Collection 483 Oral History Interview with Francis Sunderaraj
Scope and Contents
Oral history interviews with Francis Sunderaraj in which he describes committing his life to Christ as a teenager in India; the development of his faith; the institutions and leadership of Evangelical Protestantism in India; Methodist churches in India and Malaysia; Sunderaraj's education at the Union Biblical Seminary in Yeotmal, India, Princeton Seminary, and Wheaton College; the development of the Evangelical Fellowship of India. The time period covered by the interviews is ca. 1942-1993.
Francis Sunderaraj was interviewed by Paul Ericksen on February 24 and March 8, 1993 at the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College.
Dates
- Created: 1993
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biographical Information
Full Name: Francis Sunderaraj
Birth Date: April 7, 1937, in Madras, India Family:
Parents: Abraham David and Sophia James
Siblings: Two brothers and a sister (who died at the age of three)
Marital Status: Married Sheila Bhanumathy
Children: Daughter (ca. 1966), son Vinodh (ca.1970)
Conversion: At age seventeen at a Youth for Christ rally in Madras at which Cyril Thompson spoke. (In 1961, during a Deeper Life convention at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Madras, he committed his life to full-time Christian service
Education:
1952 Graduated with a secondary school certificate from St. Paul's High School
1955 Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) from Madras Christian College
1965 Bachelor of Divinity from the Union Biblical Seminary in Yeotmal, India
1971 Masters of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary
1994 Masters in Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
Career:
1955-1962 Worked as a chemist, first for the Corporation of Madras, then for private companies
1965-1967 Assistant pastor at Emanuel Methodist Church in madras
1967-1970 Pastor of Methodist Churches in eastern Malaysia and also served as a District Superintendent for the newly formed Tamil Conference of the Methodist Church
1971-1972 Faculty of Union Biblical seminary, Yeotmal, India
1972-1974 Circuit pastor of three Methodist churches in Malaysia
1974-1976 Pastor in Kuala Lumpur of the largest Indian church in Malaysia. Also served as District Superintendent
1976-1991 Associate secretary, then (from 1978) Secretary for Christian Education of the Evangelical Fellowship of India
1984- ? General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India
Other significant information: Rev. Sunderaraj is from the Tamil ethnic group
Extent
5 Audio Tapes
230 Minutes
Language of Materials
English
Accruals and Additions
The materials in this collection were given to the Billy Graham Center Archives by Francis Sunderaraj in February and March 1993.
Accession: 93-37, 93-41
December 13, 2000
Robert Shuster
W. Valentine
- Alford, Zoe Anne.
- Athyal, Saphir P.
- Baptism.
- Carey, William, 1761-1834.
- Caste -- India.
- Caste.
- Children of clergy -- India.
- Children of clergy.
- Christian education -- India.
- Christian education.
- Christian leadership.
- Christian life.
- Christian literature -- Publishing -- India.
- Christian literature -- Publishing.
- Christian literature.
- Christianity and culture -- India.
- Christianity and culture.
- Church Missionary Society.
- Church and social problems -- India.
- Church and social problems.
- Church and state -- India.
- Church and state.
- Church work with the poor -- India.
- Church work with the poor.
- College students -- India -- Religious life.
- College students -- India.
- College students.
- Conversion -- Christianity.
- Dalits.
- Dravidians.
- Emmanuel Methodist Church (Madras, India)
- Evangelical Fellowship of India.
- Evangelicalism -- India.
- Evangelicalism.
- Evangelistic work -- India.
- Evangelistic work.
- Hinduism -- India.
- Hinduism.
- Hindus
- Hindus -- Malaysia.
- India -- Description and travel.
- India -- Religious life and customs.
- India -- Social life and customs.
- India-Ceylon Youth for Christ.
- Indian Evangelical Mission. (Bangalore, India)
- Indigenous church administration
- Indigenous church administration -- India.
- Indigenous church administration -- Malaysia.
- Interdenominational cooperation -- India.
- Interdenominational cooperation.
- Kamaleson, Samuel E.
- Liberalism (Religion)
- Liberalism (Religion) -- India.
- Madras (India)
- Materialism.
- Methodist Church -- India.
- Methodist Church -- Malaysia.
- Methodist Church.
- Methodists.
- Missionaries -- India.
- Missionaries.
- Missions -- India.
- Missions.
- National Council of Churches in India.
- Nicholls, Bruce.
- Nixon, Anna.
- Princeton Theological Seminary.
- Revivals -- India.
- Revivals.
- Rural churches -- Malaysia.
- Rural churches.
- Schneck, Alfred.
- Singh, Bakht, Brother, 1903-2000.
- Spouses of clergy
- Spouses of clergy -- India.
- Sterrett, T. Norton.
- Sunderaraj, Francis.
- Syncretism (Religion) -- India.
- Syncretism (Religion).
- Tamil (Indic people)
- Tamil (Indic people) -- Religion
- Taylor, Clyde W. (Clyde Willis), 1904-1988.
- Thompson, Cyril.
- Union Biblical Seminary (Yeotmal, India)
- Wheaton College (Ill.)
- Williams, Theodore, 1935-
- Women clergy.
- World Council of Churches.
- World Evangelical Fellowship.
- Worship -- India.
- Worship.
- Wright, J. Elwin.
- Title
- Collection 483 Oral History Interview with Francis Sunderaraj
- Author
- Bob Shuster
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Roman Script
Repository Details
Part of the Evangelism & Missions Archives Repository