Finally JDCSI gets new Bishop

Vellupillai Pathmathayalan (centre) was consecrated on December 10, 2022 in the CSI Synod Centre, Chennai, India

Vellupillai Pathmathayalan is a Sri Lankan Tamil Bishop of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI). He was consecrated on December 10, 2022 in the CSI Synod Centre, Chennai, India. The Consecration service was led by the Moderator’s Commissary to JDCSI Bishop Chandrasekaran, Bishop of Trichy Tanjore Diocese. Bishop Pathmathayalan was consecrated by the Moderator. Dharmaraj Rasalam.  Adv. C. Fernandaz Rathinaraja, General Secretary of the CSI, Prof. Vimal Sukumar, Hon. Treasurer of the CSI and several other bishops of the CSI were present during the Consecration. 

Bishop Pathmathayalan is a Doctor of Divinityholder from the University of Jerusalem, India. He pursued two Postgraduate Degrees: one in Theology (M.Th.) and in the other a Master of Arts in Religion and Philosophy from Madurai Kamaraj University. He completed his Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) at the Senate of Serampore University, India. He is an alumnus of Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai and the American Mission Tamil Mixed School in Karainagar. The wife of Bishop Thayalan, Mary Vijayananthini Pathmathayalan, is a teacher and their only daughter is Berith Soumiya Pathmathayalan.

Bishop Pathmathayalan has 27 years of ministerial experience as a presbyter. He served several parishes in the war zone during the height of the civil war in Sri Lanka.  

In his address after the consecration Rt. Rev. Dr. V. Pathmathayalan said: “As a pastor who has been serving the JDCSI for the past 27 years, I affirm that the life and work of a bishop is to fulfill God’s divine purpose in this world and serve the people as revealed through the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the JDCSI was established as a church on September 27, 1947, it began its journey to become a parable of unity, a beacon of hope and an aroma of the Gospel. However, when we look back at the history of JDCSI, it travelled in the midst of dark clouds gathering on the horizon, both for the Church and the community. Thus, keeping these realities in mind, I would like to present my vision and mission to uplift the church, as servant leader of the Church. 

“In developing my mission statement, I took inspiration from Nehemiah 2: 18, “Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” As the Sri Lankan Tamil community, we have been facing many issues one after the other; namely the violence which flared up in the name of ethnicity, the civil war, the COVID Pandemic and now the economic crisis.  I and the people of the JDCSI identified with the traumatized people of Israel in Babylonian captivity and exile. However, God revealed a plan to the repatriated Jewish exiles in this book of Nehemiah, who was God’s primary instrument at this time.

“Like Nehemiah, we, as Christ’s community live in dark times. We too have to deal with different multitudes. But this is a time to reunite and rededicate to rebuild the walls of the JDCSI to establish the Reign of God in the land of Sri Lanka.”

In the Mission statement, he further said: “We as a Jesus community are called to carry forward the work of Christ Himself, to give witness to the truth, to rescue and not to sit in judgment, to serve and not to be served.”
 “As the vision and mission statements are fleshed out in ministry, I would like to set seven priorities for future direction: Nurturing the Prayer and worship life of believers, Utilizing the importance of modern-day communication, Rejuvenating JDCSI’s institutions, Encouraging  Priesthood and religious life through theological education, Eradicating caste, racial and gender-based discrimination and affirming the life and dignity of all, Maintaining transparent administration in the Diocese and renewing fraternity with others.

The other focus areas are to bring peace and unity among the Church members and clergy who are now divided because of groupism. “The present situation in the Jaffna Diocese is not at all satisfactory. The majority of our people are not happy with the situation of unrest in the Church. Many of the pastors and congregation members are feeling hurt and wounded by the inappropriate administration. Many do not attend the worship in churches because they are not feeling the presence of God in the church.Thus, special efforts need to be taken to bring back unity, peace and reconciliation in the Diocese” he said. 

He concluded by saying, “Finally, we as Jaffna Diocese are on the move, and our new mission and vision statements are meaningful signposts in our journey to living out God’s dream.”

(Rev. W. JebasinghSamuvel is a Presbyter of the JDCSI, Chairperson of the Board for Liturgy, Literature and Cultural Activities of the Diocese and a Visiting Lecturer attached to the Theological College of Lanka at Pilimatalawa)