A Visit to Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary in Madurai

This is Timothy James reporting… Greetings to our family and church friends in the U.S and Canada. Our second day in Madurai began with an early morning breakfast at the hotel before 8am chapel service at the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary. The chapel was conducted in the local Tamil language. Vijay helped us follow along the printed liturgy. The student worship leader and preacher appeared to have led a meaningful service with prayer, music and sermon. (The service would later be critiqued by a small team of faculty and peers as part of the educational experience.) We met with the Seminary principal, Rev. Dr. Gnanuvaram, and faculty to share the purpose of our trip and to hear the subjects that the faculty instructed. It was interesting to learn that the second year students (4 year program) must live in an urban slum setting for a part of the year for the purpose of putting theory and practice together and learning about identifying with the poor and marginalized and engaging in a ministry of transformation in that setting… a very powerful lesson for us Disciples in our quest for congregational transformation. Each student also lives in a village setting for 9 months during the third year of instruction and engages in action around land ownership, labor unions and other empowerment programs The campus also houses the Dalit Resource Center which contains a library and archives of Dalit history and theological resources. This is unique in India as well as controversial in the church when it first was started some years ago. For some (the non-Dalit church leaders who were in power!) thought it was unnecessary to highlight this issue in society even if the church is majority Dalit (60% of CSI comes from Dalit background while 80% of CNI is made up of Dalit and Tribals) in its composition. During our visit to the Dalit Resource Center library I came across a book entitled “Dalits and African Americans.” This is one book I must read and add to my library. During the afternoon we visited projects associated with the Seminary and receiving Disciples and UCC funding through Global Ministries: An Unemployed Youth Training Center where young men and women are taught auto mechanics, electronics, drafting, sewing and computer skills; a rescue center (Arulagam which means House of Grace) for women taken from the streets and situations of prostitution; and finally Inga Illam (Happy Home) a home for the elderly without families which often live on the streets. All these initiatives demonstrated to us the Seminaries commitment to work with the poorest of the poor and the marginalized in Indian society. Madurai is known for its ancient Hindu temple, one of the largest in the nation. We got to take a guided visit to that temple that evening. In spite of the overwhelming Hindu presence and influence, I am most touched by the Christian presence and witness, proclamation and action. This vibrant and living faith is like unto the prophet Ezekiel who said, “And there, where they were living, I sat among them… overwhelmed.” (Ezekiel 3:15)