The Prayer book used for liturgy in the Church of South India (CSI) Tamil services is based on the English Book of Common Prayer. As CSI is an United and Uniting Church, it has in its liturgy both the Anglican and Puritan traditions.
The Tamil liturgy is not as elaborate as the English version used in other Anglican provinces. It is a condensed version of the English liturgy and is divided into two parts: one dealing with the general services (Morning and Evening prayers), the other dealing with the Holy Communion (Eucharistic) services.
The regular Morning and Evening prayer consists of three orders of worship. One is same as the Communion service, except that calling for Communion is omitted. Second is the regular worship type practised in most churches. It starts with Praise (including the different ones for various Church functions), Praise of Trinity, Confession of sins and singing of Psalms 95 or 100. After this the Old Testament scripture lesson is read, continued by any of the three songs of Zachariah, Three men, and Virgin Mary. After this the New Testament / Gospel lesson is read, followed by either the song of the Church or the song of Simeon. The Apostles Creed is read by everyone, and there are various specific prayers such as for peace and God's grace. This is a more Anglican version, in which the worship practises of traditional Protestant churches in the Tamil land is preserved.
The third method of worship starts with a different Praise (does not include separate ones for Church functions), and goes on to the Confession of sins. After this the Bible lessons are read, and the Apostles Creed is read by everyone. There are a few other prayers in this order. This is a more Puritan version, where liturgy is given little importance.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Tamil Christianity
The church having largest number of members, highly organized and extensively popular among the Tamil people is the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has a well developed system of Christian rites based in Tamil. It has a continuous history of around 500 years in the Tamil land. It is organized into three archdioceses in Tamilnadu : Madras-Mylapore (North Tamilnadu), Pondicherry (Central Tamilnadu), Madurai (South Tamilnadu).
The most popular Protestant church of the Tamil people is the Church of South India (CSI) (which also includes the Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada churches). The CSI is based in Madras, and it has 8 dioceses in Tamilnadu: Madras, Vellore (2 in North region), Tiruchi-Tanjavur, Coimbatore (2 in central region), Madurai-Ramnad, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin-Nazareth, Kanyakumari (4 in south region). The church has a continuous history of around 200 years in the Tamil land, and has a well developed Tamil liturgy for worship.
The CSI was formed by the merger of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and other English Protestant churches in the South India in 1947. It is a province within the Anglican Communion, as well as a member of the World Council of Reformed Churches and the World Methodist Alliance. Apart from the 8 dioceses in Tamilnadu, the Jaffna diocese in Sri Lanka follows Tamil liturgy. The Bangalore diocese also has a few Tamil churches.
Around 70% of the Tamil Christians are based on the Catholic Church or the CSI. The remaining peoples follow a wide range of other Protestant denominations (including Lutheran, Pentecostal) and independent churches. Overall, around 7% of the Tamil ethnic group is Christian (whereas 5% is Muslim and the remaining 88% is Hindu).
The most popular Protestant church of the Tamil people is the Church of South India (CSI) (which also includes the Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada churches). The CSI is based in Madras, and it has 8 dioceses in Tamilnadu: Madras, Vellore (2 in North region), Tiruchi-Tanjavur, Coimbatore (2 in central region), Madurai-Ramnad, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin-Nazareth, Kanyakumari (4 in south region). The church has a continuous history of around 200 years in the Tamil land, and has a well developed Tamil liturgy for worship.
The CSI was formed by the merger of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and other English Protestant churches in the South India in 1947. It is a province within the Anglican Communion, as well as a member of the World Council of Reformed Churches and the World Methodist Alliance. Apart from the 8 dioceses in Tamilnadu, the Jaffna diocese in Sri Lanka follows Tamil liturgy. The Bangalore diocese also has a few Tamil churches.
Around 70% of the Tamil Christians are based on the Catholic Church or the CSI. The remaining peoples follow a wide range of other Protestant denominations (including Lutheran, Pentecostal) and independent churches. Overall, around 7% of the Tamil ethnic group is Christian (whereas 5% is Muslim and the remaining 88% is Hindu).
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