A handbook of councils and churches profiles of ecumenical relationships

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 217,612

Congregations: 1,219

Pastors: 967 men, 238 women

Member of: WCC (1951) – CCA – NCCT – WARC – NEAAC – CWM

Periodicals: Taiwan Church News (Chinese) Lu-Soan (women’s magazine,

Chinese) New Messenger (youth magazine, Chinese)

The church began in 1865 with the work of English Presbyterian missionaries in the south of the island and Canadian Presbyterian missionaries in the north (1872). After the Japanese occupation in 1895, mission bodies were refused entry into the country. This resulted in the development of a single Protestant church, without the complications of denominational diversity. In the late 1930s English and Canadian missionaries withdrew from Taiwan because of the increasing mil­itarism of Japan but they returned after World War II. After the Communist take­over of China in 1949, many Christians fled to Taiwan and a large number of mis­sionaries were redeployed to work there as other mission boards were now allowed to enter. In 1951 the synods of the north and the south came together in one general assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. Whereas during the early post-war years the church was preoccupied with issues of survival and recovery, the years 1955-65 were characterized by rapid growth. The church dou­bled its membership and the number of local congregations. After its centennial in 1965 the church carried out three five-year programmes. In 1978 it launched the Ten Plus One Movement, focused on evangelism and witness. Although its numerical goal was not reached, some 80 new churches were added while mem­bership increased by about 40,000. In 1990 the PCT joined an inter-church “Year 2000 Gospel Movement” which was later followed by the PCT’s own “21st cen­tury New Taiwan Mission Movement”. The theme of this movement is “to actu­alize the kingdom of God through building koinonia”.

The Presbyterian Church has maintained a strong sense of social concern for the people in Taiwan and for the future of the nation. It has sought to uphold human rights and to stress the meaning and value of human life in the midst of rapid social change. In the 1970s PCT issued three significant public statements, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of church leaders including the then general secretary of the church. Again in the early 1990s other statements fol­lowed. The church has made significant contributions to Taiwanese society. Through preaching, healing, and other forms of ministry it continues to work towards indigenization of the faith and to make it a part of the life of the common person. Among its major programmes and activities are: lay training and theo­logical programmes, senior citizens’ university, Christian literature programmes, spiritual formation and discipleship seminars, medical ministries, women’s min­istry, youth ministry, campus ministry among students, crisis and family coun­selling, and community development especially among indigenous people. It also expresses its social concern through its various social service agencies and in its response to natural disasters (earthquakes, typhoons) both in Taiwan and over­seas. The PCT has three theological seminaries, one Bible college, two universi­ties, three high schools, three hospitals, and a nursing school.

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan maintains fraternal church relationships with over thirty churches in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and North America, and Pacific.

Asia

INDIA

Population: 1,096,917,184 Surface area: 3,3 million sq.km Capital: New Delhi GNI per capita: 540 US$ Classification: Developing economy Languages: Hindi, English, and 14 other official languages Religions: Hindu 75%; Muslim 12%; Christian 3 to 6%; Sikh 2%; Buddhist 1% Christianity: Catholics 18,250,000; Protestants 19,564,440;

Orthodox 3,333,000; Independent 15,263,580

India’s first civilization along the Indus valley goes back to 2500 BC. Aryan tribes invaded the region about 1500 BC and introduced the Vedic religion, which was the foundation of Brahminism and the caste system. Christianity was intro­duced in 52 AD by the Apostle St Thomas. Muslim influence began in the 10th century. In the 16th century, Muslim invaders from the north established the Moghul empire. European presence in India began with the Portuguese in 1498. In the 19th century Britain assumed political control of India. Nationalism found its expression in Gandhi’s movement of non-violent civil disobedience. The inde­pendence movement was dominated by the Hindus. A Muslim league demanded a separate Muslim state. At independence in 1947, the sub-continent was parti­tioned between a Hindu majority India and a Muslim majority Pakistan. India’s economy ranges from traditional farming to modern industries and high technol­ogy. The country is rapidly becoming a regional and global power, but is still facing dire poverty of over one third of its population. The caste system still exists and discriminates millions of Dalits. Christians are a minority. Estimates vary from 3 to 6 percent. The three major groups of churches are those belonging to the National Council of Churches, the Catholic Church, and the churches and groups represented in the Evangelical Fellowship of India (affiliated with WEA). In recent years, these three groups have been working together more closely. Pente­costals, who form about 6 percent of the total number of Christians, are not part of any of these three groups.

Founded in 1921 as the National Christian Council of India, Burma and Ceylon, which became the National Council of Churches in India in 1979 (forerunner: the National Missionary Council of India, formed in 1912).

Basis: Full membership is open to churches and regional Christian councils which are in sympathy with and subscribe to the objectives of the National Council of Churches in India.

Member churches:

Convention of Baptist Churches of the Northern Circars

Hindustani Covenant Church

Malabar Independent Syrian Church

Mennonite Brethren Church

Presbyterian Church of India

The National Organization of the New Apostolic Church

Regional councils: Andhra Pradesh Council of Churches Bengal Christian Council Bihar Council of Churches Chhattisgarh Christian Council Gujarat Council of Churches Karnataka Christian Council Kerala Council of Churches Madhya Pradesh Christian Council Maharashtra Council of Churches North East India Christian Council North West India Frontier Christian Council North West India Christian Council Santalia Council of Churches Tamil Nadu Christian Council Utkal Christian Council Uttar Pradesh Council of Churches

All India Christian Organizations: All India Association for Christian Higher Education Association of Theologically Trained Women of India Bible Society of India Christian Association for Radio and Audio Visual Services Christian Union of India Ecumenical Council for Drought Action and Water Management Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Inter-Church Service Association Leprosy Mission Lott Carey Baptist Mission in India National Council of YMCAs of India National Missionary Society of India Student Christian Movement of India

Young Women’s Christian Association of India

Related Agencies: All India Sunday School Association Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society Christian Literature Society Christian Medical Association of India

Asia

Ecumenical Church Loan Fund – India

Henry Martyn Institute

Website: www.nccindia.org

The National Council of Churches in India is affiliated with the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches.

Bengal-Orissa-Bihar Baptist Convention*

Church Family: Baptist

Membership: 9,500

Local churches: 170

Pastors: i.n.a.*

Member of: WCC(1965) – NCCI – BWA – ABF

The church grew out of the missionary work of Free Will Baptists in this part of India, which started in 1836. In 1911 the Free Will Baptists handed the work over to the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society.

The status of this member church is being clarified. No updated information is available. The numbers of membership and local churches are taken from the World Christian Encyclopedia and date from 1995.

* information not available

Church of North India

Church Family: United and Uniting Membership: 1,500,000 Dioceses: 26 Congregations: 3,500 Pastors: 1,200 Member of: WCC (1948/1972) – CCA – NCCI – ACC – WARC – CWM – DECC Periodical: The North India Church Review (monthly, in English)

The Church of North India is a united expression of the unity of the church in India. After 40 years of prayer and negotiations it came into existence in 1970. Six churches formed the CNI: the Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India, the Church of the Brethren, the Disciples of Christ, the Church of India (Angli­can, formerly known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon), the Methodist Church (British and Australasian Conferences) and the United Church of Northern India. The Church of North India as a United and Uniting church is committed to announcing the good news of the reign of God inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in proclamation, and to demonstrate in action the integrity of God’s creation through continuous struggle against the demonic powers, by breaking down the barriers of caste, class, gender, economic inequality and exploitation of nature (mission statement). The motto of the church is: Unity – Witness – Service.

Geographically the CNI covers the whole of India except for the four southern states, i.e. about two thirds of the entire country. It is spread over varied areas, ranging from hills to deserts and to coastal regions, covering both rural as well as urban populations. The church brings together people of diverse cultures, tradi­tions and life-styles, journeying with them in their struggles and their joys. The priorities of the CNI for the first decade of the 21st century are: rejuvenating pastoral ministry; evangelism within and outside the church for costly disciple­ship; ministry of service; solidarity with the marginalized; formation of healing communities; equipping God’s people for participatory learning; re-structuring its internal organization. The church has two boards to facilitate health and devel­opment work in the dioceses. It has a programme office that works with all the dioceses to facilitate the implementation of their six-yearly “Ministry Plans”, link­ing up the concerns of the dioceses with the seven desks of the programme office: children, women and gender, youth, peace and interfaith concerns, marginalized, local congregational concerns and human resources development.

Church Family: United and Uniting

Membership: 3,500,000

Dioceses: 22

Congregations: 8,715

Bishops: 22

Priests: 1214

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – NCCI – ACC – WARC

Periodical: CSI Life (monthly, in English)

The Church of South India was inaugurated in 1947, after thirty years of union negotiations between the South India United Church – the combined body of Presbyterians and Congregationalists – the Anglican dioceses in South India and the South Indian districts of the Methodist Church. Out of the 22 dioceses of the CSI one is in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The basis of the constitution is the Lambeth Quadrilateral, the historical episcopate being accepted in a constitutional form. From the beginning all ordinations have been by bishops. The mission statement of the CSI is “The Church of South India affirms that the church is the servant of God to carry on the mission rooted in Jesus Christ and based on the scriptures. The church through her mission, expresses solidarity with the broken communi­ties for a new hope to face the challenges of life. The cross continues to be the sign of hope for the witnessing church, which strives towards unity, peace and recon­ciliation as a vibrant channel of God”.

Resolutions of the Lambeth Conference of 1968 and the Anglican Consultative Council of 1971 advised Anglican churches and provinces to re-examine their relation to the CSI with a view to entering into full communion with that church. More recently the CSI, the Church of North India and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar have formed the Communion of Churches in India (2003), as a further step towards unity.

Primary concerns of the CSI are evangelism and social justice. Major pro­grammes and activities of the CSI are: evangelism, stewardship, healing and edu­cational ministries, technical and vocational training, rural and urban develop­ment, Christian nurture of the congregation, theological education and training of pastors.

Church Family: Orthodox (Oriental)

Membership: 2,000,000*

Dioceses: 23

Congregations: 1,600

Bishops: 25

Priests: 1,500

Asia

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – NCCI

Periodical: Malankara Sabha (monthly) and Orthodox Youth (biweekly,

both in Malayalam)

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church traces its origins back to the work of the Apostle St Thomas in the south-west region of India (Malankara or Malabar, in modern Kerala). According to the tradition, St Thomas arrived in 52 AD and during a twenty year stay converted several Brahmin families to faith in Christ and established seven centres of worship. From the 3rd century onwards, Kerala Christians had spiritual and trade relations with churches in the Persian empire. The Indian Church of the Apostle Thomas was deeply rooted in the social and cultural traditions of the country and maintained its apostolic traditions and administrative freedom. The arrival of the Portuguese in Kerala in 1498 inaugu­rated the colonial period. The Portuguese Catholic missionaries began to exercise control over the ancient Indian church and latinized it by force. In 1653 in a his­toric and dramatic protest at the “Bent Cross” in Cochin, the church pledged against Portuguese and Roman Catholic authority and declared its freedom. Indian Christians were persecuted by the colonial authorities who succeeded in dividing the church. One group turned to Roman Catholic allegiance. In the 19th century British missionaries also did “mission” in the Indian Church, which led to the creation of the reformed Mar Thoma Church.

During the Portuguese persecution, the Indians who wanted to maintain their eastern and apostolic traditions appealed to several Oriental churches. Thus started the connection with the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, in 1665. It was a spiritual connection between sister churches at first, but gradually Syrian Patriarchs of Antioch began to exercise control and claim jurisdiction over the Indian church. Again the Indian Christians protested against foreign domination. Thus, in 1912, as a symbol of freedom, autocephaly and apostolic identity, the Catholicosate was established and an Indian Orthodox metropolitan was elected as the head (Catholicos) of the Malankara Church. A group continued to main­tain allegiance to the patriarchal claims and therefore litigation in courts occurred. In 1958 the Supreme Court declared its final verdict recognizing the Indian Catholicos as the rightful head of the church, and validating his legal rights as well as the constitution of the church. However, some of the old patriarchal loyalists continued to create division, though the church seeks reconciliation and peace.

The MOSC, sharing the nation’s history for 20 centuries, is fully integrated in the socio-cultural setting of India. Contributing to the field of education and health care, the church runs reputed medical and engineering schools in addition to hundreds of schools and technical institutes. It has two major seminaries with faculties at university level and has a 200-year old well-known lay theological edu­cation programme. The theological seminary in Kottayam runs a liturgical music school and other programmes in addition to its graduate and post-graduate courses in theology. The church has very active student and youth organizations. With a national mission board, the MOSC is very active in missionary and social witness, running homes for orphans, leprosy and HIV/AIDS patients, and bring­ing relief to victims of natural catastrophes.

Member of regional and local ecumenical bodies, the MOSC has always been very supportive of ecumenical initiatives. The church maintains official dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church. Through the Orien­tal Orthodox family, it is in dialogue with other church bodies also.

*Of which 100,000 in North America.

Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar

Church Family: Mar Thoma

Membership: 1,061,940*

Parishes: 1075

Dioceses: 11

Bishops: 10

Priests: 755

Member of: WCC (1948) – CCA – NCCI

Periodical: Malankara Sabha Tharaka (in Malayalam)

Until the 19th century the history of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Mal­abar coincided with the history of the Syrian Church in the southern part of India, which goes back to the beginning of Christianity. According to the tradition the Apostle St Thomas came to India in 52 AD and founded the church. At the begin­ning of the 17th century, when the Portuguese established their power on the west coast of India, they forced the church they found there to accept the jurisdiction of the pope in Rome. But in 1653 the church declared itself independent again. In the following period close links developed with the Church of Antioch. This explains the reference to “Syrian” in the names of several churches in India, espe­cially in the state of Kerala, which trace their history back to these common roots.

At the beginning of the 19th century the Syrian church came into contact with British missionaries, who established educational institutions and assisted the church with theological formation. The Bible was translated into the local lan­guage, Malayalam, in 1828. In 1836 a group of committed Christians initiated a movement of reformation in the church. They insisted on re-ordering its life and practice in the light of the scriptures. The reformed section of the church became known as the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar or simply the Mar Thoma Church. Institutions such as the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association (1888) and the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary (1927) were created and continue to pro­mote evangelical and ecumenical vision and commitment.

While retaining many of the traditional characteristics of the ancient Eastern church, the Mar Thoma Church keeps very close relations with Christian churches in other parts of the world. It is in full communion with the churches of the Anglican Communion and maintains special relations with the Episcopal Church in the USA and the Anglican churches in Australia and Canada, as well as with the Uniting Church in Australia. In India, the Joint Council of the Church of North India, the Church of South India and the Mar Thoma Church have declared themselves as the Communion of Churches in India (2003) as a further step towards visible unity. The Mar Thoma Church is fully involved in the ecu­menical movement and stands for active cooperation with other churches, as for example in the Nilackal Ecumenical Trust in Kerala.

Awake to missionary responsibility, the Mar Thoma Church is engaged in evan­gelism, education, technical training and medical work. It participates actively in the society. Its members form one of the most literate communities in the coun­try and contribute to the social and cultural advancement of the nation. The church maintains good relations with Hindus, Muslims and other religious groups. Issues like poverty, unemployment, injustice and violence have been taken up seriously for study and action. The church has a particular concern for the Dalits and other marginalized groups and is working for their empowerment. It runs orphanages, homes for the destitute and hospices and schools for physi­cally and mentally handicapped persons as well as for the blind and the deaf. New ventures are palliative and pain care, care for senior citizens, tribal children, drug

Asia

*Distribution:

India: 963,470

Asia (outside India): 25,000

Europe: 1,300

Middle East: 38,800

North America: 33,370

Methodist Church in India

Church Family: Methodist

Membership: 648,000

Regional Conferences: 12

Congregations: 2,460

Pastors: 2,156

Deaconesses: 168

Member of: WCC (1982) – CCA – NCCI – WMC

In 1856, the Methodist Episcopal Church from America started mission work in India. Methodist churches were established in cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore and other places throughout the country. The year 1870 marked the beginning of a new era. Special revival meetings were held which led the church out of its boundaries and gave it a national status. That same year edu­cational and medical work was started among women and girls. Evangelistic work in the villages of northern India resulted in the baptism of large numbers of people from among the deprived classes. Thus began the mass movement work, which has brought several hundreds of thousands of converts into the Methodist Church in the rural areas. In 1920 the Methodist Missionary Society was organized to supervise the missionary work in India. In 1930 the Central Conference of South­ern Asia elected the first national bishop. Since the independence of India in 1947 all bishops have been Indian nationals. Missionaries were sent to Borneo in 1956 and to the Fiji islands in 1963.

Since 1928, the MCI was engaged in union negotiations in North India. In 1970 the Central Conference voted against the plan of union, but dialogue with the Church of North India has been continued. In 1981 the Methodist Church in India was established as an “autonomous affiliated” church in relation with the United Methodist Church. This ushered in a new era for Indian Methodism. The church is now independent in its life and organization and has adopted its own consti­tution and Book of Discipline and Articles of Faith. The Methodist Church in India understands itself as the body of Christ in and for the world as part of the church universal. Its purpose is to understand the love of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, to bear witness of this love to all people and to make them his disciples.

The MCI runs 102 day boarding schools and 155 village schools in which over 60,000 children are enrolled; 89 residential hostels provide Christian care for 6,540 boys and girls. The church also operates 19 colleges and vocational training institutions, 25 hospitals and health care centres, and many community welfare and development programmes in the country.