- Delhi Brotherhood Society
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The Delhi Brotherhood Society is an Anglican religious order based in New Delhi, India.
Origins
It is the offspring of the Cambridge Brotherhood which was established in 1877 when a group of clergy from the Church of England left from Cambridge bound for Delhi with the intention of providing and promoting higher education amongst the poorer members of Indian society. These clergy formed the Brotherhood of the Ascended Christ. In 1881, they established St. Stephen’s College; the college is now part of the ‘Deenbandhu' School (friend of the poor) group, named in honour of the Brotherhood's most famous associate member, the Rev. Charles Freer Andrews, who was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi; it was the Mahatma who bestowed the title Deenbandhu upon Andrews.
The Brotherhood is a part of the Anglican Church of North India, which was established in 1970 upon the amalgamation of the following Protestant churches in that region of the world: Baptist, Church of India (Anglican), Church of Pakistan (Anglican), Church of the Brethren, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ and Methodist. The members of the Brotherhood take a lifelong vow to remain unmarried in order to be totally committed to the poor.[1]
Development
The Delhi Brotherhood Society officially came into existence in 1973 when the Cambridge Brotherhood was renamed to better reflect the groups’ commitment to the disadvantaged of New Delhi. [2] Although the Cambridge Brotherhood had been involved not only in education but vocational training, over the years the members significantly extended their commitment to the poor. They have organised people with leprosy to demand fairer treatment and manage their own financial affairs; founded a day care centre for children who have a speech and/or hearing impairment; established a study facility for those who are children of prostitutes; operate a night patrol which seeks to bring vulnerable and abandoned children off the streets and remove them to a safe shelter.[3] In addition, the Delhi Brotherhood Society runs programmes for people with HIV/AIDS, a group of Deenbandhu schools, a boys' home, St. John’s Vocational Centre, a day care centre for the elderly and a gender resource centre. It also promotes universal birth registration and an end to the practice of female feticide.
The website of the Brotherhood states that its vision is to “…empower people to create their own destiny”. DBS is committed to achieving this vision through its mission of providing education, health care, skill training, community organisation, communication, homes or institutional care to the underprivileged section of society.”[4]
Parishes can establish links with the Delhi Brotherhood Society in order to offer financial assistance or send volunteers for a period of time; an example would be St. Mary’s Church in Hadlow, Kent in the southern part of the United Kingdom.[5]
References
Categories:- Anglican organizations
- Organisations based in Delhi
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