{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 148,
  "chapterName": "1912. Resolutions of the Conference of South Indian Missionaries with J. R. Mott, Madras",
  "pageFrom": 308,
  "pageTo": 310,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 308,
      "ocrText": "308\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\ncharacter, Christian activity, and Christian organization. These\ncharacteristics which the westerner has developed often fail to\nappeal to the Indian, because too often they are advocated by men\nwho have not reached the heart of the Indian through finding the\npoint of contact.\nWhatever others may think, I do not myself look forward to\nany time in the near future when we in India will not need the\nwestern missionary to be our spiritual guides and helpers. Through\nyour inheritance of centuries of Christian life you are able to impart\nto us many things that we lack. And in this sphere I think the\nwesterner will be for years to come a necessity. It is in this co-\noperation of joint study at the feet of Christ that we shall realise\nthe oneness of the Body of Christ. The exceeding riches of the\nglory of Christ can be fully realised not by the Englishman, the\nAmerican, and the Continental alone, nor by the Japanese, the\nChinese, and the Indians by themselves but by all working to-\ngether, worshipping together, and learning together the perfect\nImage of our Lord and Christ This will be possible only from\nspiritual friendships between the two races. We ought to be\nwilling to learn from one another and to help one another.\nThrough all the ages to come the Indian Church will rise up in\ngratitude to attest the heroism and self-denying labours of the\nmissionary body. You have given your goods to feed the poor.\nYou have given your bodies to be burned. We also ask for Love.\nGive us FRIENDS!\n148. RESOLUTIONS OF THE CONFERENCE OF SOUTH\nINDIAN MISSIONARIES WITH J. R. MOTT, MADRAS\n(1912 A.D.)\nAs Chairman of the Continuation Committee appointed by the\nWorld Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910, John R. Mott held a\nseries of eighteen regional and three national conferences in Asia\nbetween October 1912 and May 1913. The purpose was to encourage\nthe formation of National Councils that would become constituent\nmembers of the planned international mission organization that was\nlater formed as the Interntional Missionary Council, and to encourage\nthe development of indigenous leadership. The Madras Conference\nwas held between the 18th and 20th of November, 1912, as a regional\nconference. Some of its resolutions are reproduced here. Resolutions\nof a Conference of South India Missionaries with Dr. Mott, Held in\nMadras, November 18-20, 1912, pp. 1-7, 14-16.\nFederal Missionary Council of South India\nThe Conference resolves that a Federal Missionary Council\nrepresentative of the missionary societies and church organizations\nat work in South India be appointed.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 309,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n309\n1. The duties of this Council shall be\n(a) To keep in touch with the work of these societies and\norganizations in South India and to take such action as may seem\ndesirable to further their interests.\n(b) To carry on its work chiefly by the formation of special\ncommittees. The Council shall have power to appoint on these\ncommittees not only its own members but also any other missionary\nor other person interested in mission work.\n(c) To decide when a further conference of South Indian\nMissionaries shall be held and to make the initial arrangements for\nsuch a conference.\n2. The Council shall be the body which shall relate the Chris-\ntian forces in South India with those in other parts of India and\nthrough the Continuation Committee of the Edinburgh Conference\nwith the home base.\n3. The Council shall consist of a number of members of\nwhom the greater part shall be representatives, both Indian and\nforeign, elected by missionary societies or Church organizations.\nThe remaining part shall be co-opted by the representative members.\n4. An interim committee shall be appointed whose duty it\nshall be to take all the necessary steps to constitute the proposed\nCouncil...\nThe Indian Church\n1. The Conference believes that, while there is undoubtedly\na strong desire on the part of some leaders of the Indian Christian\ncommunity for a comprehensive Church organization adapted to\nthe country, there is not yet in the community as a whole a strong\nand widespread consciousness of such a desire. The Conference\nhowever considers that facilities should be given for the development\nand spread of this desire and recommends that conferences for the\npromotion of unity be encouraged.\n2. The Conference is of opinion that experience has shown\nthat the granting to churches of a measure of self-government has\nresulted in an advance in the direction of self-support.\n3. The Conference, while recognising the marked advance\nwhich many parts of the Indian Christian community have made\nin the formation of missionary societies and the prosecution of\nmissionary endeavours, urges upon the churches the great necessity\nof cultivating the missionary spirit in individual members in order",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 310,
      "ocrText": "310\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nto lead them to realize their responsibility for the personal evan-\ngelization of those around them.\n4. The Conference desires to emphasize the value of confe-\nrences and conventions for the deepening of the spiritual life of\nthe Church.\nIndian Christian Leadership\n1. ...The Conference desires therefore to record the convic-\ntion that whenever capable and spiritually minded Indian men and\nwomen are discovered, the time has come for the churches and\nmissions to make a real and unmistakable advance, by placing\nIndians on a footing of complete equality, in status and res-\nponsibility, with Europeans and thus opening for them the highest\nand the most responsible positions in every department of\nmissionary activity, where this has not already been done.\n2. The Conference at the same time expresses the earnest\nhope that educated young men and women will not be discouraged\nby the obstacles that now stand in their path, but that in view of\nthe greatness of the need they will offer themselves for such positions\nas are open to them in Christian service.\n3. The Conference further urges that missionaries and\neducated Indian Christians should do their utmost to enter more\nfully into one another's point of view in the hope that such mis-\nunderstandings as tend to arise may be obviated and a great united\neffort may be made for the advancement of the kingdom of God...\nCo-operation Between Missions\n1. The Conference, while recognizing the progress that has\nbeen made in recent years in the matter of comity, holds that further\napplication of principles of comity are possible and desirable, more\nespecially in the matters of scales of salaries, Church discipline and\nthe reception of workers from other missions.\n2. The Conference feels that the time has come for all mis-\nsionary societies to recognise that the wider interests of the king-\ndom of God must always have priority over the rights and pri-\nvileges of individual missions, provided that this principle be\ncarried out without prejudice to the liberty of conscience of\nindividual Christians.\n3. The Conference realizes that there is a loud call for more\ndirect preaching of the gospel all through the land and urges the",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}