Graham Basanti

Graham Basanti[2] a.k.a. M. G. Basanti is a Silver jubilee Woman priest and the first[1] Ordinand from the Protestant Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church Society (JELC), headquartered in Jeypore, Odisha. She was in the forefront[8] of JELC leadership, representing it at United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[9] Basanti has been a founding member[10] of Association of Theologically Trained Women of India (ATTWI),[11] and was also elected to its Executive Committee for the bienniums 1979-1981[10] and 2002-2006.[12] Basanti has also been associated with National Council of Churches in India.[11]

The Reverend Sister[1]

Graham Basanti, JELC[2]

L. Th. (Serampore)
M. G. Basanti at Chennai in 1993
Born
M. Graham Basanti

(1950-01-11) 11 January 1950
Shillong, Undivided Assam
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndia
EducationL. Th.[3] (Serampore)
Alma materJensen Theological College, Kotpad,[3] Koraput district (Odisha)
OccupationPastor
Years active1974 - 2009 (35 years)[1]
Parent(s)Smt. Krupamani (Mother);
Sri M. G. Santisilo (Father)
ReligionChristianity
ChurchProtestant Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church Society[4]
Ordained26 January 1992 at Jeypore (Odisha)
Congregations served
Nabarangpur district,[2] (Odisha) (1992-2009)
Offices held
Matron,[5] JELC-Girls' Boarding,[6] Kotpad,[7] (Odisha) (1974-1992)
TitleThe Reverend Sister[1]

After completion of her spiritual formation in 1974, Basanti became a Matron[5] of the century-old[13] all-girls'[13] JELC-Boarding[14] in Kotpad.[5] The boarding home was development-centric,[6] which provided care for girls from interior areas.[15] Basanti remained in its service for eighteen years until her ordination in 1992. She was then reassigned pastoral duties at Nowrangpur,[2] until her retirement in 2009.[1]

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 1970-1974 at a Spiritual Formation Centre, that is, Jensen Theological College,[13] Kotpad, which was established on 10 April 1877.[13] Notable faculty associated with the College included Spiritual Formators comprising the Old Testament Scholar,[16] Subhasito Snehomoyo Patro,[17] Dr. Theol. (Kiel), the New Testament Scholar, Kishore Chandra Patra Kosala, Dr. Theol. (Kiel),[18] among others.

Jensen Theological College, Kotpad was an affiliated seminary of the Senate of Serampore College (University), India's first[19] University {a University under Section 2 (f)[20] of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956}[21] founded by the Baptist Missions led by Joshua Marshman, William Carey, and William Ward. During the University convocation held on 1 February 1975,[3] 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 Scholar,[22] G. Babu Rao, CBCNC, then Faculty Member [23] of Serampore College at CNI-St. Olave's Church, Serampore.[3]

Retrospect

Ordination of women in India had not been easy.[5] Male chauvinism coupled with manifold reasons kept them away from getting ordained.[5] 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,[1]

To my surprise, I never had a problem serving the Church or churches. We now have 11 female Pastors in our area".

References
Notes
  1. Four 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.
  2. Pastor M. G. Basanti, præst i Nowrangpur, Jeypore Evg. Lutherske kirke/JELC. (Foto i Gurukul, oktober 1993).
  3. Convocation Brochure, February 1, 1975 Serampore College, Serampore.
  4. K. S. Behera, Missionary Activities in Orissa during British Rule, Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar, 2018.
  5. Kenneth Gill, Count us Equal: The Ministry of Women in the Church of South India, ATTWI, Bangalore, 1990, p.187.
  6. Brundaban Chandra Padhi, Socio Economic Conditions of the Tribal Under the British Rule, 1803-1936, Punthi Pustak, Kolkata, 1992, p.192.
  7. Otto Waack, Church and Mission in India: The History of the Jeypore Church and the Breklum Mission (1876-1914), Volume II,
  8. JELC Consultation, Gurukul, October 1993
  9. JELC konsultation, Gurukul, oktober 1993. Rev. Ms. M. G. Basanti, JELC (præst i Nowrangpur), Rev. John Muduli, vicepræsident, ACS/Adivasi Christiya Samaj.
  10. Association of Theologically Trained Women in India Handbook, 1994.
  11. Premasis Satman (Edited), 5Talents Magazine, Issue 1, July 2012, p.4.
  12. IX General Assembly Handbook, ATTWI, Bangalore, 2006.
  13. 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.
  14. Fathima Kutty Kapil, Education in Vizagapatnam District 1805-1900, Itihas, Volume 32, p.100.
  15. Neeta Bora, M. P. Dubey (Edited), Social Justice and Women in India, Swaraj Prakashan, New Delhi, 1999, p.305.
  16. Subhasito Snehomoyo Patro, Royal Psalms in Modern Scholarship, University of Kiel, Kiel, 1976.
  17. Mar Aprem Mooken, Indian Christian Who is Who, Bombay Parish Church of the East, 1983, p.104.
  18. 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.
  19. Sankar 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.
  20. 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.
  21. "UGC Act-1956" (PDF). mhrd.gov.in/. Secretary, University Grants Commission. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  22. G. Babu Rao, Content Analysis of Theological Syllabi – Old Testament in Religion and Society, Volume XXXII, Number 3, September 1985.
  23. The Story of Serampore and its College, Council of Serampore College, Serampore (Fourth Edition), 2005, p.92.
Further reading
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