Diocese of Coimbatore of the Church of South India

Diocese of Coimbatore
Location
Country	India
Ecclesiastical province	Church of South India
Statistics
Congregations	105
Members	150000
Information
Cathedral	Immanuel Cathedral, Coimbatore
Secular priests	112
Current leadership
Bishop	Timothy Ravinder Dev Pradeep

The Coimbatore Diocese is one of the 25 dioceses of the Church of South India (CSI), a United Protestant denomination.

About the Diocese

CSI Coimbatore Diocese is the largest in terms of area,^{[ clarification needed ]} covering the Nilgiri, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri.

The diocese has 105 pastorates, 112 pastors and a membership of 150,000.

Bishops of Coimbatore CSI Diocese

• Aiyadurai Jesudasen Appasamy (1950-1959)
• S J Samuel
• Jeevaanandam Thangamuthu
• William Moses
• Manickam Dorai (2000-2010)
• Timothy Ravinder Dev Pradeep (2013– ...)

Cathedral and other major CSI churches in the diocese

Coimbatore

• CSI Immanuel Church, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore

CSI Immanuel church is the cathedral church of the diocese. The church is one among the oldest churches in Coimbatore built in the year of 1830. The church is located in Avinashi road at Gopalapuram. The church underwent a major renovation work in the year 2006.

• CSI Christ Church, Coimbatore

The foundation was laid on 15 October 1898 by Frederick Gell, Bishop of Madras and the church was dedicated on 11 June 1910. The church was extended in the year 1970.

• Christ Church, Coimbatore

Nilgiris

• St. Stephen's Church, Ooty

St. Stephen's Church is located on the road to Mysore in Ooty and it is one of the oldest churches in the Nilgiris district.

• Wesley Church, Coonoor
• C.S.I WEesley Church Hulical Pastorate, Glendale Estate, Coonoor

Salem

• Christ Church, Salem

Main article: Christ Church, Salem

Christ Church is located on Fort Road, near the District Collectorate, in the heart of Salem City, Tamil Nadu, India. The church has been serving the community for the last 140 years, since its consecration in 1875. The church services at Christ Church are conducted both in English and Tamil. The church was designed by architect Robert Fellowes Chisholm, who was a pioneer of the Indo-Saracenic architecture, and also designed the Senate House buildings of the University of Madras and the Madras Presidency College ^[1]

Educational institutions in the Diocese

Arts & Science Colleges

• Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science
• Bishop Appasamy College of Education

Engineering College

• CSI College of Engineering, Ketti

Polytechnic College

• CSI Polytechnic College, Salem

Technical College

• CSI Technical and Vocational Training College for Women, Avinashi Road, Coimbatore

Teacher Training Institute

• CSI Teacher Training Institute for Women, Hasthampatti, Salem

Primary and secondary education

• Nursery schools -13
• Primary and middle schools -69
• High schools -5
• Higher secondary Schools -10
• Matriculation schools-3

Matriculation higher secondary schools

• CSI Boys Higher Secondary School (Formerly Known as London Mission High School & Union High School), Coimbatore
• CSI Girls Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore
• CSI CMM Higher Secondary School, Ooty

Kindergarten teacher training

• Kindergarten Teacher Training Institute, Gopalapuram, Coimbatore

Medical institutions in the Diocese

Hospitals

• CSI Kosha Hospital, Erode.
• Herbert Brough Memorial Hospital, Chennimalai.

School of Nursing

• CSI School of Nursing, Erode.

See also

Anglican

• Church of South India
• Trichy-Tanjore Diocese
• Tirunelveli Diocese
• Madurai-Ramnad Diocese
• Diocese of Madras

General and other denominations

• Christianity in Tamil Nadu
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Coimbatore
• Christianity in India

Controversies

• Bishop arrested ^[2]
• Sale of land ^[3]
• Money laundering ^{[4] [5]}
• Protest against bifurcation, 2023 ^[6]
• Elections on hold ^[7]

Notable church buildings

• CSI All Souls' Church, Coimbatore ^[8]
• ^[9]
• St. George's Cathedral ^[10]
• A.W. Brough ^[11]

References

1. Saravanan, S P (6 December 2014). "Christ Church celebrates 140 years of service in Salem". The Hindu. No. Salem. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
2. "CSI Coimbatore Diocese bishop, three others booked". The Hindu. 21 April 2021. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
3. "Cheating case registered". The Hindu. 23 March 2015. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
4. "Enforcement Directorate attaches ₹59.52-crore assets of Church of South India Trust Association". The Hindu. 9 September 2020. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
5. Legal Correspondent (14 December 2021). "High Court dismisses writ appeal preferred by CSI Trust Association". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
6. "Protest against bifurcation of CSI Coimbatore diocese, 261 detained". The Hindu. 11 January 2023. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
7. "Court stays election to CSI Coimbatore Diocese". The Hindu. 11 November 2016. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
8. "The western sentinel of Race Course". The Hindu : Metro Plus Coimbatore. 24 December 2009. ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014.
9. Vellaram, Sandeep (31 December 2024). "British-built church that shared place of worship for three Christian denominations now a hit with tourists". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
10. Ramakrishnan, Deepa H. (21 November 2025). "A living heritage gets a facelift". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 November 2025.
11. Madhavan, Karthik (19 November 2009). "Erode museum to host exhibition on A.W. Brough". ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 23 November 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2025.

External links

• CSI Christ Church Coimbatore
• CSI Synod Archived 29 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• CSI Teacher Training Institute for Women