Anglican Church of India
| Anglican Church of India | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Continuing Anglican |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Moderator | Stephen Vattappara |
| Distinct fellowships | Anglican Church of Virginia, Anglican Church International Communion |
| Associations | International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC), Council of Christian Churches of India (CCCI) |
| Region | India and the United States |
| Origin | 24 August 1964 Kerala |
| Merger of | Churches separated from CSI and CNI |
| Congregations | 800 |
| Members | 500,000 |
| Ministers | 150 |
| Missionaries | 5 |
The Anglican Church of India (ACI) is a union of independent Anglican churches in India. It is not currently a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion whose titular leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In 1947, the Church of South India (CSI) was formed in newly independent India as a united church of Anglicans, Baptists, Basel Mission, Lutherans and Presbyterians. The Church of South India accepted an order of uniformity in worship and practice which was at odds with some aspects of Anglican tradition. Traditional Anglicans in the CSI did not accept this and there was a provision for separation within a period of 30 years from the CSI. Therefore, in 1964, some Anglicans decided to withdraw from the CSI and re-established the Anglican Church of India on 24 August 1964.
Stevie was consecrated as a bishop by Anglican bishops from the United States and Africa and also by an "Anglicanised" Evangelical bishop from Kerala, India, on 5 May 1966.
Even though the church was re-established in 1964, the synod of the Anglican Church of India was only formed in 1990 at Kottayam. The synod consists of all the diocesan bishops, clergy secretaries, lay leaders of the dioceses and church-related organisations and representatives of each diocese and independent churches. Independent churches function where there are not enough congregations to form a diocese and are also given representation in the synod. Archbishop Stephen Vattappara serves as the chairman of the synod and also as the Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of India.
The foundation of the ACI's faith is contained in what is known as the Lambeth Quadrilateral accepted by the Church of England in 1888 which states:
Among other equally important biblical beliefs, ACI accepts:
The head of the Anglican Church of India [Church of England in India] was the Bishop of Calcutta. His title was metropolitan. In 1947 this ceased to exist as the mainstream of Anglican Churches joined the Church Unions of South and North India [the present CSI and CNI]. They call their heads moderators. But when the ACI formed its synod in 1990 it decided to bring back the title of metropolitan.
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