Sabbatical - Day 19 - Friday

We began the day with a visit to the Cathedral

and then visited the Diocesan archives to see what they may be able to dig out. Kingston,the archivist, was very helpful and had some material when we dropped back later in the day.

Next we went to meet Revd Paul Francis who is Bishop's Chaplain and Diocesan Vice-President Paul Dyanandan.

We spoke together about the mission and evangelism challenges facing the church in our two lands. In Britain, secularism, the distraction of 'wealth', the historic memory of religious conflict revived by current issues. We spoke too about Lesslie Newbigin and his legacy. The morning concluded with a treat as the Chaplain took us out to lunch!

On the way we bumped into Revd Rathinasamy who has been pastor at Kanchipuram where Lesslie Newbigin himself ministered from 1940. More here.

In the afternoon we visited the Lesley Newbigin College of Education, which trains teachers and very much seeks to put his teaching into practice. Samuel Cornelius the Secretary introduced us to the staff and talked to us about the school The Manager, Thangappan was confirmed by the him when around 16.

Nimmi is seeking to collect books and arctic led by the Bishop

(I hope to post more pictures here undue course)

Next we met Revd Dr Thomas, Director of the Board of Mission and Evangelism of Madras Diocese. He spoke to us about evangelism and mission. An evangelist goes into a new area, and establishes schooling or a medical facility fairly quickly. They seek to establish a church within the year, and then nurture the congregation for around 18 months. A pastor is then appointed.

The day ended with a very enjoyable conversation with the General Secretary of CSI, Revd Dr D Rathnakara Sadananda. We speak about CSI, and some of the challenges faced.