HISTORICAL HERITAGE:
Wesley Methodist Mission in Hyderabad
Sir Arthur Cotton, a Methodist Engineer by profession with the help of two Missionaries (Rev. E.E. Jenkins and Rev. George Fryar) travelled in Telangana and were responsible in starting missionary work in a village called Sironcha in 1863. In the year 1878, two Missionaries Rev. Henry Little and Rev. William Burgess arrived at Secunderabad from Madras. The Indian colleague was Mr. Benjamin P. Wesley, and the first Methodist Telugu Service was held in Boggulakunta, Ramkote, Hyderabad on 11th August, 1879 in the house of one Telugu layman Mr. Joseph Cornelius. Rev. Charles Walker Posnett arrived in Secunderabad in 1895 and first helped Trimullghery British soldiers. Unsatisfied with the army work, he wanted to launch forth into villages.
In the year 1896, Rev. Charles Walker Posnett visited a village called Medak and built a bungalow there by staying in dock bungalow. There were then hardly two hundred Christians in the whole of Medak area. Ever since the formation of Medak Diocese on October 03, 1947, we have had six Bishops, who have contributed for the building up of the Church and its activities.
Retired Bishops of CSI Medak Diocese :
1. Rt. Rev. Frank Whittaker – 1947 – 1960.
Laid the foundation for structural Administrative Organisational work.
2. Rt. Rev. Eber Priestley – 1961 – 1967.
Man of Prayer & Piety.
3. Rt. Rev. H.D.L. Abraham – 1968 – 1975.
Bold as Martin Luther, the reformer and faithful as Abraham, the Patriach.
4. Rt. Rev. B.G. Prasada Rao – 1976 – 1981.
Pastoral Bishop
5. The Most Rev. Dr. P. Victor Premsagar – 1982 – 1992.
Revived the Evangelists Training School and introduced Higher Education. A Theological Teacher and Moderator of the Church of South India.
6. The Most Rev. Dr. B.P. Sugandhar – 1992-2008
(i) October 1992 to September 1993 – Moderator’s Commissary.
(ii) September 1993 onwards as the Bishop in Medak.
(iii) January 2000 – 2004 – Deputy Moderator, CSI.
(iv) January 2004 onwards as Moderator, CSI.
- Rt. Rev. P.Surya Prakash 2008-2009 { Moderator’s Commissary }
Present Bishop of CSI Medak Diocese :
7. Rt. Rev. T. Samuel Kanaka Prasad, B.D.,
The Diocese of Medak is one of the 22 dioceses of the Anglican Church of South India.
The Diocese of Medak is one of the largest Dioceses in the Christian world, including five revenue districts of the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh state: Adilabad, Medak, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Hyderabad.
The Diocese traces its history to its first Bishop Frank Whittaker, who laid the foundation for the Bishopric’s administrative organisational structure just prior to the independence of India. The Diocese was formed on 3 October 1947 and today the Diocese is headed by Whittaker’s successor, the present-day Bishop of Medak, who has his seat in Medak Cathedral.
Rt. Rev. T. Samuel Kanaka Prasad is the seventh successor of Rt. Rev. Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak in the Church of South India (CSI).
Personal Profile
Rt. Rev. T.S. Kanka Prasad was born on 5th August 1950 to Thalari Samuel in Minpur, Medak District. He is married to Mrs. J. Sthuthi Geetham and is blessed with three sons and a daughter.
Divinity and Pastorship
Rt. Rev. T.S. Kanaka Prasad studied theology at the Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad.
Bishopric
When Rt. Rev. B. P. Sugandhar retired from the Bishopric, Rt. Rev. T. S. Kanaka Prasad was declared as the seventh successor of Rt. Rev. Frank Whittaker by the Moderator of the Church of South India,The Most Rev. John Wilson Gladstone. He was consecrated in the historical Medak Cathedral in Medak on 17 August 2009 in the presence of other Bishops of the Church of South India.