.[5] Later, the same evening, a well-attended Memorial Thanksgiving[6] was held at his erstwhile quarter at Bandlaguda Jagir led by The Rev. U. Daniel,[22] CSI, Ministerial Secretary of the Medak Diocese, where the Church Historian B. C. Paul,[23] AELC and others reminisced about their association with and the contribution of Prakasa Rao to the ministries of the Church.

  1. ^ The Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary has been relocated from Secunderabad to Guntur in February 2016. See BSI auxiliary office opened in Guntur in The Hindu, Guntur, February 3, 2016. [1]
  2. ^ a b K. M. George, Church of South India: Life in Union, 1947-1997, Jointly published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi and Christava Sahitya Samithi, Tiruvalla, 1999. pp. 46, 65-67, 97, 104-108. [2]
  3. ^ The Church of England Yearbook, Volume 115, Church Information Office and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1999, p.330. [3]
  4. ^ The Church of England Yearbook, Volume 117, Church Information Office and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2001, p.373. [4]
  5. ^ a b c d e Obituary of T. B. D. Prakasa Rao in Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, May 31, 2018, page 4
  6. ^ a b c Thanksgiving service of T. B. D. Prakasa Rao[dead link] in Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, June 1, 2018, page 4
  7. ^ National Voters Services Portal. Name: T. B. D. Prakasa Rao, State: Telangana, District: Rangareddy, Constituency: Rajendranagar. [5]
  8. ^ The Church of England Yearbook, Volume 113, Church Information Office and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1997, p.315. [6]
  9. ^ The Church of England Yearbook, Volume 114, Church Information Office and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1998, p.314. [7]
  10. ^ Mar Aprem, Indian Christian who is who, Bombay Parish Church of the East, Mumbai, 1983. pp. 43 and 69. [8]
  11. ^ The Cathedra of the Bishop which was placed at Eluru during the bishopric of N. D. Ananda Rao Samuel was shifted to Vijayawada. Later in 2001, on the election of G. Dyvasirvadam, the Cathedra was again shifted to Machilipatnam.
  12. ^ See Sabapathy Kulendran, P. Solomon, D. J. Ambalavanar and Norman C. Sargant who had comparatively longer tenures.
  13. ^ B. Madhu Gopal, Church with a History, The Hindu, 26.7.2004.[9]
  14. ^ James Elisha Taneti, History of the Telugu Christians: A Bibliography, Scarecrow, Plymouth, 2011, p.84.[10]
  15. ^ P. Swarnalatha, The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, C.1750-c.1850, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2005, p.44.[11]
  16. ^ Susan Billington Harper, In the Shadow of the Mahatma: Bishop V. S. Azariah and the Travails of Christianity in British India, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, Michigan, 2000, p.180.[12]
  17. ^ Chrysostom Arangaden, Fiddler in the Zoo, iUniverse, Bloomington, 2011, p.93.[13]
  18. ^ H. S. Wilson, The Church on the move: a quest to affirm the biblical faith; essays in honour of Peddi Victor Premasagar, Bishop in Medak and Moderator of the C.S.I., presented on the occasion of his Shastiabdapoorthi celebrations, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.vi.[14]
  19. ^ a b G. Babu Rao, S. Israel (Translated), The Book of Ruth, The Man You Cannot Ignore, The Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 1976. [15][16]
  20. ^ K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910–1997, Bangalore, 1997.
  21. ^ Church of South India Synod, Rt. Rev. George Cornelious T. is the new bishop of the Krishna Godavari Diocese of the Church of South India, Tuesday, May 29, 2018.[17]
  22. ^ Medak Diocese Diocesan Officers.[18]
  23. ^ Doctoral Dissertations on Asia, Volume 10, 1988, p.126