The Vellore CMC Foundation continues to align with God’s revealed priorities in supporting the “Healing Ministry of Christ” through Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC&H) while strengthening our relationship with our Church Communities. These visions came into fruition as we sought God during a crisis and came together globally through our virtual prayer gatherings to “Humble ourselves, pray and seek God’s Face” 2 Chronicles 7:14. The Foundation’s second prayer event “Prayers and Petitions during the Coronavirus Pandemic” was held on July 18th, 2020. Our prayer leaders were representatives from our faith-based institutional members, church organizations, clergy at CMC, and the mission hospital network in India.
The Foundation’s “Lecture Series” has been an opportunity to enlighten teachings and life applications of the Christian faith, along with forming new and meaningful partnerships with faith organizations like BioLogos. Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, (BioLogos Board Member and Director for the Center of Genomics at Cornell University) the keynote speaker of our lecture “Creating Harmony between Faith and Science” highlighted concrete ways in which faith and science harmonize and emphasized that being made in the Image of God (Gen. 1:27) is primarily a “calling of service” gifted by God to each person. A recording of this lecture can be viewed on our website.
BioLogos upholds the authority and inspiration of the Bible and seeks to promote dialogue that supports the harmony between faith and science. It was founded by one of the top Biologists in the world, Dr. Francis Collins who led the Human Genome Project and is currently the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). One of our upcoming events with Dr. Julia Wattacheril (Director of the Adult Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Program at Columbia University – Presbyterian Hospital, NY) will address the topic of frontline workers and reliance on God.
We would like to launch our faith-based events this year on Friday, March 12th, with an invocation and a special message from Scripture through Reverend Santhosh George, who was born at CMC and pastors Ormiston Community Baptist Church in New Zealand. In view of further strengthening our ties with the Indian Christian community in the United States, we hope to host a “Roundtable Discussion and Presentation” with a focus on the new Maternity and Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care Hospital in the Jawadhi Hills. The Ecumenical Leadership Forum will continue this year to provide an opportunity for our institutional members, church organizations, and leadership at CMC to discern, strategize and implement solutions to benefit global mission especially through CMC. This forum will emphasize cross-cultural need and unity of purpose for potential worldwide benefit.
We plan to keep you updated on church relations through our newsletter, “Firm Foundation Flashnews”. Stay tuned!
