College day held in UTC

The 105th College Day of the UTC was held yesterday in the Charles Ranson Hall at 4:30 P.M. The director of CISRS Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar was the chief guest.

Rev. Dr. John Samuel Raj, Principal

The principal Rev. Dr. John Samuel Raj gave the gyst of the college activities and what is being planned for the year ahead. He also outlined the work of different departments in the college and what all areas the college is concentrating on.

Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, Director, CISRS

The College Day was celebrated with fanfare and college prizes for the Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology courses were given away. The chief guest Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar concentrated his speech on theological education. He said that Theological Education is an engagement with God in preparing disciples for God's mission. God's mission is to transform the world. But when God is replaced by Church as the center of mission, mission becomes the work of pulling people into the church.

Group song

Theological formation according to the CISRS director should enable students to find where God is present in our times. Theological education is not to produce a new labor force for the church; but to prepare disciples for God's mission. Ministerial formation is to equip students with ministerial skills with kingdom values. It is to understand the world as God understands the world.

Mr. Anil Kumar

The chief guest and his wife Ms. Rani Rajkumar gave away the college prizes to the students. Rev. Jeyakumar, the Carey Society Vice President prayed, Mr. Calvin Sushith Ambler, the Carey society secretary and Mr Anil Kumar, the College day co-ordinator and Rev. Lalawmpuia Hauhnar, the Registrar of UTC were present and  Dr. George Zachariah, the College Day convenor gave the vote of thanks.

Photos- Mr. Benedict Immanuel, BD I.

 

UTC College Day celebration

The 106th UTC College Day celebration will be held in the Charles Ranson Hall tomorrow at 4:30 P.M. Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, the Director of CISRS will be the chief guest and will deliver the College Day address.

Mar Chrysostom honoured by UTC

H.G. Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the longest living alumnus of the UTC was honoured in a function held in the Charles Ranson hall at the United Theological College yesterday evening at 6:00 P.M. Bishop Chrysostom now 96 years old is celebrating the 60 th year of his bishopric. His alma mater UTC joined in the celebration by honouring him with a special programme called "An evening with Mar Chrysostom".

The meeting was chaired by Rev. Dr. K.C. Abraham, the former director of SATHRI (South Asia Theological Research Institute). The principal of UTC, Rev. Dr. John Samuel Raj, the director of CISRS (The Centre for the study of Religion and Society) Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, the faculty representative, Rev. Dr. Gudrun Lowner and the president of the UTCSA (The United Theological College Student's Association) Rev. Dinesh spoke on the occassion.

Bishop Chrysostom planting a sapling

The programme started with Bishop Chrysostom planting a sapling in the UTC lawn. He was then escorted to the stage along with all the dignitaries. Faculty, staff and students from UTC and various priests and people from various churches in Bangalore attended the function. As the opening bhajan was sung, six lighted candles were brought to the stage by Dr. Nalini Arles with people representing senior staff, maintainence, students, student spouses and children. The six candles represented sixty years of Mar Chrysostom as bishop and wished long life for him.

The principal of the UTC called Bishop Chrysostom a well known and popular bishop and one of the most esteemed alumnus' of the college. Dr. K.C. Abraham talked on how a theologian should be a good communicator and without that will not make any sense to the people. He continued by saying that Bishop Chrysostom had the gift to communicate in a simple way which made sense to a lot of people who listened to him. Rev. Vincent Rajkumar said that Bishop Chrysostom is a legend and someone who all looked up to. His reaching out to other communities was a highlight of his ministry which was indeed something everyone could emulate. Dr. Gudrun called Bishop Chrysostom as someone who was now also the topic of research at the BD and Masters level in theology. His simplicity is something which struck her when they met. Rev. Dinesh talked about the bishop from the perspective of a student and from the point of view of someone who has read about Mor Chrysostom but has never seen him. The meeting was interspersed with laughter by the crowd present as everyone referred to the bishop's sense of humour as well.

Bishop Chrysostom in his reply speech said that theology cannot be learnt but has to be lived and experienced. He said that other religions did not have a problem with Christianity but with our interpretation of Christianity and Christ. He further said that we should not be bothered about whether we live or die because in both cases we are with God. He talked about preaching and practising God and said that practising is more important than just empty words. The evening with the bishop also had prayer by Dr. Evangeline Anderson Rajkumar and Dr. Jesurathnam. Bishop Chrysostom was presented a memento on behalf of the college by Dr. Jones Muthunayagom.

UTC to honour The Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom

The United Theological College, Bangalore will be conducting a programme on Monday, July 1, 2013 at 6:00 P.M. in the Charles Ranson Hall of the UTC to honour His Grace The Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the senior bishop of the Marthoma Syrian Church on the occasion of his sixtieth anniversary as bishop of the church. Bishop Chrysostom is the longest serving bishop alive in India and the oldest alumnus of the college.

His Grace The Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom

The programme will feature the principal of the college Rev. Dr. John Samuel Raj, the moderator of the Church of South India and the president of the UTC council Most Rev. Dr. G. Devakadasham, the bishop of the Methodist Church Bishop Dr. Taranath S. Sagar, the director of the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society Rev. Dr. Vincent Rajkumar and others. People from various strata of society, churches and members of the college will be attending the programme to honour and felicitate Bishop Philipose Mar Chrysostom.