Samuel Azariah 		July 4
Bishop, Ecumenist 
Vedanayakam Samuel Azariah was born in 1874 in the little South Indian village of Vellalanvillai, some eighty kilometres from the southern tip of the continent. A vigorous Christian church had been in existence since before 1795. In the mid-nineteenth century the Welsh missionary John Thomas had been the first to allow ordination without requiring western standards of education. Samuel’s father, Thomas Vedanayakam, was one of a large group ordained in 1867. Samuel was brought up in a simple and austere tradition. From his mother Ellen in particular he gained a deep knowledge and love of the Scriptures.
Samuel went to the Church Mission College at Tinnevelly and then in 1893 to the Christian College, Madras. On leaving the college, he became secretary to the YMCA for South India. He developed a conviction of the need for the Indian Church to outgrow its dependence on western missionaries. Accordingly in 1903 he took a lead in founding the Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly. He tirelessly urged the need for Indian missionaries. One day a student asked him, “Why don’t you go yourself?” Samuel offered himself for ordination. He was ordained in 1909 and was soon working in the remote countryside of Dornakal. The bishop of Madras intended to make Samuel his assistant bishop, but it was eventually decided that he should have his own diocese. In 1912 he became bishop of the new diocese of Dornakal. 
The new step of appointing an Indian was not taken without some grave misgivings from both missionaries and higher caste Indians. Bishop Azariah’s ministry bore out the rightness of the choice. He gave continuing direction to a mass movement of conversion mostly amongst low caste people which lasted for over thirty years. Indian clergy, needed in increasing numbers, were ordained, at first with such little training as was possible, but the bishop worked consistently to raise the standard of the education of his clergy.
Samuel was himself a keen student and the author of a number of practical books. The secret of his strength was a disciplined life of prayer. His deep conviction and spirituality were shared by his wife Ambu. The lifestyle of the family was traditional and strict. Samuel Azariah deeply appreciated the church community with its rich traditions. He was at the same time convinced that the church must be rooted in Indian soil. At Dornakal, worship employed Indian music and lyrics, festivals were celebrated Indian style, and when a cathedral was built it was of Indian design, not imitation Gothic.
Azariah’s vision of Christ for India made him a spokesman in the ecumenical movement both in India and on the world stage. He was one of the mostly Indian group who met at Tranquebar in 1919 to confer and pray about church union. Despite many setbacks they pressed on, under the conviction that, in the divisions inherent in India, divisions in the churches were not just a weakness, but a sin and a scandal. They were a very diverse group and together represented a broad range of Christian traditions. Samuel Azariah played an important part in their discussions and negotiations that led to the formation of the Church of South India in 1947, just two years after his death on 1 January 1945. This event captured the imagination of a whole Christian generation. This union owed an enormous amount to the energy, love and vision of Samuel Azariah.
For further reading:
C. Graham, Azariah of Dornakal, London, SCM, 1946.
For Liturgical Use
Samuel Azariah was born in 1874 near the southern tip of India. As a young man he was a YMCA evangelist. He became a missionary and then in 1912 the first Indian Anglican bishop. He served the Diocese of Dornakal for over thirty years, during which it grew rapidly. Azariah brought to world missionary and ecumenical conferences his vision that missions should be set free to grow into responsible indigenous churches. He was among those instrumental in the forming of the Church of South India, which finally came into being in 1947, two years after his death.
Sentence
The Lord raises up the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honour.	1 Samuel 2:8 (adapted)
Collects
God of all that lives,
you call your servants from every nation,
and the gifts of every people bring you glory;
may the burning vision of Samuel Azariah
for the growth and unity of your church 
encourage us to preach the gospel
to the people of our day,
that your name be glorified;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ our light, star of India,
give us Samuel’s perception, Samuel’s imagination,
that those who seek good news may hear it,
that the door be opened to those who knock.
Psalms	100	149
Readings
Isaiah 29:17-19		The poorest shall exult
Colossians 2:1-6		Built up in Christ
John 4:28-30,39-42		We have heard for ourselves
Post Communion Sentence
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.	Matthew 5:3