India, the second largest nation in the world has a history that is ancient, a culture that is diverse and a future that is promising as over sixty percent of the one billion plus population are under thirty years of age. Utilising a praxis model ofpractical theology, this research has sought to explore possible answers to my three research questions: 1. what are the critical issues facing Indian Christian Mission Leaders (CMLs)? 2. How do these issues affect them? and 3. What constitutes appropriate pastoral care for Indian CMLs to enable them to respond to the critical issues they face and effectively fulfil their leadership roles? The research begins with an analysis of the context in which Indian Christian Mission Leaders (CMLs) Iive and work, leading on to the identifying of critical issues and the framing of pivotal questions that arise from the context analysed. This was followed by an analysis of the theology undergirding Indian missions as expressed in their doctrinal statements and evident in their policies and practices. The praxis model of practical theology, used in this research, facilitates a mutually critical conversation between the voices emerging from the context, the literature reviewed, the data obtained through interviews and questionnaires and the doctrinal statements of the India Mission Association (IMA), leading on to a point where responses are required and choices are to be made. It is concluded that Indian CMLs seek to provide leadership in fulfilling objectives that are often unrealistic, through roles that are often unclear, in contexts that are often unstable with support structures that are often untenable - all of this undergirded by contextual theology that is often under developed. The goal of practical theology is transformative practice. A theological analysis and a contextual pastoral response (in chapter six) leads to a brief summary conclusion in chapter seven, which summarises critical issues that affect Indian CMLs besides suggesting pastoral care measure that could enable Indian CMLs to provide effective mission leadership in contemporary, twenty first century India.
