B. P. SugandharThe Church of England Yearbook 2007, Volume 123, 2007, p.404. (28 September 1943 – 5 December 2017)Times of India Hyderabad edition, Former CSI moderator passes away, 7.12.2017. was the fifth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop - in - Medak of the Church of South India whose bishopric lasted for more than a decade and half from 1993 through 2009The Europa World Year Book 2008, 2008, p.2216 coinciding with the archbishoprics of Samineni Arulappa and Marampudi Joji of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.
It was in 1992 that the Old Testament Scholar,P. Victor Premasagar, Salvation in the Old Testament, Indian Journal of Theology, Volume 18, Issue 2-3, April–September 1969, pp.197-205. Bishop P. Victor Premasagar vacated the Cathedra on attaining superannuation, following which Sugandhar contested the vacant bishopric and was appointed and consecrated in September 1993 by the Church of South India Synod led by its Moderator Vasanth P. Dandin, and its Deputy Moderator Jason S. Dharmaraj, making Sugandhar assume the Cathedra in CSI-Medak Cathedral in Medak.
Sugandhar led the Diocese of Medak through its evangelical ministryAdam Clapham, Beware Falling Coconuts, Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2007, p.68. which later extended far beyond the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak when he was elected to the Church of South India Synod for four consecutive bienniums, as Deputy Moderator in 2000 and as ModeratorThe Europa World Year Book, Volume 1, 2007, p.2213 in 2004 and was at the helm of leadership of the CSI Synod in the 2000s and crisscrossed throughout southern India that included not only the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, but also the Union territory of Puducherry and the neighbouring nation of Sri Lanka.
After serving the ministries of the Church as an ecclesiastical co-worker spanning four decades (1969–2009), Sugandhar died on Tuesday, 5 December 2017Church of South India Synod, Bishop B. P. Sugandhar, the former Moderator of the Church of South India, Passes Away, Tuesday, 5.12.2017. in his quarters in West Marredpally, Secunderabad. Sugandhar was one of the surviving bishops emeriti of the diocese, and his death is being mourned by the Diocese of Medak led by A. C. Solomon Raj, Bishop - in - Medak and other diocesan administrators. On Wednesday, 6.12.2017, the Diocese of Medak had made all efforts and kept his mortal remains at the CSI-Diocesan Office, Behind South Central Railway Hyderabad railway division, Secunderabad from 9:00 A.M. through 15:00 hours Indian Standard Time which, enabled the faithful to pay their respects following which the Funeral mass was conducted at 15:00 hours at the CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist, Sardar Patel Road, Secunderabad in the presence of Bishop Emeritus P. Surya Prakash and thereafter a Christian burial mass at 16:00 hours was held at the Cemetery of CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist located in Parade Grounds in Secunderabad Cantonment.
Contribution Ecumenism and the unity of the Churches Sugandhar strove for ecumenism and led the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Federation of Churches, a society that incorporates bishops of the Roman Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and Indigenous Church traditions.Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, Official Web Site Along with then Archbishop of Hyderabad, M. Joji, and then secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches, J. A. Oliver, Sugandhar actively took part in ecumenical conversations to build up the unity of the Churches. In 2000, Sugandhar was one of the Anglican Participants at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.The Mississauga Meeting The Vatican, the Roman Curia, Pontifical Councils, 19 May 2000 which was held during the papacy of Pope John Paul II.
Towards spiritual formation As an administrator of the Diocese of Medak from 1993 through 2009, Sugandhar donned the mantle of a Vocation Promoter and led many youth to full-time ministry making them undergo studies in divinity at the Spiritual formation centres in Secunderabad and at Bangalore at the Andhra Christian Theological College and the United Theological College, both of which were notable for their Old Testament scholarship with the presence of G. Babu Rao,Guide to Indian Periodical Literature, Volume 23, 1989, p.57 CBCNCG. Babu Rao (Compiled), Bibliography of the writings of Victor Premasagar in H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move: A Quest to Affirm the Biblical Faith - Essays in honour of P. Victor Premasagar, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.160. in Secunderabad and Gnana Robinson, CSI in Bangalore. Incidentally, Sugandhar's senior graduate companion R. Yesurathnam, CSI who had been notable as a Systematic Theologian became PrincipalR.Yesurathnam, A Christian Dialogical Theology: The Contribution of Swami Abhishiktananda, Punthi Pustak, Calcutta, 2006. of the Protestant Seminary in Secunderabad in 1994 coinciding with the bishopric of Sugandhar.
Sugandhar also participated in the governance of these two seminaries as a member of the respective Seminary societies on the board of governors of Andhra Christian Theological College and on the Council of the United Theological College. The Old Testament Scholar, Ch. Vasantha Rao, who presently heads the United Theological College, Bangalore acknowledges the efforts of Sugandhar in promoting higher theological education during his spiritual formation period leading to M. Th.Ch. Vasantha Rao, Let the Mother Bird Go: Preservation Motif in Pentateuch, ISPCK, New Delhi, 2007. and Dr. TheolCh. Vasantha Rao, Animal Rights and Animal Laws in the Bible: The Daily Practice of Reverence for Life, Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, 2013. in Bangalore and Hamburg.
Propagation of Bible reading Bishop Sugandhar served as the vice-president of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary during the terms of Auxiliary Secretaries, L. Prakasam, CBCNCSowing Circle - The bulletin of the Bible Society of India, Volume 13, Number 3, September–December 1998, p.14. in the 1990s followed by G. Babu Rao, CBCNCSowing Circle, A Bulletin of the Bible Society of India, Volume 15, Number 1, January–April 2000 (For Private Circulation), Bengaluru. pp.24-25. and was involved in promotion and distribution of the Bible throughout Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Medical missions The Diocese of Medak was represented in the council and association of Christian Medical College, Vellore and many medical aspirants were led to medical missions and after their studies in Vellore they served the dispensaries and hospitals in the diocese and with Sugandhar's encouragement, efforts were also made to start a full-fledged medical college in Dichpalle, but did not fructify.The Hindu, Andhra Pradesh, 12.6.2004.
Gender equality in ordination of Pastors It was in 1970Kenneth E. Gill, Count us Equal : The Ministry of Women in the Church of South India, Association of Theologically Trained Women in India, 1990. pp.48–49. that the Church of South India Synod led by P. Solomon first mooted the ordination of women, resulting in objections from the Laity and a decade of legal recourseChurch of South India ordains Kerala's first Woman Priest in The Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), June 06 1989. followed and efforts were made by the CSI-Synod to overcome them, leading to full-fledged ordination of women in 1982 during the term of I. Jesudason, that led to the ordination of Elizabeth Paul, the first ordained Woman priest in the Church of South India Synod.
In the Diocese of Medak, the first Woman priest to be ordained was B. Samarpana Kumari,Church of South India Synod, Medak Ministerial Roll. a seminarian at the Andhra Christian Theological College who underwent Spiritual formation during the Principalship of M. Victor Paul, AELC and was ordained by the diocese during the bishopric of Victor Premasagar. Following that, when Sugandhar took over the mantle in 1993, Woman priests continued to be ordained and he supported its cause and stood by societies which promoted it, especially the Association of Theologically Trained Women in India in which Sugandhar also delivered a talk on the role of Women priest during one of its regional plenaries held at Jeevan Jyothi Formation Centre in Begumpet during the term of its secretary, Florence Deenadayalan, CSI, Treasurer, Johanna Rose Ratnavathi, AELCATTWI Handbook and its president, Navamani Elia Peter, MCI.
Writings Sugandhar contributed to theological writings, both as a pastor and later as a bishop, among which are, 1988, Resources for Mission in Local Congregations,B. P. Sugandhar, Resources for Mission in Local Congregations in H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move: A Quest to Affirm the Biblical Faith - Essays in honour of P. Victor Premasagar, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, pp.145-ff. – this essay was contributed to the volume honouring the Old Testament Scholar, Victor Premasagar's ministry for which a commemorative volume (fetschrift) was edited by H. S. Wilson, 2001, Ecumenism: Creation's greatest challenge,B. P. Sugandhar, Ecumenism: Creation's greatest challenge in Vinod Victor, Leslie Nathaniel (Edited), Ecumenism: prospects and challenges: festschrift to the Rev. G. Dyvasirvadam, ISPCK, New Delhi, 2001. – Sugandhar wrote an essay honouring the contribution of the Systematic Theologian G. Dyvasirvadam.
Juridical precedence In matters of domestic enquiry, a legal case involving the Diocese of Medak is often used as a citation in matters of jurisprudence where the Supreme Court of India through its bench headed by G. T. Nanavati ruled in favour of the Diocese of Medak thereby overruling an earlier High Court of Andhra Pradesh judgement.1996 IVAD SC 437, 1996 (74) FLR 1927, JT 1996 (6) SC 221, (1996) IILLJ 936 SC, 1996 (3) SCALE 701, (1996) 4 SCC 406, 1996 Supp 1 SCR 247. In 1996, in the case of B. P. Sugandhar, Bishop - in - Medak Versus D. Dorothy Dayasheela Ebenezer, the manner of conduction of domestic enquiry was highly appreciatedEjaz Ahmad, Ashoka's service laws in India: as viewed by Supreme Court regarding private sector & government sector, Ashoka Law House, New Delhi, 1998, p.462. by then juridical experts and the case law continuesC. S. Venkatasubramanian, Supreme Court Civil Cases: Part 1, 1996, 1997 & 1998, Vibhuvan Printers, 2000, p.64. to be used as a citation in the courts of law.P. K. Basu Majumdar, Law of Domestic Enquiry, Universal Law Publishing Company Private Limited, New Delhi, 2010, p.26.
Studies and ministerial formation Seminarian: 1964-1968
During the bishopric of Eber Priestley as Bishop - in - Medak, Sugandhar was admitted in 1963 as a ministerial candidate of the Diocese of Medak and a year later, was sent for ministerial formation in 1964K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910–1997, Bangalore, 1997. Past students of the graduate course, p.36. to the United Theological College, Bangalore, an affiliated institution of the Senate of Serampore College (University). Sugandhar underwent a four-year spiritual formation at the seminary in Karnataka which was then headed by the Systematic Theologian Joshua Russell Chandran and was taught by notable faculty that comprised the Religions Scholar, S. J. Samartha, the Church Historian V. C. Samuel,V. C. Samuel, Some Facts About the Alexandrine Christology, Indian Journal of Theology, Volume 11, Issue 4, October–December 1962, pp.136-142. the Old Testament Scholars, Samuel Amirtham and E. C. John and others.