Church of South India Synod

Church of South India Synod (CSI Synod) is the highest administrative body of the Church of South India. The presiding Bishop of the Synod is called the Moderator and is elected normally to hold office for three years. The church is governed by a synod based in Chennai and headed by a presiding bishop bearing the title of Moderator who is elected every three years.

The CSI synod consists of bishops of 24 dioceses, presybters and layman (both men and women) who are elected from the respective diocesan councils to the synod. The synod members will elect the apex body consisting of a Moderator, Deputy Moderator, general secretary and Treasurer. The Moderator is the spiritual and administrative head of the Church. Only Bishops are eligible to contest for the Moderator and Deputy Moderator posts. Pastors and lay members are eligible to contest for the remaining two posts of general secretary and Treasurer.The ordinary session of the synod is held once every three years.The last synod meeting was held in January 2016 at Kottayam. The practice has been to hold the meeting during the pongal holidays in mid January and over four days. Special meetings of the synod (between ordinary sessions) could also be convened by a decision of the Synod Executive. The Synod office is situated at CSI Center, Royapettah, Chennai.

As the Church of South India synod meets only once in every two-year the power of the synod is mostly delegated to Synod Executive which is appointed by the synod and which meets at least twice a year. The synod executive is a subset of synod which has 95 members. The synod executive consists of 4 members each from the 22 dioceses of Church of South India, 3 nominees of the Moderator and 4 officers of the synod (Moderator,Deputy Moderator,General secretary and Treasurer).

The Synod working committee is a subset of synod executive and it consists of 26 members.The working committee has a representation of one member each from the 22 dioceses of Church of South India and 4 officers of the synod.The synod working committee meetings are held based on need basis and they are held in between synod executive meetings. All the decisions of the synod working committee has to be ratified at a subsequent meeting of the synod executive.

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