(August 27, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Rt Rev Dr Daniel S Thiagarajah was unanimously elected the chairperson of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka at the Annual General Meeting held Saturday August 8 at the NCCSL Board Room on the basis of the recommendations made by the Nomination Committee that held its meeting the previous day.Mrs Manel Nanayakara and the Rev Saman Perera were elected vice chairpersons and Mr Bertal Pinto-Jayawardena, the treasurer. The outgoing chairperson was the Rev W P Ebenezer Joseph, the president of the Methodist Conference of Sri Lanka.
The National Christian Council founded in 1945 inherited an ecumenical heritage of ninety years having begun as the Christian Council of India, Burma and Ceylon in 1914 and at that time both Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of India. In other other words, the Christian Council embraced the whole of the sub-continent even before the League of Nations was founded which was in 1919 following the Treaty of Versailles.
With the quest for independence gathering momentum in the colonized world, equally the ecumenical movement making significant manifestations in various fields, the national bodies, today’s predecessors came into existence in 1935. The forerunners of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka apart from the Christian Council of India, Burma and Ceylon were the Christian Council of Ceylon (1922), the Ceylon Representative Council of Missions (1920) and the All Ceylon Conference (1912).
What brought these churches together and the affiliated bodies was the commitment to affirm and confess our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, and to seek together to fulfill the common calling, to the glory of the Triune God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The vision of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) is to cooperate with God in the establishment of the reign of God on earth through ecumenical encounter and witness.
The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka is affiliated with the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches. The members of the NSCSL are the head of the following churches: Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon, Diocese of Kurunegala of the Church of Ceylon, Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India, Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Baptist Sangamaya, The Salvation Army, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Presbytery of Lanka.
The Ecumenical Organizations represented in the NCCSL are the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), Student Christian Movement (SCM), the Ceylon Bible Society and the Christian Literature Society.
At the Annual General Meeting the following five were elected to serve in the Ex-Co for 2009-2010: Messrs M.A. Sumanthiran (Methodist Church), Israel Paulraj (Church of Ceylon - Diocese of Colombo), R. L. (Dicky) Jurainsz (Presbytery of Lanka), The Rev. C.N. Jansz (Christian Reformed Church) and Mr. C.D. Chinnakone (Church of South India - Diocese of Jaffna).
Along with the Officers of the NCCSL and these five elected members, the Chairpersons of various Committees viz., Commission for Justice and Peace - Ms. Vijula Arulananthan, Evangelism and Renewal - Rev. J.G. Thiagarajah, Education - Mr. Harshan Perera, Development Commission - Mr. Vijeyakulasingham, Relief & Rehabilitation - Mr. Sugun Nevins, Women's Commission - Ms. B. Neelie Fernando, Community and Life - Ms. Sarah Arumugam, Theological Commission - Rev. K. Piyadasa, Ecumenical Relations - Mr. Ransiri Fernando) and Communications - Rev. Asiri P. Perera will also serve as members. Two more members will be co-opted at the first meeting of the Executive Committee.
-Sri Lanka Guardian
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