Diocese of Krishna-Godavari of the Church of South India CSI

The diocese covers the Krishna Godavari areas of Andhra Pradesh state.[1] The headquarters of the diocese is at Machilipatnam.The Krishna-Godavari diocese is one of the largest diocese in Andhra Pradesh extending from Ongole District in the south through Srikakulam District in the northern part of Andhra Pradesh. The current bishop of the diocese is T. George Cornelius who is the new bishop of K.G.Diocese Church of South India.

Krishna Godavari Diocese is one of the 24 national dioceses of Church of South India formed in September 1947. The Diocese is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh covering all the coastal districts in the state. Geographically; the diocese is extended in 8 revenue districts of the state and has a coastline of above 1000 km. The total population of the diocese is 3 lacks only and almost all the congregations belong to dalit community and some pockets are tribal. It has a total of 150 parishes with 700 congregations. 90% of the congregations are rural and it is the rural congregations with which the diocese is identified with. There are more than 20 villages where the entire population belongs to exclusively the Church of South India.

The Diocese is a pioneer in development from centuries and have been implementing various programs in the fields of education, health, social development projects, skill training to youth and women, child care programs, relief and rehabilitation programs for the empower and liberate the people to face the challenges in the society and to lead a dignified life.

By the end of the 19th century, the Anglican Church in entire Telugu speaking land was under the jurisdiction of the then vast Diocese of Madras. The Dornakal Diocese of the Anglican Church was formed along with the installation of the First Indian Bishop of the great reputation late V. S. Azariah in 1912 and became the first Telugu Diocese in Anglican tradition by the first indigenous missionary society named as The Indian Missionary Society of Tinnelvelly (IMST), comprising of all the coastal districts and some parts of Telangana province. The Diocese of Krishna-Godavari in turn bifurcated from the erstwhile Dornakal Diocese in the year 1947 with Rt. Rev. Y. Muthyalu as its first Bishop. It was one of the five Anglican Dioceses which were joined in the Church Union named as Church of South India on the 27th September of the same year along with other 8 dioceses of Methodist and S.I.U.C Church backgrounds.