Introduction ; Dr. David Chellappa was blessed and endowed with extraordinary intellectual stamina , fanatical honesty , impeccable integrity, natural literary flair, sharp grasping power and great faith in God . Whatever happened to Dr. David Chellappa to do, he did with all his might and full mind , and these policies and qualities of his life took Dr David Chellappa to great and unique heights in life. He was the first in many fronts .Dr. David Chellappa was the first Indian Principal of St Paul's High School , Vepery, Madras ; he was first Indian Pastor of the historical St Thomas English Church at San Thome, Madras ; and he was the first Indian Bishop of the C.S.I Diocese of Madras.. The C.S.I Madras Diocese is thankfully celebrating the Tri-Centenary Celebration of St Paul's High School [ Now it is called ,St Paul's Higher Secondary School, Vepery , Madas ], in this inspiring and emotional back-ground I am really glad and privileged to write some Articles on Rt. Rev Dr David Chellappa .
Rev.David Chellappa was elected and consecrated as the First Indian Bishop of the C.S.I Diocese of Madras in 1955: .Rt. Rev.Dr.J.W.Gladstone writes ,"The fulfilment of the negotiations started at Tranquebar in 1919 was on 27th September 1947 when the Church of South India was inaugurated at Madras.[United to Unite , p. 26] Prof.S. Manickam writes ," The Church Union Movement in South India which eventually resulted in the birth of the Church of South India on 27th September , 1947 is one of the greatest miracles ever performed by God in the first half of the present century[ Ibid, p.7].The Church of South India was duly inaugurated by the presiding Bishop Rt. Rev. C.K.Jacob on Saturday , 27th September 1947. at the magnificent St. George Cathedral Madras .Rt. Rev Arthur Michael Hollis was functioning as the the Bishop of Madras when CSI was formed and inaugurated ; so he was commissioned to continue in the same post as Bishop of the newly formed CSI Madras Diocese .Bishop Hollis was one of the pioneers of the Church Union in South India and he was elected as the first Moderator of the newly formed Church of South India [CSI ]As there arose a vacancy for the post of Bishop in Madras CSI Diocese , Rev Dadid Chellappa contested in the Bishop Election and won. So Rev. David Chellappa was consecrated as the first Indian Bishop of the CSI Diocese of Madras on 25th January, 1955 on St. Paul's Day... Bishop David Chellappa was a towering personality, efficient administrator, convincing speaker both in English and Tamil in short he commanded respect from all the sections both from Christians and Non Christians. Rt Rev Dr. David Chellappa arranged a Crusade in Madras during the historical visit of Rev. Dr. Billy Graham , in 1956
Rev.David Chellappa was elected and consecrated as the First Indian Bishop of the C.S.I Diocese of Madras in 1955: .Rt. Rev.Dr.J.W.Gladstone writes ,"The fulfilment of the negotiations started at Tranquebar in 1919 was on 27th September 1947 when the Church of South India was inaugurated at Madras.[United to Unite , p. 26] Prof.S. Manickam writes ," The Church Union Movement in South India which eventually resulted in the birth of the Church of South India on 27th September , 1947 is one of the greatest miracles ever performed by God in the first half of the present century[ Ibid, p.7].The Church of South India was duly inaugurated by the presiding Bishop Rt. Rev. C.K.Jacob on Saturday , 27th September 1947. at the magnificent St. George Cathedral Madras .Rt. Rev Arthur Michael Hollis was functioning as the the Bishop of Madras when CSI was formed and inaugurated ; so he was commissioned to continue in the same post as Bishop of the newly formed CSI Madras Diocese .Bishop Hollis was one of the pioneers of the Church Union in South India and he was elected as the first Moderator of the newly formed Church of South India [CSI ]As there arose a vacancy for the post of Bishop in Madras CSI Diocese , Rev Dadid Chellappa contested in the Bishop Election and won. So Rev. David Chellappa was consecrated as the first Indian Bishop of the CSI Diocese of Madras on 25th January, 1955 on St. Paul's Day... Bishop David Chellappa was a towering personality, efficient administrator, convincing speaker both in English and Tamil in short he commanded respect from all the sections both from Christians and Non Christians. Rt Rev Dr. David Chellappa arranged a Crusade in Madras during the historical visit of Rev. Dr. Billy Graham , in 1956
Rt. Rev. Dr. David Chellappa [R] is with Rev Dr.Billy Graham, 1956 Crusade Madras
[Photo Courtesy Dr.Paul Chellappa, US ].
Rt .Rev Dr David Chellappa served as Interim Bishop of Trichy -Tanjore CSI Diocese[1962-1964:
In addition, on the request from the then C.S.I Moderator Rev. A. H. Legg, Rt.Rev. Dr. David Chellappa acted as Interim Bishop of Tricy Tanjore CSI Diocese, in an able and enviable manner from 1962 till 7th February,1964. In this context it will be useful and appropriate to recollect a fact that in 1933 Mr. David Chellpa was ordained by Rt Rev E.H. Waller and was sent to Trichy district to serve two village congregations at Mattupatti and Irangalur, but after nearly three decades Rt. Rev Dr. David Chellappa had the privilege to act as the Interim Bishop of Trichy- Tanjore CSI Diocese for two years. Bishop Chellappa was over burned with his official responsibility and work load and was physically affected so unfortunately Rt . Rev. Dr. David Chellappa died on the 25 th Agust , 1964 in Madras.
[This is a memorial tablet for the first Indian Bishop of Madras Diocese[CSI], the Rt.Rev. David Chellappa erected inside the St. George's Cathedral, Madras by the congregation of St. George's cathedral, Madras ][ Photo Courtesy Dr. Paul Chellappa, US]
Rt. Rev. Dr. David Chellappa , was a great thinker, writer and reader of books: Rt Rev. Dr. David
Chellappa was having a natural flair for literature and religion.. He loved books,so he used to buy books on Religion and Literature, generally from CLS, Madras, every month regularly. He was having hundreds of valuable books on many subjects specially on Religion, Philosophy and English literature .He was having a splendid personal Home Library in his house ; but now his Son Dr Paul Chellappa laments that nobody knows from the family about the fate of those valuable books after the demise of his father Dr. David Chellppa. Bishop. Dr. David Chellappa was a prolific writer, voracious reader and literary critic, he had written many Book Reviews on Religious books in the Madras Mail and also had written many inspiring, sharp and thought provoking book reviews in English in the Hindu, on many secular English books. His English accent was very impressive and impeccable and his Queen's English accent was well appreciated by His English and Indian friends.
Rt Rev Bishop. David Chellappa was conferred Doctor of Divinity Degree[Honoris Causa] by an American University in 1957 : Rt Rev . David Chellappa was invited by Reformed Churches of U.S.A in 1957 as a Guest of Honor. During Rt Rev David Chellappa's stay in US, the famous Hope College , Holland , Michigan State , USA, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity[ D.D] degree on Rt Rev. Bishop David Chellappa.
Conclusion : .It is not easy to write an evaluation about Rt Rev Dr, David Chellppa, M.A, D.D, in some lines . I can say he was a rare and remarkable personality . He was a man of integrity, a man of God, a lover of books and a student of English literature , he was an eloquent speaker and preacher, an intellectual , rubbed his shoulders with the tall personalities of his time including former chief Minister of Madras state Mr K kamaraj . Rev Bishop Dr. David Chellappa was a patriot, a great supporter of ecumenical movement among christian denominations, he was compassionate and efficient teacher, he loved his wife and children , he was a man of principles, he loved Tamil language also, he was very handsome with beautiful mind and so on .Unfortunately he died at an young age of 59 in 1964. I can say really Rt. Rev David Chellappa was born great and achieved greatness. and he was a remarkable person In his death the Indian Christianity specially the Church of South India had lost one of the tallest leaders of the Church and the state of Tamil Nadu had lost one of its intellectuals and the World a good human-being..
By . P. Babu Manoharan ,M.A, [ Rights reserved .This Article will be enlarged, altered , and corrected if needed later.]
.
No comments:
Post a Comment