David Chellappa
{{Short description|Anglican bishop}}
{{Portal|Christianity}}
The Rt Rev David Chellappa (1905–1964) was an Indian Anglican priest. He was the first Indian to become the Bishop of Madras in 1955.{{Cite web |title=Church of South India {{!}} CSI Chennai Diocese {{!}} CSI Diocese of Madras |url=https://www.csimadrasdiocese.org/history.php |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=www.csimadrasdiocese.org}}{{Cite web |title=Rt Rev Dr David Chellappa |url=http://www.csistgeorgescathedral.org/history.html}}
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{{S-bef|before= Edward Waller }}
{{S-ttl|title=Bishop of Madras|years=1955 – 1964}}
{{S-aft|after=Lesslie Newbigin}}
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Early life and education
The Rt Rev was born in Tanjore, Madras Presidency in 1905. He completed his schooling from St John's High School, Palayamkotta and Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore. He studied English literature at Madras Christian College and theology at St Augustine's college in Canterbury.{{Cite book |last=Sondhi |first=Aditya |url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=XGDiBQAAQBAJ&dq=bishop+david+chellappa&pg=PT96&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bishop%20david%20chellappa&f=false |title=The Order of the Crest: Tracing the Alumni of Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, Bangalore (1865–2015) |date=2014-12-18 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-93-5118-905-3 |language=en}}Chellappa received a Master of Arts degree from Durham University in 1954.{{Cite web |date=18 February 2025 |title=Graduates of the University; with supplement to 1960 |url=https://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=bookreader/DU_Calendars/DurhamGraduates/DurhamGraduatesMETSfile.xml#page/296/mode/2up |url-status=live |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=reed.dur.ac.uk}}
Ministry
Rev. David Chellappa was ordained in 1933 by Rt Rev Edward Harry Mansfield Waller and was sent to Tiruchirappalli district to serve two churches - Mettupatti and Irungalur. He was the first Indian pastor of the St.Thomas English Church in SanThome, Madras.{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} St. Thomas English Church |url=https://santhomeenglishchurch.org/about-us/history/ |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=santhomeenglishchurch.org}} He also served as the first Indian principal of St. Paul's High School ,Vepery, Madras in 1937. Following his return from Durham University, he was elected and consecrated as the first Indian bishop of the Diocese of Madras in 1955 succeeding Rt Rev Edward Waller. He acted as the Interim bishop of Trichy Tanjore CSI Diocese from 1962 till 7 February,1964. The Hope College, Holland, Michigan, conferred a honorary Doctor of Divinity [D.D] degree on Chellappa.
He was also the editor of the South India Churchman.{{Cite journal |last=Chellappa |first=David |date=1954-07-01 |title=“I Believe in the C.S.I.”—Reflections of an Ex-Anglican |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0040571X5405740903 |journal=Theology |language=en |volume=57 |issue=409 |pages=250–257 |doi=10.1177/0040571X5405740903 |issn=0040-571X}}
He died on 25 August, 1964.
References
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Further reading
- P.M. Gnanadurai (2005): Bishop David Chellappa : a biography, Chennai Christian Literature Society
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/08/archives/bishop-sees-need-for-church-unity-but-south-indian-prelate-notes.html Bishop Sees Need for Church Unity; But South Indian Prelate Notes Potential Dangers in Corporate Merger, New York Times, 8 July 1957]
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=XGDiBQAAQBAJ&dq=bishop+david+chellappa&pg=PT96 Anitya Sondhi (2014): The Order of the Crest: Tracing the Alumni of Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore (1865–2015), Penguin UK]
External links
- [https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/collection_registers/197/ Hope College digital commons: papers of Bishop David Chellappa]
{{Anglican bishops of Madras}}
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Category:20th-century Anglican bishops in India
Category:Anglican bishops of Madras
Category:Anglican bishops of Trichy-Tanjore
Category:Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham
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