NCCI Quadrennial Assembly to begin in Bangalore

The Quadrennial Assembly of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) begins in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The April 25-28 Assembly will see the participation of over 500 delegates representing 30 Indian Protestant and Orthodox Churches in India.

Leaders from the World Council of Churches, Christian Conference of Asia and the South Asian National Councils are among the dignitaries.

The NCCI Assembly 2012 will focus on the theme 'The Gospel in a groaning world'. Speaking on the theme of the Assembly, Bishop Dr Taranath S Sagar, President of the NCCI and a senior Bishop of the Methodist Church in India said it is a compulsion of the present times to interpret the Gospel in the context of contradictions and confusions.

He further said the theme will help Churches to evolve strategies by which virtues and values of justice and peace, and faith and hope, will encourage people to cope with the world, confront its powers of suppression, and commit with all creation to join each other in celebrating life after the manner that Jesus taught.

The NCCI, founded in 1914 is now in its 98th year. The NCCI provides fellowship and common forum for dialogue and fosters common concerns among the Churches in India.

Organized once in four years, the Assembly is held to get mandate and programme direction for the next quadrennium.

Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tviet, the general secretary of World Council of Churches will be delivering the keynote address on April 26. There also is a public reception on Thursday organised by the Methodist Church of India. The Governor of Karnataka, Dr Hans Raj Bhardwaj will speak on the occasion.

As part of the programme, eight parallel workshops will be held on April 26 and 27 on the issues concerning Dalits, Tribals, Children, Women, Youth, Interfaith Dialogue and initiatives, Transparency - Accountability and Responsibility (TAR), State Policies on Minority Rights and Minority Institutions and Peoples' Struggles occurring in different parts of the country.

"The Quadrennial Assemblies play a very important role in calling the Churches together to thank God for the Gospel which we have received from and experienced in Jesus Christ," said the general secretary of NCCI, Rev Dr Roger Gaikwad.

Gaikwad added that the Assembly will help to "ecumenically appreciate the different expressions of this Gospel, and to discern the contemporary challenging implications and forms of the Gospel".