Sarah Chakko

Sarah Chakko (February 13, 1905, in Trichur, India, January 25, 1954, in Lucknow^[1]) was the first woman to be elected to the presidency of the World Council of Churches as a member of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Chakko was the second daughter (the fourth of ten children) of police superintendent Mazhuvancheriparambath Avaram Chakko in Kerala. She studied history and taught the subject from 1925, to higher girls' schools, first in Madras. In 1937, she graduated with a Master's degree in Chicago. In 1943, she was appointed professor at the Isabella-Thoburn College in Lucknow, where she later became the director.

In addition to her teaching activity, the Christian believer took part in the Christian Student World Movement (Student Christian Movement, SCM) and became its chairman for India, Burma, and Sri Lanka. In addition, she was at the YWCA. Because of her commitments she traveled a lot to the USA, to Europe and the Middle East. In 1950 she was involved in the work of the World Council of Churches, and was elected as his successor in August 1951 after the resignation of President T. C. Chao. She was the first woman in the presidency of the council, and the first (and for several decades the last) ecumenical functionary in the Syriac Orthodox Church. Admittedly, she ordered her bishop as a believer, which she also emphasized in her vocation; But by her work and other engagement, she was more closely related to other denominations, especially the Presbyterians and the Methodists.

When she participated in her first Annual General Meeting in Evanston (Illinois), which took place in August 1954, she was hindered by her surprise death.

Biography

• Kurian, M (1998). Sarah Chakko: a voice of women in ecumenical movement. Thiruvalla, India: Christhava Sahithya Samithy.

References

• "WCC NEWS, Number 01". www.wcc-coe.org. Retrieved 2018-10-06.