The Diocese of Vellore

The Diocese of Vellore was inaugurated on the 26th of January 1976. It is the youngest of the Church of South India dioceses and was created out of the western half of the Diocese of Madras, as part of the CSI policy of creating small dioceses for better pastoral provision and administrative purposes.

The territory covered by the diocese is the area first evangelised by the American Arcot Mission (Dutch Reformed Church in America). The Arcot Mission was active from 1853 until 1954, when it was dissolved and all its activities were brought under the control of the Church of South India. Many of the institutions in Vellore Diocese still bear the names of their American Mission founders such as Scudder, Beattie, Wyckoff, DeValois and Honnegar.

The motto chosen for the Diocese was "In the Cross of Christ I Glory" (based on Galatians chapter 6 verse 14). Its emblem includes a banyan tree - the tree under which the Scudder brothers prayed before they decided to begin their work in the area of Vellore. Vellore Diocese is predominantly rural and crosses the state boundaries of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh; this means it is a bilingual diocese (Tamil and Telagu). More than 90% of the Christians come from the oppressed Dalit community. Rt. Rev'd William became the fifth Bishop of Vellore in March 2003.

As part of its World Mission programme, Ely Diocese has built up a strong link with the Diocese of Vellore through the Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council.  As a result, many friendships have been built through visits to and from each country.

There are a large number of photographs of the Diocese of Vellore on this website which can be enlarged to full screen size. These include materials on worship, churches, social projects, medical projects and everyday Indian life.

The Work of the Diocese

Pastorates

69 Pastorates (benefices)
500 (approx) Congregations and Worshipping Centres - over 150,000 Christians
Languages: Tamil, Telagu, English
65 Presbyters in active service, 2 Honorary Presbyters, 5 Deacons

Educational Institutions

1 Postgraduate College
5 Higher Secondary Schools
3 High Schools
3 Matriculation Schools
4 English Medium Nursery Schools
100 Elementary Schools
1 Teacher Training Institute for Women
1 School of Nursing

Other Institutions

1 Theological Seminary and Lay Training Institute
3 Hospitals
2 Industrial Institutes
1 Working Women's Hostel
12 Hostels and Boarding Homes
1 Polio Home
1 Cerebral Palsy Home
1 New Life Centre
5 Day Care Centres
1 Child Development Centre
1 HIV/AIDS Counselling Centre
1 Healing Touch Project

Contents

• Schools Projects Updates
• Some Facts and Figures for the Diocese of Vellore
• A Vellore Christmas
• Photos of Indian Schools for the Vellore Harvest Project Booklets
• A South Indian Harvest
• Shanti's Game
• Wannakam!