Mizoram Presbyterian Church
| Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Calvinist |
| Scripture | Holy Bible |
| Polity | Presbyterian |
| Governance | Synod |
| Moderator | Rev Lalzuithanga |
| Associations |
Presbyterian Church of India North East India Christian Council National Council of Churches in India World Communion of Reformed Churches Christian Conference of Asia Council for World Mission |
| Region | Mizoram |
| Headquarters | Aizawl |
| Founder | Welsh Missionaries |
| Origin | 11 January 1894 |
| Branched from | Presbyterian Church of Wales |
| Members | 600,000 |
| Ministers | 506 |
| Hospitals | Synod Hospital, Durtlang |
| Official website | http://www.mizoramsynod.org |
Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod (Mizoram Presbyterian Kohhran Synod in Mizo) is the largest Christian denomination in Mizoram, northeast India. It was a direct progeny of the Calvinistic Methodist Church (officially named the Presbyterian Church of Wales in 1928) in Wales. It was the first church in Mizoram and is now one of the constituent bodies of a larger denomination Presbyterian Church of India (PCI), which has its headquarters in Shillong, Meghalaya. The administrative body called the Mizoram Synod has its headquarters at Mission Veng, Aizawl. As the first church, it remains the largest denomination in Mizoram.
In June 2012 the Mizoram Presbyterian Church revoked its official partnership with the Presbyterian Church of the USA with whom it formed alliance since 1999. In its 239th Executive Committee meeting, Mizoram Synod decided that ordination of gay clergy and practice of gay marriage recently endorsed by the North American church was against biblical teachings.
Mizoram Presbyterian Church was established and founded by Welsh missionaries. The Welsh church had formed Foreign Missionary Society in 1840 in Liverpool to provide missionaries to India. Chosen for Mizoram, Jones arrived in Aizawl on 31 August 1897. The pioneer missionaries F.W. Savidge and J. H. Lorrain, commissioned by Arthington Aborigines Mission, welcomed him and prepared him for his mission. The two missionaries had arrived in 1894 and started school, created Mizo script, and prepared grammar and dictionary. Jones stayed with them until the two departed on 31 December 1897 as Arthington Aborigines Mission handed over the mission field to Welsh Mission. On his birthday on 15 February 1898, Jones opened a school at his bungalow which was subsequently used as a congregational meeting place such as for worship and Sunday schools. In August 1897, the Welsh Mission had arranged a Khasi Christian Rai Bahadur and his family from Khasi Hills to help Jones, therefore the first enlisted members of the congregation consisted of 6 Khasis in addition to Jones and his wife.
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