CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese

CSI Madhya Kerala Diocesan Youth Movement

The CSI Madhya Kerala Diocesan Youth Movement is the first Christian Youth Movement in Asia. The earliest form of the Diocesan Youth Movement was the ‘Annual Anglican Youth League’ which was started by Bishop Charles Hope Gill. In 1916, during the time of the centenary celebrations of the Church Missionary Society Activities in Travancore-Cochin, the missionaries felt the need of utilizing the creative and physical potentials of the youth for the betterment of the Church and the society. For this reason, to unite the Youth, the missionaries started the ‘Annual Anglican Youth Conference’. The very aim of the Annual Conference was to invite the youth to serve the church and the society through the love of Jesus Christ and thus lead them to better dedication and commitment. It was in the English language that they arranged the sessions of the conference. From 1932 onwards, an annual conference was started in Malayalam for the non-English speaking people.

In 1942, the organisation became very strong which was known as ‘Youth League’ and started district level conferences in all the 10 ecclesiastical districts of the diocese. In 1947, a full-time general secretary (Mr John Ramakrishna Pillai) was appointed for the smooth functioning of the organisation. Till this time there were no women participating in the conferences. In 1959, the ‘Yuvatheesamajam’ which was an integral part of the Women’s Fellowship merged with Youth League. In 1978, the name of the organisation was changed from’ Youth League’ to ‘Youth Movement’.