Dr Sudipta Singh, Deputy General Secretary – Programmes of the Council for World Mission (CWM), was invited by the Church of North India (CNI) to speak at the Valedictory Service of Bishop’s College in Kolkata, India, on 9 March.
Established on 15 December 1820 by Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bishop’s College is a regional ecumenical theological college affiliated with and solely run by the CNI.
In his address, Singh challenged graduates to embrace a transformative vision of theological, missional, and pastoral engagement in response to contemporary pressing global and local crises.
Speaking against the reductionist trajectory of theological education, Singh urged graduates to reimagine their calling beyond institutionalised frameworks.
“In the midst of this rampant deification of power, it is the God who is wounded for our sake that calls out to us from the cross. In the cross, we find an alternative strategy of resistance to Empire. The cross is not a site where violence and suffering are glorified but a place that calls for active confrontation of Empire through solidarity and struggle,” exhorted Singh, quoting from Isaiah 53:5.
Addressing the occupation by military empires in Gaza, Singh emphasised that the world today demands not silence, but an exposé and condemnation of the forces that perpetuate oppression. He called on graduates to join voices across the globe in building people’s power to resist imperialist agendas and work toward the liberation of the oppressed, particularly the occupied people of Palestine.
Turning to the Indian context, he denounced the erosion of democracy and the rising impunity in attacks against Muslim and Christian communities as well as other marginalised sectors of society.
Stressing that “might is not right,” Singh also asserted that the church has a prophetic ministry—not to conform, but to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness that challenges dominant structures.
The church’s mission, he affirmed, is to dismantle systems of oppression and stand in solidarity with the suffering.
As he closed, Singh urged graduates to reclaim the church’s vision and commitment as participants in God’s mission to redeem the world, calling for a creative re-imagination of what it means to be and becoming the church today.
Referring to the CWM’s theological statement, Mission in the Context of Empire, he encouraged graduates to reframe and reimagine mission as the creation of life-affirming communities amidst systems of death and destruction.
As the service concluded, Singh prayed a Franciscan blessing over the graduates, sending them forth anointed by the Spirit of God to participate in God’s continuing act of creation.