Thomas K Oommen

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The Most Reverend
Thomas K Oommen
Moderator of the Church of South India and Bishop of Madhya Kerala Diocese
BpThomasKOommen.jpg
Church Church of South India
Diocese Diocese of Madhya Kerala
In office 2011–present (Madhya Kerala)
2017–present (Moderator)
Predecessor Thomas Samuel
Orders
Ordination 1982
by M. C. Mani
Consecration 5 March 2011
by S. Vasantha Kumar (principal consecrator) and G. Devakadasham (co-consecrator)
Rank Bishop
Personal details
Born 29 November 1953
Thalavady, Travancore Cochin, India

Thomas Kanjirappally Oommen (born 29 November 1953) is an Indian Anglican bishop. He is the Bishop of the Madhya Kerala Diocese and the Moderator of Church of South India. [1]

A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight.

Church of South India

The Church of South India (CSI) is the second largest Christian church in India based on the number of members and is the largest Protestant denomination in the country. The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Anglican and Protestant denominations in India, including the Church of England, the Methodist Church and the Church of Scotland after Indian Independence. It came into being by a union of Anglican and Protestant churches in South India. It combined the South India United Church ; the then 14 Anglican Dioceses of South India and one in Sri Lanka; and the South Indian District of the Methodist church. With a membership of nearly four million, CSI is one of four united churches in the Anglican Communion, the others being the Church of North India, the Church of Pakistan and the Church of Bangladesh.

Contents

Early years

Thomas K Oommen was born on 29 November 1953, to an agrarian family at Thalavady in Alappuzha district. He did his college education at NSS Hindu College, Changanassery. He had taken an undergraduate degree in divinity from Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Thalavady village in Kerala, India

Thalavady is an Upper Kuttanadu village and Panchayat located in Kuttanadu Taluk, Alappuzha district, Kerala, India. The geography of Thalavady is dominated by the vast lush green paddy field,unique to Kuttanad villages bordered by a network of canals that runs between the fields and the Pampa River that flows through the village. Thalavady panchayat office is located in Trikkayil.

Alappuzha City in Kerala, India

Alappuzha, also known by its former name Alleppey, is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha District in the Indian State of Kerala. Alappuzha is a city and a municipality in Kerala with an urban population of 174,164 and third among the districts having highest literacy rate in Kerala. In 2016, Centre for Science and Environment rated Alappuzha as the top cleanest town in India followed by Mysore & Panaji Alappuzha is considered to be the oldest planned city in this region and the lighthouse built on the coast of the city is the first of its kind along the Laccadive Sea coast.

Changanassery Municipal Town in Kerala, India

Changanasserry is a municipal town in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India. Changanassery is connected to high-range and Kuttanad. It is considered as one of the major educational and religious centres of Kerala with a 100% literate municipality. There are five colleges, eight higher secondary schools, one vocational higher secondary school and ten high schools within the four kilometre radius of the town, which makes Changanassery the educational centre of Kerala.

Ecclesiastical career

Oommen was ordained deacon in 1982 and was made presbyter the next year. Oommen was elected as Bishop of Madhya Kerala Diocese of Church of South India on February 2011. He was ordained as the 12th Bishop of the CSI Madhya Kerala diocese at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kottayam on 5 March 2011 by CSI Moderator Bishop Rev S Vasanthakumar. [2] Oommen was elected as the Deputy Moderator of Church of South India at the Church of South India Synod held at Vijayawada on 11 January 2014 and as the Moderator and Primate of Church of South India at the Synod held at Kottayam on 15 January 2017. [3]

Kottayam City in Kerala, India

Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative capital of Kottayam district, located in south-west Kerala. It had a population of 136,812 in the city's administrative limits according to the 2011 census. Kottayam is approximately 146 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala's capital city. It was also known as ‘Cotym’ and ‘Cottayam’ during the British Raj.

Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA) Director board is the highest administrative body of CSI. Synod is the annual general meeting of CSI. Moderator of the Synod is a Bishop who is a presiding officer of the election conducted in the Annual General Meeting. The elected board is normally to hold office for three years.

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References

  1. "Thomas K. Oommen selected Bishop of CSI diocese". The Hindu. 10 February 2011.
  2. "Thomas K Oommen ordained CSI diocese bishop". The New Indian Express. 6 March 2011.
  3. "Reformer elected Moderator of the CSI".
Religious titles
Preceded by
Thomas Samuel
Bishop - in - Madhya Kerala Diocese
Church of South India

2011–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
G. Dyvasirvadam
2014-2017
Moderator
Church of South India Synod

2017-2020
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
G. Dyvasirvadam
2012-2014
Deputy Moderator
Church of South India Synod

2014-2017
Succeeded by
V. Prasada Rao
2017-2020