{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 153,
  "chapterName": "1919. The Tranquebar Manifesto",
  "pageFrom": 317,
  "pageTo": 319,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 317,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n317\n153. THE TRANQUEBAR MANIFESTO (1919 A.D.)\nFollowing a regular Indian ministers' meeting under the sponsor-\nship of the Evangelistic Forward Movement held at Tranquebar, a\nConference on Church Union was convened by Bishop V. S. Azariah.\nThis conference was organized through the efforts of Meshack Peter\nof the South India United Church and V. S. Azariah of the Anglican\nChurch and was held from 1st to 2nd May, 1919. The Manifesto\nproposing a union of their churches, and the procedures that might be\nadopted in effecting it, was signed by seven Anglicans and twenty-six\nmembers of the South India United Church, including two non-Indians.\nThe Manifesto led to the beginning of negotiations that ended in the\nformation of the Church of South India in 1947. It has had extensive\ninfluence on the church union movement. Cited in Bengt Sundkler,\nChurch of South India: The Movement Towards Union 1900-1947,\npp. 101-103.\nWe, as individual members of the Anglican Communion and\nthe South India United Church, having met at Tranquebar in the\nfirst ministers' conference on church union, after prayer, thought\nand discussion, have agreed on the following statement concerning\nthe union of the Anglican Church with the South India United\nChurch.\nSurusot\nWe believe that the union is the will of God, even as our Lord\nprayed that we might all be one, that the world might believe. We\nbelieve that union is the teaching of the Scripture. There ere is one\nbody, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of\nyour calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and\nFather of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.'\nWe believe that the challenge of the present hour in the period\nof reconstruction after the war, in the gathering together of the\nnations, and the present critical situation in India itself, call us to\nmourn our past divisions and turn to our Lord Jesus Christ to\nseek in Him the unity of the body expressed in one visible Church.\nWe face together the titanic task of the winning of India for Christ\n-one-fifth of the human race. Yet, confronted by such an over-\nwhelming responsibility, we find ourselves rendered weak and\nrelatively impotent by our unhappy divisions-divisions for which\nwe were not responsible, and which have been, as it were imposed\nupon us from without; divisions which we did not create, and which\nwe do not desire to perpetuate.\nIn this Church we believe that three Scriptural elements must be\nconsidered: (1) The Congregational element, representing 'the whole\nChurch', with every member' having immediate access to God,\neach exercising his gift for the development of the whole body.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 318,
      "ocrText": "318\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n(2) We believe it should include the delegated, organized, or Pres-\nbyterian element, whereby the Church could unite in a General\nAssembly, Synods or Councils in organized unity. (3) We believe\nit should include the representative, executive, or Episcopal\nelement. Thus all three elements, no one of which is absolute\nor sufficient without the other, should be included in the Church of\nthe future, for we aim not at compromise for the sake of peace,\nbut at comprehension for the sake of truth.\nIn seeking union, the Anglican members present stand for the\none ultimate principle of the Historic Episcopate. They ask the\n'acceptance of the fact of episcopacy and not any theory as to its\ncharacter'. The South India United Church members believe it is\n'a necessary condition that the Episcopate should reassume a\nconstitutional form on the primitive, simple, apostolic model.\nWhile the Anglicans ask for the Historic Episcopate, the members\nof the South India United Church also make one condition of\nunion, namely the recognition of spiritual equality, of the universal\npriesthood of all believers, and of the rights of the laity to their\nfull expression in the Church. They ask that this principle of\nspiritual equality shall be maintained throughout at every step of\nthe negotiations.\nUpon this common ground of the Historic Episcopate and of\nthe spiritual equality of all members of the two churches, we propose\nunion on the following basis:\n(1) The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as.\ncontaining all things necessary to salvation.\n(2) The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.\n(3) The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself-\nBaptism and the Lord's Supper.\n(4) The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted.\nWe understand that the acceptance of the fact of the Episcopate\ndoes not involve the acceptance of any theory of the origin of\nepiscopacy nor any doctrinal interpretation of the fact. It is further\nagreed that the terms of union should involve no Christian commu-\nnity in the necessity of disowning its past, and we find it no part\nof our duty to call in question the validity of each other's orders.\nFully recognizing that we do not commit our respective bodies\nto any action, we individually and unofficially agree upon the\nfollowing plan of union. After full deliberation, let the South\nIndia United Church, if it desires union, choose from its own\nmembers certain men who shall be consecrated as bishops. In the",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 319,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n319\nconsecration of these first bishops it is suggested that three or more\nbishops of the Anglican Church shall lay their hands upon the:\ncandidates, together with an equal number of ministers as represen-\ntatives of the South India United Church.\nAs soon as the first bishops are consecrated, the two bodies.\nwould be in intercommunion, but the further limitation of existing\nministers with regard to celebrating the Communion in the churches\nof the other body might still remain. In accordance with the\nprinciple of spiritual equality we desire to find some means to permit\nministers of either body to celebrate the Communion in the churches.\nof the other body. As one possible solution, we would suggest.\nthat a special Service of Commission should be held. All ministers.\nof both bodies desiring authority to officiate at the Communion.\nthroughout the whole Church should present themselves to receive.\nat the hands of all the bishops of the United Churches a commission\nfor such celebration of the Communion. Ministers of either body\nnot desiring to officiate at the Communion in the other Church.\nwould be under no obligation to present themselves. Full liberty\nwould be claimed for individuals on the extreme wing of each body\nto maintain their present views and practices.\nWhile not committing our respective bodies, we, unofficially\nand individually, with the blessing of God, agree to work toward.\nunion on such a bais.\nThose present were:\nAnglicans\nThe Rt. Rev. The Bishop of Dornakal (V. S. Azariah), Rev. S..\nG. Maduram, Rev. J. B. Gnanaolivu, Rev. A. Devadas, Rev. A\nSavarimuthu, Rev. A. Ezekiel, Rev. D. Koilpillai (7).\nSouth India United Church\nRev. V. Santiago, Rev. M. S. Taylor, Rev. Thangam Gabriel,\nRev. P. Asirvadam, Rev. Y. J. Taylor, Rev. G. Vedanayagam,\nRev. N. Gnanasigamani, Rev. Y. D. Samuel, Rev. Meshach Peter,\nRev. P. Arivanandam, Rev. M. L. Jivaratnam, Rev. Benjamin\nThomas, Rev. L. I. Stephen, Rev. G. Gnanamuthu, Rev. P. Thanga-\nmuthu, Rev. E. W. Thayil, Rev. M. Simon, Rev. D. C. Hutton,\nRev. S. Soans, Rev. S. Ambatt, Rev. P. Zacharias, Rev. N. Eda-\npalan, Rev. Ch. Herman, Rev. S. Paramanandam, Rev. H. A.\nPopley, Mr. G. Sherwood Eddy (26).",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}