The Constitution of the CSI is the key document that governs the administration and management of the church. It comprises 14 chapters detailing rules for the functioning of the church at every level, from the local congregation to the pastorate, diocese and the Synod. The Preamble to the CSI Constitution starts with the words “We the members of the Church of South India affirm that this church is part of the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church ” and concludes with a members’ “pledge to follow and uphold the Governing Principles of our Church and the provisions of this Constitution for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the welfare of all people.

The Constitution came into effect when representatives of the three uniting churches that formed the CSI each laid a signed copy of it on the table of St. George’s Cathedral in Chennai during the founding service on 27 September 1947. Work on the Constitution had started in 1929 as part of the effort of the Joint Committee onthe “Scheme of Church Union in South India” and concluded in 1941 when the seventh revision of the Scheme was published. First printed as ‘The Constitution’ in 1952, the document has been amended six times with reprints containing amendments published in 1956, 1963, 1972, 1982, 1993 and 2003.