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He proved the most successful leader of grassroots conversions to
Christianity in South Asia during the early twentieth century. Known by the affectionate honorific Thandrigaru ("father"), Azariah inspired mass movements that brought roughly 200,000 outcast Malas and Madigas, tribals and low-caste non-Brahmins into his fledgling church. He also established a school to educate girls, later renamed for him. By 1924, the Diocese of Dornakal had 8 English-born priests and 53 Indian clergy. By 1935, his diocese had 250 ordained Indian clergy and over 2,000 village teachers, plus medical clinics, cooperative societies, and printing presses.
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466:, present on the occasion, called it one of the most impressive ceremonies he ever witnessed. Eleven Bishops of the Province of India took part in the act of Consecration, which made Rt.Rev. Azariah the first Indian to be consecrated a Bishop of the Anglican Communion. Indians from all parts, and especially from the new Bishop's own country of Tinnevelly, attended in large numbers to honour their distinguished brother. Canon
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370:, who also became a lifelong friend. Azariah studied mathematics, like one of his elder brothers who also became a missionary, but never received a degree - he completed his coursework in 1893 but fell ill shortly before his final mathematics exam and later chose not to retake it. Later, Azariah would criticize those who flaunted their degrees without becoming B.A. (meaning Born Again).
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346:). Thomas had converted to Christianity, in 1839 while at a Church Missionary Society school. He named his son Samuel after the Old Testament prophet, because of the 13-year gap after the couple had a daughter. Thomas died in 1889, but his devout mother raised Samuel, sending him at age 10 to be educated at Christian missionary boarding schools including the one at
595:(1940), was subsequently translated into more than 15 languages, although not yet freely available online. Azariah also wrote articles on Christian mission, such as 'The Necessity of Christian Unity for the missionary enterprise of the world' and 'The Expansion of Christianity', as well as published a number of works in his native Tamil as well as Telugu.
397:(based in Tinnevelly), whereby fellow Tamil Christians could evangelize among their brethren. Azariah also served as secretary of the YMCA in south India from 1895 to 1909, and remained convinced of the importance of indigenization in the Christian mission. On Christmas Day, 1905, in Carey's library at
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Bishop
Azariah lived for a time in a tent near his new cathedral, but spent most of his episcopate traveling across his vast diocese by bullock cart or bicycle, usually accompanied by his wife and coworker, Anbu. His village sermons often attacked "the four demons - Dirt, Disease, Debt, and Drink."
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awarded him an honorary degree. As both an effective evangelist to Indian villagers and a respected bishop in the
British church hierarchy, Azariah provided a unique bridge between ordinary Indians and British elites during the late phase of their imperial associations. He was especially popular in
405:, the interdenominational National Missionary Society was founded, with Azariah as its secretary and a mission to evangelize not only in India, but also in Afghanistan, Tibet, and Nepal. Other prominent individuals among the 17 founders included K.T.Paul, J.W.N. Hensman, Savarirayan Jesudasan and
527:
Mission (formerly under the Church
Missionary Society), and the newly formed Dornakal Diocesan Mission (to the Mulag Taluq). Soon, the new bishop started raising funds and designing a cathedral to reflect his dioceses' multiple ethnic and cultural traditions(merging Muslim, Hindu and Christian
420:
In 1898, Azariah married Ambu
Mariammal Samuel, one of the first Christian women in South India to take a college course, whom he described as "the most spiritually minded girl in Tirunelveli. Their marriage broke or reinterpreted several native religious traditions, since the bride and groom
555:
Bishop
Azariah also believed the Church's mission should express its unity, and thus continued to take a leading role in negotiating to reunite Protestant Christian missions in India. For many years Azariah served as chairman of the National Christian Council of India, Burma and Ceylon.
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The diocese's only college, Bishop
Azariah College in Dornakal, is also named for him and educated both Christians and non-Christians. The girls' school which he established was also renamed in his honor. The secondary school in his native Vellalanvilai is also now named in his honor.
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during battles over communal representation and religious freedom. While also an Indian nationalist, Azariah believed
Hinduism inherently repressive and grounded in a destructive caste system. On the other hand, Gandhi saw conversions to Christianity as a threat.
421:
corresponded with each other before marriage, disregarded dowry customs, set a mere 40 rupee budget for the ceremony, and married on a
Wednesday.The couple eventually had four sons (George, Henry, Edwin, and Ambrose) and two daughters (Grace and Mercy).
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to evangelize among the Tamils, which caused him to reevaluate the relatively prosperous
Tinnevelly church's position concerning evangelization. The following year Azariah revitalized a long-dormant proposal and thus helped form the
417:, and remained interested in evangelizing strategies for Japan and China, as well as India. He focused on a pan-Asian global vision and converting Asians, rather than nationalists' call to free Asia from Western domination.
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gave him the name Azariah to distinguish him from other boys.There, his classmates included K.T. Paul (1876-1931), with whom Azariah would later work. He also came into contact with American missionary
503:(SPG) evangelized in the Telugu country would become part of this diocese, transforming it into one of the largest (in terms of numbers of Christians) in India. Thus were added the watersheds of the
568:, where he was known by the epithet "Dalit Nayak" (Leader of outcastes). He was an esteemed builder of Protestant unification within India, and a pioneer of the ecumenical movement globally.
338:, in the far south of India to Christian (Anglican) priest Thomas Vedanayagam, and his second wife Ellen. His family was previously traditionally orthodox Hindu and dedicated to the god
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Bishop Azariah died on 1 January 1945 in Dornakal. At the time of his death, Dornakal was a diocese with 200,000 members. Two years later, one of his dreams was realized, and a united
354:(called Tinnevelly during British rule), Azariah helped found a society to overcome caste differences, not a popular position with his caste but which foreshadowed his career.
447:. That mission has been started by the Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly, and Rev. Azariah continued to speak widely on the need for indigenisation, including at the
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was formed, for the first time unifying an episcopal church (Anglican) with non-episcopal churches (Congregational, Presbyterian, Methodist) since the Reformation.
310:(17 August 1874 - 1 January 1945) (also transliterated as Vedanayakam Samuel Azariah) was an Indian evangelist and the first Indian bishop in the churches of the
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districts evangelized by the SPG, as well as the areas in the Hyderabad State served by missionaries of the Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly, the
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Rt. Rev. Azariah became the first, and remained the only native Indian bishop of an Anglican diocese from 1912 until his death in 1945. In 1920,
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377:(YMCA) at age 19. By 1895, he led YMCA spiritual meetings and directed the opening of a new branch in Madras. In 1896 he met the evangelist
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579:(1930). The previous year, he published two articles in the "International Review of Missions". In 1936 V.S. Azariah published
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In 1909, at age 35, Azariah was ordained as an Anglican priest, left his positions with the YMCA, learned
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run by his half-brother Ambrose, as she became the matron of the related girls' school. At the school in
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On 29 December 1912, after three years as a priest, Azariah was consecrated the first Bishop of the new
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The Church and Evangelism: Being Studies on the Evangelization of India Based on Early Church History
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In the Shadow of the Mahatma: Bishop V. S. Azariah and the Travails of Christianity in British India
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architectural elements), which was finally completed and consecrated in 1936 as Epiphany Cathedral.
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409:.Furthermore, in 1907, Azariah attended the World Student Christian Federation Conference in
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http://www.bmcbangalore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bishop-Vedanayagam-Samuel-Azariah.pdf
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http://www.bmcbangalore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bishop-Vedanayagam-Samuel-Azariah.pdf
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http://www.bmcbangalore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bishop-Vedanayagam-Samuel-Azariah.pdf
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A History of the Church of England in India since the early days of the East India Company
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Chatterton, Eyre (1924). "The Diocese of Dornakal, 1912. A Diocese of Mass Movements".
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318:. A pioneer of Christian ecumenism in India, Azariah had a complex relationship with
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An Ecumenical Venture: The History of Nandyal Diocese in Andhra Pradesh, 1947-1990
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South India Union: an Examination of the Scheme from the Anglican Point of View
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Vedanayakam Samuel Azariah was born in 1874 in the village of Vellalanvilai,
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Ephiphany Cathedral, Dornakal, visioned and built by Rt. Rev. V. S. Azariah
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928:"Azariah, Vedanayagam Samuel (1874-1945) | History of Missiology"
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470:'s sermon on that occasion was soon published and remains available.
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Sundaram, K. J. G. (February 1931). "A Deccan Village in India".
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Instead, Azariah became an evangelist with the nondenominational
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who noted his enthusiasm favorably. In 1902 Azariah traveled to
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Samuel Vedanayakam was then sent to the provincial capital,
956:. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
618:, south-east London, where he is accompanied by Bishops
361:(then known as Madras), where the British principal of
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December 29, 1912, St. Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta (
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869:Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1920 (51st edn)
547:The bishop became both an ally and leading foe of
900:"Strengthened with Might, by Edward Sell (1912)"
614:There is a memorial window to Bishop Azariah in
314:, serving as the first bishop of the diocese of
888:. London: SPCK – via Project Canterbury.
667:Apostle of India, Azariah, bishop of Dornakal
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434:Azariah wearing a clergy cassock and turban.
751:. New York: Facts on File, Inc., pp. 59-60.
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967:Azariah, V. S.; Whitehead, Henry (1930).
501:Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
871:. London: The Field Press. p. 424.
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985:"Bishop V. Samuel Azariah, 2 January"
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243:Epiphany Cathedral Compound, Dornakal
16:Indian evangelist and Anglican bishop
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575:, Bishop Vedanayagam Azariah wrote
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375:Young Men's Christian Association
134:Young Men's Christian Association
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581:India and the Christian Movement
491:, it soon added the District of
449:1910 World Missionary Conference
392:Indian Missionary Society (IMS)
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460:St. Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta
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1066:20th-century Christian saints
970:Christ in the Indian Villages
748:Encyclopedia of Protestantism
734:, ATC, Bangalore, 1993, p.12.
577:Christ in the Indian Villages
443:and began as a missionary in
1081:Church of South India clergy
1076:Anglican bishops of Dornakal
29:Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah,
543:, with Azariah on the right
413:and the YMCA conference in
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745:Melton, J. Gordon (2005).
681:Bishop Azariah of Dornakal
308:Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah
190:Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah
783:10.1080/00221343108987303
730:Constance M. Millington,
616:St Mark's Church, Bromley
591:. His most popular book,
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497:Church Missionary Society
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539:Stained glass window in
363:Madras Christian College
272:Madras Christian College
1032:Bibliographic directory
807:Billington at p. 16n.24
952:Harper, S. B. (2000).
573:Bishop Henry Whitehead
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1003:The Church of England
620:Samuel Ajayi Crowther
605:Church of South India
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511:rivers; parts of the
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326:Early and family life
1027:Lectionary Resources
973:. London: SCM Press.
763:Journal of Geography
561:Cambridge University
332:Thoothukudi District
865:Malden Richard (ed)
798:, pp. 291–351.
775:1931JGeog..30...49S
716:Christianity portal
674:Azariah of Dornakal
485:Diocese of Dornakal
456:Diocese of Dornakal
395:https://imst.co.in/
51:Bishop in Dornakal
1036:Project Canterbury
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61:The Right Reverend
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587:as well as
549:M.K. Gandhi
468:Edward Sell
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352:Tirunelveli
212:British Raj
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267:Alma mater
196:1874-08-17
160:1912-12-29
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258:Education
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867:(1920).
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509:Godavery
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425:Ministry
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276:Tambaram
230:Dornakal
91:Dornakal
82:in India
771:Bibcode
646:January
637:with a
633:in the
513:Kurnool
359:Chennai
344:Murugan
306:Bishop
87:Diocese
45:Cantab.
683:(1946)
676:(1946)
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662:(1950)
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383:Jaffna
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36:LL. D.
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411:Tokyo
340:Shiva
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