Christians in South Indian Villages, 1959-2009 by John B. Carman Chilkuri Vasantha Rao

Author:John B. Carman,Chilkuri Vasantha Rao
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Co.
Published: 2014-11-12T18:58:06+00:00

Preaching of Independent Pastors

The independent pastors are “independent” not only because their churches are not part of the hierarchical network of the Church of South India, but also because they themselves are less, and sometimes not at all, dependent on a superior church authority in Hyderabad or Medak. While most of them were supported financially by a mission organization at the beginning of their ministry, that support was usually temporary, and some have broken their ties with that organization. These pastors depend on their congregations for financial support, expecting wealthier church members to tithe. They have only a loose fellowship with other independent pastors.

The pastors expect to preach almost every Sunday in their home church, with only occasional visiting preachers, and some of them lead a second Sunday service in another village. During the week, they have the pastoral care of their home congregation and often a program of evangelistic visits to other villages as well. They seem to have greater authority in their congregation than many CSI pastors. They expect their church members to live up to the moral standards they have set and to share their theological position. Many members do meet their expectations, but there are also many new Christians and Hindu inquirers who “float” among several churches.

The worship services visited showed that there are many differences among independent pastors, both in personal style and in church tradition, and, of course, there are also differences from week to week. One common feature of these services was a high degree of lay participation. Individuals led prayers, read scripture lessons, and offered personal testimony, and the whole congregation sang hymns and took part in the prayer responses. Both laypeople and pastors frequently interjected with “Hallelujah, Stotram!” There is thus a certain common Pentecostal style, regardless of denominational affiliation, but only in one service was there any “speaking in tongues.” As we have seen previously, most of the new members of these independent churches have experienced healing through prayer, and independent pastors themselves expect to engage in prayers for healing. They urge the members of their church to do the same, both during the Sunday service and in many family prayers during the week.

Unlike many of the CSI sermons from fifty years ago, summarized in Village Christians, there were no texts relating to Jesus’ death and resurrection, or to the Last Supper. This may be partially explained by the fact that none of these services included Holy Communion, whereas the CSI Sunday service conducted by an ordained presbyter is expected to include communion twice a month. The greater frequency of celebration may point to the greater importance of communion in the CSI congregations. Some lay Christians in the CSI congregations link the blood Jesus shed on the cross to the communion “grape wine.”

The emphasis on divine protection is clear from the texts from the Psalms. “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Ps. 9:10, NRSV). This text was interpreted to mean: “We cannot be safe without the grace of God .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.