About the Diocese
The story of the oldest diocese in the Church of South India, from the founding of Madras in 1639.
CSI Diocese of Madras
The Church of South India is the result of the union of churches of varying traditions: Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian and Reformed. The Diocese is proud that the Church of South India came into being on 27 September 1947 and was formally inaugurated at St. George's Cathedral, Chennai, India.
The Diocese of Madras region spans from Nellore in the north to Chidambaram in the south, covering several districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states in India, partially or fully like Chennai, Thiruvallur, Ranipet, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Pondicherry, Cuddalore, Chittoor and Nellore.
The year 1639 marks the beginning of what is now the Diocese of Madras in the Church of South India, being the year of the founding of the city of Madras, in the temporary chapel in Fort St. George.
With the consecration of the oldest Anglican Church on the east of the Suez Canal in 1680 in the precincts of the Fort, dedicated to St. Mary the Blessed Virgin, under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, came the established presence of the non-Roman Catholic Church in Madras.
Simultaneously Madras was outgrowing the confines of Fort St. George and had begun to spread westward towards St. Thomas Mount, northward towards Pulicat and also all over what was known as the Great Choultry Plain.
In 1815 the Church of St. George's was built on the arterial road linking St. Thomas Mount and Fort St. George.
The Christians of the Anglican tradition in Madras during this time were under the care of the Bishop of Calcutta, whose diocesan boundaries embraced all the coastal region from Calcutta to Cape Comorin, corresponding to the whole of the present-day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
A legacy unfolding
Key milestones in the life of the Diocese of Madras.
- 1639
The Beginnings
The city of Madras is founded; worship begins in a temporary chapel within Fort St. George, the roots of the Diocese.
- 1680
St. Mary's Church Consecrated
The oldest Anglican church east of the Suez Canal is consecrated within the Fort, dedicated to St. Mary the Blessed Virgin.
- 1815
The Church of St. George
The Church of St. George is built on the arterial road linking St. Thomas Mount and Fort St. George.
- 1947
The Church of South India
On 27 September the CSI is inaugurated at St. George's Cathedral, Madras; Bishop Michael Hollis becomes the first Moderator.
- Today
Faith for the 21st Century
Under the leadership of the Bishop in Madras, the Diocese pursues a renewed spirituality of Self-Realisation, Self-Respect and Self-Reliance.
A united church bearing witness to Christ, celebrating Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist heritage since 1947, and serving every community with dignity, respect and transformative love.
The Church of South India affirms that the church is the servant of God to carry on the mission rooted in Jesus Christ and based on the Scriptures. Through her mission the church expresses solidarity with broken communities for a new hope to face the challenges of life. The cross continues to be the sign of hope for the witnessing church, which strives towards unity, peace and reconciliation as a vibrant channel of God.
Shaped by faithful shepherds
The character of the Diocese was slowly forged over the next 160 years by the rule and example of successive Bishops.