Presbyterian Church of India
| Presbyterian Church in India | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Theology | Reformed Evangelical |
| Polity | Presbyterian |
| Moderator | Rev. Laldawngliana |
| Associations | World Reformed Fellowship, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Council for World Mission, National Council of Churches in India |
| Region | India |
| Founder | Rev. Thomas Jones and D. E. Jones |
| Origin | 1841 India |
| Branched from | Presbyterian Church of Wales formerly Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church |
| Congregations | 2,931 (2012) |
| Members | 1,271,473 (2012) currently well over 1,3 million |
| Ministers | 899 |
The Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) is one of the mainline Protestant Churches in India, with over one million adherents, mostly in Northeast India. It is one of the largest Christian denominations in that region.
In 1799 Serampore was a protectorate of Denmark. The early British rulers of India were not in favour of Christian missionaries being active in India, but William Carey (1761-1834) established a mission at Serampore in 1799 which became known as the cradle of Modern Missions. Two Khasi were converted through the ministry of Krishna Chandra Pal,who was deputised by William Carey in 1813, and worked at the trading outpost of Pandua, situated in the Sylhet Plains. The same year a mission station was opened at Jowai in the Jaintai Hills. William Carey, heartened by the efforts of Krishna Pal, began a translation of the Bible into Khasi using Bengali script. In 1832 Carey sponsored Alexander B. Lish as a missionary at Cherrapunjee. Lish stayed six years, learning the language, opening schools, and translating the New Testament into Khasi, using Bengali script. This script was unknown to the Khasi at that time, which perhaps accounts, in part, for Lish's lack of converts. So began the history of the missionary efforts of the Welsh in Khasiland. The Secretary of the Welsh Mission, the Reverend John Thomas Jones from Aberriw in Wales who had a strong desire to work in India had applied to the LMS on medical grounds. Reverend Jones managed to obtain support from his congregation and incorporated The Welsh Missionary Society and they sent him to work in the Khasi Hills
The Foreign Missions enterprise of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church (later known as the Presbyterian Church of Wales) began at Liverpool in 1840. Earlier this church had supported the work of the London City Missionary Society both in terms of home support and also in overseas agency—four Calvinistic Methodists were sent out by the LMS in the years up to 1840. However, there arose a feeling among Welsh Calvinists, especially those in North Wales, that the Welsh Calvinists were not being sufficiently represented in the LMS and that, moreover, the Methodist Churches had not done what they ought to have done in evangelising the Heathen world. A former London City Missionary by the name of Jacob Tomlin had toured the Khasia Hills before 1840 and recommended that the Welsh Calvinists adopt this area as its first mission. The area had been brought under British domination with a military satation at Chrrapunji. In 1874 the Khasia and Jaintia Hills and the plains of Assam were designated the Province of Assam. The first missionary, Rev. Thomas Jones, left with his wife for Cherrapunji in November 1840. They arrived at the reputedly rainiest plain on earth in June 1841. The Rev. Jones learned the Khasi language and after one year opened schools with his publication: First Khasi Reader. The Reverend was aided by a number of other Welsh missionary workers and the first two converts to the Christian faith from Khasiland were baptised in March 1846.
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Wikipedia