THE challenge to take the Gospel within Indian traditions to the 20 million people in the Indian Diaspora (“Indian Diaspora” means the peoples from the Indian Sub-Continent) in a fast-changing world is the vision of the Fellowship of Indian Denominational Churches (FIDC).
On Oct 16, 2000, the FIDC was formed at a consultative meeting initiated by Bishop Dr Robert Solomon as well as the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Singapore and Heads of the Anglican Diocese, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Tamil Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of West Malaysia, and their counterparts in Singapore.
The FIDC, which has a Constitution, has an Executive Committee comprising a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and five members elected from the founding churches. With its shared resources, a number of activities have been organised, including a Church Leaders’ Retreat held in August 2001; a three-day Theological Symposium held in September 2002 and a Myanmar Missionary visit to the Myanmar Indian Christian Fellowship.
Based on one faith, the FIDC shares the vision that, “to obey God by seeking unity in purpose and mission will convince the world to know who our Lord Jesus Christ is”.
This being the theme of the 1st Congress of the FIDC, which was held from May 25 to 28, 2004 at Trinity Theological College, the 113 participants from 12 countries around the world were challenged to look for ways in which the Indian churches could network globally to reach out to the Indian Diaspora as they are faced with similar problems and challenges.
Participants at the four-day and three-night Congress were spiritually fed by morning worship and Bible Study sessions conducted by Dr Ajith Fernando, National Director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka; keynote addresses by Bishop Dr Solomon, Canon Dr Patrick Sookhdeo and the Rev Dr Jawahar Gnaniah, all renowned in their respective fields of study; and six workshops by them and Dr Theresa Devasahayam and the Rev Dr Mathew Mathews of the National University of Singapore.
The official sessions of the FIDC during the Congress saw a number of resolutions being taken, among which was the setting up of a website for the FIDC to network among the member churches for growth and mapping the needs of Global Diaspora Indians.
In his message to the delegates at the Congress, Bishop Dr Solomon said that “Jesus is our God of Hope; the Hope of God is the evangelisation of the world.
“This demands UNITY: One heart; One mouth; Dedication and Commitment. With our shared resources the South Indian Diaspora will be brought to Christ.”