The Chuch of South India Industrial School

The Church of South India Industrial School is operated by the North Kerala Diocese as a charitable institution. They provide free technical training, food and housing to financially underprivileged young men. The school enables them to earn employment or start their business to save their families from the grip of poverty. Currently the students are trained in three trades: carpentry, welding and air conditioning/refrigeration. This allows them to enter their field at the apprentice level and immediately earn a livelihood.

More Information about
the Church of South India
The Church of South India (CSI) is the result of the union of churches of various traditions–Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed. The Church of South India was inaugurated in September 1947 following prayerful consideration of the various groups. They are organized into dioceses with a bishop supervising each one. (Our parallel is a presbytery with a General Presbyter.) They also have Synods, groupings of dioceses, just as we group our presbyteries into Synods.

The Church of South India recognizes that Congregational, Episcopal and Presbyterian elements are all important to the life of the church. Scriptures are the standard for both faith and practice, and the creeds are valued as historical cornerstones. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are both sacraments "recognized as binding obligations."

The Church of South India has 3.8 million members and runs schools, colleges, and hospitals. In the 1960s, the Church became conscious of its social responsibility and started organizing rural developments projects. There are 50 such projects throughout India, 50 training centers for young people, and 500 residential hostels for a total of 35,000 children.

Kerala
Grace Presbytery’s partnership is with the Diocese of North Kerala. Kerala is the name of one of the states in India. In 1991, the population was 29,098,518. The state covers 15,003 square miles of southwest India and brushes up against the Arabian Sea. Thiruvananthapuram is the capital.

The climate of Kerala is wet and temperate. On the coastal lowlands, farmers harvest rice, coconuts, tapioca, and spices. The hill country produces coffee, rubber, and tea.

Our partners speak Malayalam and most speak English as well. While 20-30% of the people are Christian in the state of Kerala, they have neighbors who are Hindu and Muslim.

The name "Kerala" comes from the ancient kingdom Tamil of Kerala (Chera), which traded with the Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians. Their government elects a chief minister who is responsible to a unicameral legislature and the president of India appoints a governor.