TRACING CONTOURS OF A TRIBAL CHURCH

FROM LIVE-IN EXPERIENCE IN BASTAR

Authors

  • Naiju Jose Kalambukattu Samanvaya Theology College, Jagdalpur

Keywords:

Adivasi, Bastar Church, Church from below, Communion of Churches, Ecclesiogenesis, Individual Church, Jesuan Community, Tribals, Tribal Church

Abstract

A genuine encounter of the gospel and the culture of the people leads to the realization of the Church or ecclesiogenesis. The present article is an attempt to trace contours of new paradigms of a tribal Church in Bastar, an exclusive tribal region in the state of Chhattisgarh. Visualizing a tribal Church in Bastar becomes a serious imitation of the paradigm of Jesus, a radical conversion to the mind of Jesus and achieving a structural change in the life of the Church returning to her original roots to meet the present world with its challenges and promises. It is following the stand point of Jesus with determination in responding courageously and creatively to the challenges, especially in transcending all that prevent people from becoming better humans in various contexts. The tribal Church in Bastar with incarnational approach must be a ‘Church from Below,’ which is sensitive to and fully immersed in the tribal context and breaks down the barriers of any kind in building up the Kingdom of God.

Author Biography

Naiju Jose Kalambukattu, Samanvaya Theology College, Jagdalpur

¨Fr Naiju Kalambukattu CMI holds a doctorate from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome. His publications include Apostolic Roots of Syro-Malabar Liturgy, (Bangalore 2011), Roots to the Wings: The Apostolic Christ-Experience and Its Organic Growth in the Syro-Malabar Eucharistic Liturgy, (Bangalore 2018), Theologizing in Context: A Hermeneutic of Living Dialogue between the Word and the World, (Bangalore 2019), Raymond: A Carmelite Patriarch of Gangakshetra, (Bangalore 2019), and articles and book reviews in various theological journals and edited works. Currently he is the prefect and master of students in Samanvaya Theology College, Jagdalpur. Email: kalambukattunaiju@gmail.com

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Published

2019-06-30

How to Cite

Kalambukattu, N. J. (2019). TRACING CONTOURS OF A TRIBAL CHURCH: FROM LIVE-IN EXPERIENCE IN BASTAR. Asian Horizons, 13(02), 146–160. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2125