COUNTER NARRATIVES

  Shibi Peter   "Humans merely share the earth. We can only protect the land, not own it." — Chief Seattle I t is with profound joy and an even deeper sense of pride that I completed the reading of the volume The Earth That Has Not Yet Died:  Green Bible Studies  ( Malayalam,  Ed. Dr. Mathew Koshy Punnakkad). While the joy is derived from the fact that the volume is a collective effort of ten theological scholars from the Madhya Kerala Diocese, the pride stems from the depth of vision and the distinctive theological insights reflected in each essay, which collectively represent the intellectual-theological sensibility of the Church. In many Christian contexts, ecological issues and projects are either viewed as mechanical or treated as fashionable trends. In contrast, the Church of South India (CSI) distinguishes itself by formulating theologically grounded and contextually relevant ecological visions and practices that have become exemplary even for global C...

Shibi Peter   “Can we honestly expect the total contribution of women to the life of the Church? This is the crucial question which the Church has to face today.” — Sr. Carol Graham , Women in the Indian Church (1948) The 73rd Council Meeting of the CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese, which concluded on 15 December 2023 in Kottayam, marked a significant turning point in the Church’s journey toward gender justice. For the first time in its 76-year history, the Diocese took three remarkable and progressive steps: 1. Election of the First Woman Registrar In a historic decision, Advocate Sheeba Tharakan was elected as the Registrar of the Diocese—the first woman to hold this office. This groundbreaking moment highlights the Church’s growing commitment to inclusive leadership. 2. Implementation of the POSH Act The Council unanimously passed a resolution to implement a policy in line with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act (POSH, 2013). The motion was introduced by two d...

  Shibi Peter The recent recollections by Dr. Sarosh Koshy of Dr. M. Kunhaman’s association with Student Christian Movement (SCM) during the late 1980s and early 1990s inspired this reflection. For those of us who joined the SCM in the early 1990s (I joined in 1992), Dr. Kunhaman remained a consistent and influential presence, not only as an academician but also as a critical voice in Christian social thought and Christian social movements in Kerala. His involvement in the CSI Youth Movement, the People Faith Liberation Movement, and ecumenical platforms placed him within the critical intellectual genealogy of Christian interventions in Kerala’s public sphere. I first encountered him as a school student in 1990 during one of Navachetana's regular study sessions—a memory that still resonates. That program was led by Mr. Joy Joseph and Mr. K.M. Thomas, two prominent lay theologians and activists.. Although Dr. Kunhaman, alongside Dr. Sivanandan, was a familiar academic voice in ec...