Graham Basanti
{{Short description|Indian priest}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox clergy
| honorific_prefix = The Reverend Sister
| name = M. G. Basanti, JELCPastor M. G. Basanti, præst i Nowrangpur, Jeypore Evg. Lutherske kirke/JELC. (Foto i Gurukul, oktober 1993).[http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll123/id/102165]
| honorific_suffix = L. Th. (Serampore)
| image =Folder255 00004A.jpg
| image_size =150px
| alt =
| caption =M. G. Basanti at Chennai in 1993
| birth_name = M. Graham Basanti
| birth_date ={{Birth date and age|df=yes|1950|01|11}}
| birth_place = Shillong (Undivided Assam)
| nationality =
| other_names =
| citizenship =
| education = L. Th. (Serampore)
| alma_mater = JELC-Jensen Theological College, Kotpad, Koraput district (Odisha)
| occupation = Priesthood
| years_active = 1974 – present (49 years)
| parents = Smt. Krupamani (Mother);
Sri M. G. Santisilo (Father)
| religion = Christianity
| church = Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church SocietyK. S. Behera, Missionary Activities in Orissa during British Rule, Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar, 2018.[https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/188725]
| ordained = 26 January 1992 at Jeypore (Odisha)
| writings =
| congregations = Nabarangpur district, (Odisha) {{small|(1992–2009)}}
| offices_held =
- Matron,Kenneth Gill, Count us Equal: The Ministry of Women in the Church of South India, ATTWI, Bangalore, 1990, p.187.[https://books.google.com/books?id=tCJrGwAACAAJ&q=count+us+equal+kenneth+gill] JELC-Girls' Boarding,Brundaban Chandra Padhi, Socio Economic Conditions of the Tribal Under the British Rule, 1803–1936, Punthi Pustak, Kolkata, 1992, p.192.[https://books.google.com/books?id=C_UfAAAAIAAJ&q=girls+boarding+kotpad] Kotpad,Otto Waack, Church and Mission in India: The History of the Jeypore Church and the Breklum Mission (1876–1914), Volume II, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dB7kAAAAMAAJ&q=girls+boarding+kotpad] (Odisha) {{small|(1974–1992)}}
- Councillor & Member, JELC Council & Synod {{small|(1974–1991)}}
- Regional Secretary, United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India
- Auxiliary Member, Bible Society of India, Odisha Auxiliary
- Regional Secretary, Association of Theologically Trained Women in India
- Member, National Council of Churches in India
| title = The Reverend Sister
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| footnotes =
| box_width =
}}
{{Portal|Christianity}}
Graham Basanti a.k.a. M. G. Basanti is a silver jubilee woman priest and the firstFour women ordained as pastors at Indian Lutheran Church – A dream come true in the service of the Church of India – Historical ordination of four women at Madhya Pradesh Lutheran Church, 23.11.2015.[http://www.sieviesuordinacija.lv/4-sievietes-ordinetas-par-macitajam-indijas-luteranu-baznica?mobile=ok] ordinand from the Protestant Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church Society (JELC), headquartered in Jeypore, Odisha, India. She was in the forefront[http://europeana.nialloleary.ie/index.php?navigation_function=2&navigation_item=a7fc8cb9729b097c17c02a393c0f9edf&repid=2 JELC Consultation, Gurukul, October 1993]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} of JELC leadership, representing it at United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.JELC konsultation, Gurukul, oktober 1993. Rev. Ms. M. G. Basanti, JELC (præst i Nowrangpur), Rev. John Muduli, vicepræsident, ACS/Adivasi Christiya Samaj.[http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll123/id/103032] Basanti has been a founding memberAssociation of Theologically Trained Women in India Handbook, 1994.[https://books.google.com/books?id=SgN0HAAACAAJ&q=association+of+theologically+trained+women+of+india+handbook] of the Association of Theologically Trained Women of India (ATTWI), and was also elected to its executive committee for the bienniums 1979–1981 and 2002–2006.IX General Assembly Handbook, ATTWI, Bangalore, 2006. Basanti has also been associated with the National Council of Churches in India.Premasis Satman (Edited), 5Talents Magazine, Issue 1, July 2012, p.4.[https://issuu.com/5talents/docs/5talents_magazine_july_2012]
After completion of her spiritual formation in 1974, Basanti became a Matron of the century-old all-girls' JELC-BoardingFathima Kutty Kapil, Education in Vizagapatnam District 1805–1900, Itihas, Volume 32, p.100.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ypBPAQAAMAAJ&q=education+in+vizagapatam+district+1805-1900+fathima+kutty+kapil] in Kotpad. The boarding home was development-centric, which provided care for girls from interior areas.Neeta Bora, M. P. Dubey (Edited), Social Justice and Women in India, Swaraj Prakashan, New Delhi, 1999, p.305.[https://books.google.com/books?id=KUK3AAAAIAAJ&q=missionaries] Basanti remained in its service for eighteen years until her ordination in 1992. She was then reassigned pastoral duties at Nowrangpur, until her retirement in 2009.
Early life and spiritual formation
Basanti's father used to serve in the Indian Armed Forces. Basanti was born during his father's service in Undivided Assam in Shillong. After her scholastic studies in various schools across India, she discerned her avocation towards spirituality in the 1970s and became an Aspirante studying between 1970 and 1974 at a Spiritual Formation Centre, that is, Jensen Theological College,Otto Waack, Cynthia C. Lies, Church and Mission in India: The History of the Jeypore Church and the Breklum Mission (1876–1914) Volume I, Northelbian Centre for Worldmission and Church World Service by the Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Hamburg/New Delhi, 1997.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ix7kAAAAMAAJ&q=jensen+kotapad] Kotpad, which was established on 10 April 1877. Notable faculty associated with the college included spiritual formators comprising the Old Testament scholarSubhasito Snehomoyo Patro, Royal Psalms in Modern Scholarship, University of Kiel, Kiel, 1976.[https://books.google.com/books?id=SW4PAQAAIAAJ&q=patro+kiel] Subhasito Snehomoyo Patro,Mar Aprem Mooken, Indian Christian Who is Who, Bombay Parish Church of the East, 1983, p.104.[https://books.google.com/books?id=u2s5AAAAMAAJ&q=indian+christian+who+is+who] Dr. Theol. (Kiel); and the New Testament scholar Kishore Chandra Patra Kosala, Dr. Theol. (Kiel);Kishore Chandra Patra Kosala, Taufverständnis und Theologie im ersten Petrusbrief, Universität Kiel Dissertation, Kiel, 1985. Cited by Ursula Ulrike Kaiser in Die Rede von "Wiedergeburt" im Neuen Testament: Ein metapherntheoretisch orientierter Neuansatz nach 100 Jahren Forschungsgeschichte, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, p.415.[https://books.google.com/books?id=tIJ5DwAAQBAJ&dq=kishore+kosala+kiel&pg=PA415] among others.
Jensen Theological College, Kotpad, was an affiliated seminary of the Senate of Serampore College (University), India's firstSankar Ray in Business Line, 11 April 2008 Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918. Internet, accessed 30 November 2008. [http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2008/04/11/stories/2008041150100400.htm] university {a university under Section 2 (f)Under section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956 a University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recognized by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal.[http://www.senateofseramporecollege.edu.in/history/u-g-c-and-serampore-college/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612143603/http://www.senateofseramporecollege.edu.in/history/u-g-c-and-serampore-college/|date=12 June 2017}} of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956}{{cite web|title=UGC Act-1956|url=http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/ugc_act.pdf|website=mhrd.gov.in/|publisher=Secretary, University Grants Commission|access-date=1 February 2016}} founded by the Baptist Missions led by Joshua Marshman, William Carey, and William Ward. During the university convocation held on 1 February 1975,Convocation Brochure, February 1, 1975 Serampore College, Serampore. at Serampore College, Serampore, West Bengal, the university listed out the name of Basanti among those graduates eligible to receive the degree of Licentiate in Theology (L. Th.). Then registrars included Chetti Devasahayam, CBCNC, and J. T. Krogh, NELC. On the convocation day, the commemoration mass was conducted by the Old Testament scholarG. Babu Rao, Content Analysis of Theological Syllabi – Old Testament in Religion and Society, Volume XXXII, Number 3, September 1985. [https://books.google.com/books?um=1&q=g.babu+rao+doctoral+studies&btnG=Search+Books] G. Babu Rao, CBCNC, then a faculty member The Story of Serampore and its College, Council of Serampore College, Serampore (Fourth Edition), 2005, p.92. of Serampore College at CNI-St. Olave's Church, Serampore.
Retrospect
Ordination of women in India had not been easy. Male chauvinism coupled with manifold reasons kept them away from getting ordained. In spite of it, Elizabeth Paul, CSI Order of Sisters, could be ordained in 1976. Other noteworthy ordinations followed with that of Eggoni Pushpalalitha, CSI (1984); Marathakavalli David, CSI (1989); Rajula Annie Watson, CSI (1991); Mutyala Sarah Grace Lalitha Kumari, CBCNC (1992); Bathineni Venkata Subbamma, AELC (1999); Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar, ALC (2006); and many others down the line. Similarly, Navamani-Elia Peter, MCI, provided leadership to the Bible Society of India as its president.
In 2015, when Basanti witnessed ordination of women priests in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, she recollected her ministry in the Church and reminisced,
{{quote|To my surprise, I never had a problem serving the Church or churches. We now have 11 female Pastors in our area.}}
References
;Notes
{{Reflist|3}}
;Further reading
- {{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/5talents/docs/5talents_magazine_july_2012 |title=5 Talents |last=Satman |first=Premasis |date=July 2012 |website=ISUU |publisher=Sharon Prayer Fellowship and Ministries }}
- {{cite book |last=Waack |first=Otto |date=1997 |title=Church and mission in India: the history of the Jeypore church and the Breklum Mission (1876–1914) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dB7kAAAAMAAJ&q=girls+boarding+kotpad|location=Hamburg/New Delhi |publisher=Northelbian Centre for Worldmission and Church World Service/Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge|isbn=9788172143985 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Waack|first1=Otto|last2=Lies|first2=Cynthia C.|date=1997|title=Church and mission in India: the history of the Jeypore church and the Breklum Mission (1876-1914)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ix7kAAAAMAAJ&q=jensen+kotapad|location=Hamburg/New Delhi |publisher=Northelbian Centre for Worldmission and Church World Service/Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge|isbn=9788172143473}}
- {{cite book |last=Albert |first=S. Vasantharaj |date=1992 |title=Orissa: Church and People Groups |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VYxAAAAMAAJ&q=theological+seminary+kotapad
|location=Chennai |publisher=Church Growth Association of India }}
- {{cite book |last=Gill |first=Kenneth |date=1990 |title=Count us Equal: The Ministry of Women in the Church of South India |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tCJrGwAACAAJ&q=count+us+equal+kenneth+gill
|location=Bangalore |publisher=Association of Theologically Trained Women in India }}
{{Portal bar|Biography|India|Religion}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basanti, Graham}}
Category:Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni
Category:Lutheran missionaries in India
Category:People from Koraput district
Category:20th-century Indian Christian clergy