B. P. Sugandhar (28 September 1943 – 5 December 2017) was the fifth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop - in - Medak of the Church of South India whose bishopric lasted for more than a decade and half from 1993 through 2009 coinciding with the archbishoprics of Samineni Arulappa and Marampudi Joji of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.
It was in 1992 that the Old Testament Scholar, Bishop P. Victor Premasagar vacated the Cathedra on attaining superannuation, following which Sugandhar contested the vacant bishopric and was appointed and consecrated in September 1993 by the Church of South India Synod led by its Moderator Vasanth P. Dandin, and its Deputy Moderator Jason S. Dharmaraj, making Sugandhar assume the Cathedra in CSI-Medak Cathedral in Medak.
Sugandhar led the Diocese of Medak through its evangelical ministry which later extended far beyond the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak when he was elected to the Church of South India Synod for four consecutive bienniums, as Deputy Moderator in 2000 and as Moderator in 2004 and was at the helm of leadership of the CSI Synod in the 2000s and crisscrossed throughout southern India that included not only the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, but also the Union territory of Puducherry and the neighbouring nation of Sri Lanka.
After serving the ministries of the Church as an ecclesiastical co-worker spanning four decades (1969–2009), Sugandhar breathed his last on Tuesday, 5 December 2017 in his quarters in West Marredpally, Secunderabad. Sugandhar was one of the surviving bishops emeriti of the diocese, and his death is being mourned by the Diocese of Medak led by A. C. Solomon Raj, Bishop - in - Medak and other diocesan administrators. On Wednesday, 6.12.2017, the Diocese of Medak had made all efforts and kept his mortal remains at the CSI-Diocesan Office, Behind South Central Railway Hyderabad railway division, Secunderabad from 9:00 A.M. through 15:00 hours Indian Standard Time which, enabled the faithful to pay their respects following which the Funeral mass was conducted at 15:00 hours at the CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist, Sardar Patel Road, Secunderabad in the presence of Bishop Emeritus P. Surya Prakash and thereafter a Christian burial mass at 16:00 hours was held at the Cemetery of CSI-Church of St. John the Baptist located in Parade Grounds in Secunderabad Cantonment.
Contribution
Ecumenism and the unity of the Churches
Sugandhar strove for ecumenism and led the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Federation of Churches, a society that incorporates bishops of the Roman Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and Indigenous Church traditions. Along with then Archbishop of Hyderabad, M. Joji, and then secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches, J. A. Oliver, Sugandhar actively took part in ecumenical conversations to build up the unity of the Churches. In 2000, Sugandhar was one of the Anglican Participants at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. which was held during the papacy of Pope John Paul II.
Towards spiritual formation
As an administrator of the Diocese of Medak from 1993 through 2009, Sugandhar donned the mantle of a Vocation Promoter and led many youth to full-time ministry making them undergo studies in divinity at the Spiritual formation centres in Secunderabad and at Bangalore at the Andhra Christian Theological College and the United Theological College, both of which were notable for their Old Testament scholarship with the presence of G. Babu Rao, CBCNC in Secunderabad and Gnana Robinson, CSI in Bangalore. Incidentally, Sugandhar's senior graduate companion R. Yesurathnam, CSI who had been notable as a Systematic Theologian became Principal of the Protestant Seminary in Secunderabad in 1994 coinciding with the bishopric of Sugandhar.
Sugandhar also participated in the governance of these two seminaries as a member of the respective Seminary societies on the board of governors of Andhra Christian Theological College and on the Council of the United Theological College. The Old Testament Scholar, Ch. Vasantha Rao, who presently heads the United Theological College, Bangalore acknowledges the efforts of Sugandhar in promoting higher theological education during his spiritual formation period leading to M. Th. and Dr. Theol in Bangalore and Hamburg.
Propagation of Bible reading
Bishop Sugandhar served as the vice-president of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary during the terms of Auxiliary Secretaries, L. Prakasam, CBCNC in the 1990s followed by G. Babu Rao, CBCNC and was involved in promotion and distribution of the Bible throughout Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.