Trichy-Tanjore Diocese of the Church of South India

The Church of South India's CSI Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur Diocese (தென்னிந்திய திருச்சபை, திருச்சிராப்பள்ளி-தஞ்சாவூர் பேராயம்) is in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The diocese is organised into eight District Church Councils (DCC) for administrative purposes: Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Perambalur-Collidam, Karur, Dharapuram, Udumalaipettai, Tharangambadi-Nagapattinam, and Anaimalai Hills(Valparai).

Wesleyan Methodist missionary Edgar Bentley Thorp, who was born in Bengaluru was the first Bishop of the diocese.

He was the son of a former missionary and Chairman of Mysore District, Rev.William Hubert Thorp and was one among the three Methodists consecrated as CSI bishops.

After a year of studying Comparative Religion at Marburg, Thorp went to the Trichinopoly (Tiruchirappalli) District in 1930.

His ministry among Christians in the Dharapuram mass movement area and on the tea plantations in Valparai area, was underpinned by his simple lifestyle; and as bishop, the impartiality of his leadership fostered unity between the Anglican minority and Methodist majority in the diocese.

David Chellappa (1905–1964), the first Indian Bishop of the Diocese of Madras of the Church of South India.

[1] was requested by Arnold Henry Legg, the then Moderator of CSI, to extend his service and leadership to Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur diocese, as Thorp left India on a health emergency and couldn't plan for a backup then.

Ordained in 1933 by Edward Harry Mansfield Waller, he was sent to Tiruchirappalli district to serve two churches - Mettupatti and Irungalur.

Owing to the internal troubles, they had sent only one name and so the Synod of CSI appointed Doraiswamy as the Bishop in Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur diocese.

Rajamanickam Paulraj was elected and consecrated as the third Bishop of the Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur diocese on 21 January 1982.

He was actively involved in the CSI Synod as a bishop and was elected to serve as the Deputy Moderator of the Church of South India for the term 1994 – 1996 during the twenty-fourth Church of South India Synod held in January 1994 at the Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli.

Considering the need for higher education in Dharapuram area, he took great efforts to start "Bishop Thorp College" affiliated to the Bharathiar University, Coimbatore in 1984 – under the C.S.I Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur Diocese.

Gnanamuthu Paul Vasantha Kumar was enthroned as the fifth Bishop of the Tiruchirappalli Thanjavur diocese in the year 2008.

These might include: The Bishops of Calcutta became Metropolitans in 1835; Royal Letters Patent, dated 10 October 1835.