Good Shepherd Community Church installs its first Bishop

On 21 August, 2010, in Hyderabad, India, the National Council of the Good Shepherd Community Churches installed Rev. Alfred E. Franks as its first Bishop.

The Good Shepherd Community Church movement, which emphasizes the priesthood of all believers and plurality of leadership at all levels in the Church movement, has a structure suiting the context of the Dalit-Backward caste peoples who have been historically denied the right to the priesthood in their system. Above all, the Church affirms the Bible as its final authority for faith and practice and the present dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in and through the Church and in broader society, and Jesus Christ as the One Supreme Head of the Church. It is fully committed to the common humanity that Jesus came to create in His Body, the Church.

In a short span of time, the Good Shepherd Community Church has grown to about 3,000 churches and is poised for further growth and development across the nation and beyond its borders. The GSCC movement, apart from being involved in Church-related activities, is committed to the field of education, economic development, healthcare, justice, and mission mobilization. The GSCC movement has evolved out of the work of OM India and is in full partnership with the wider work of OM.

Praise God for the growth of the Good Shepherd Community Church movement and the appointment of Rev. Alfred E. Franks as its first Bishop. Pray for continued growth and that many will come to know Christ in India through this work. Please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmCxiUN3fho for a video of the inauguration.

OM’s role in the Church is to mobilise people to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with every generation in every nation. OM pioneers and leads initiatives to redeem lives, rebuild communities and restore hope in over 110 countries.