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CHANDRAN MEMORIAL ACADEMIC PROGRAMME
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Dr. JOSHUA RUSSELL
CHANDRAN
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Dr. Joshua Russell Chandran served as the Principal of the United
Theological College, Bangalore, from 1954 to 1983,
for nearly a third of its history. He was
associated with the college from 1950 as a
professor and prior to that, as a B.D. student
from 1941-1945. In his retired life, after his
assignment in Fiji was over, and since he had
settled down in Bangalore, he was a visiting
professor for a few more years. In all, his
association with the college spans over half a
century. Dr. Chandran also had the distinction of
being the first Indian Principal of the
college..
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During the period of Dr.Chandran's
stewardship, many facets of the growth of the
college took place. Among these were the
introduction of the post graduate and doctoral
programme, the programmes for the laity, the
enlargement of the support from different
Churches, the close co-operation with the Roman
Catholic theological seminaries in Bangalore, the
working with the Christian Institute for the Study
of Religion and Society (CISRS), the Ecumenical
Christian Centre (ECC), the Student Christian
Movement (SCM), the YMCA and YWCA etc. The
encouragement he gave to the faculty and students
to be involved in the local churches helped in
taking the United Theological College out of the
bounds of the mission compound mentality into the
world.
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Dr.Chandran was the convener
of the Union Negotiations Committee of the Church
of South India (CSI) and represented the same at
various ecumenical meetings and committees. He was
the first Secretary of the Joint Council of the
Church of North India, the Church of South India
and the Mar Thoma Church, and the
founder-president of the Christian Union of
India.
His contribution to Theological
education apart from the UTC, spanned institutions
both in the west and the east. He was professor at
the Union Theological Seminary during 1964-65, the
Louiseville Theological Seminary, Kentucky, the
Episcopal Theological Seminary, Cambridge,
Massachusettes in 1972 and the Pacific Theological
College, Suva, Fiji. He also served as the
President of the Senate of Serampore College
during 1968-71 and the Ecumenical Association of
the Third World Theologians (EATWOT).
Dr.Chandran served the World Council of
Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission in
various capacities for over 25 years and was able
to bring the Indian experience to other Churches
engaged in union negotiations as well as
contributing fresh and lively theological
perspectives to the work of the Commission on
Faith and Order as a whole.
His theological
work focused, on the one hand, on how the Gospel
is challengingly relevant in the social, economic
and political spheres of life, and on the other,
how the Christian faith speaks in the mulit-faith
context of our world today. As president of the
Asian Chapter of the Christian Peace Conference,
based in Prague, and through his active engagement
in this global movement, Dr.Chandran reflected
admirably a deep commitment to his vision of the
"wholeness of God's creation". |
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