The National Council of Churches in India is an ecumenical forum for Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. It provides a platform for member churches and organizations to act on common issues relating to Christianity in India.

History

The Council was established in 1914 as the "National Missionary Council." In 1923, the Council constituted itself as the "National Christian Council of India, Burma and Ceylon," with the British ecumenist William Paton as its first general secretary. The Councils of Burma and Sri Lanka separated, and in 1979 the Council transformed itself into what is known as the "National Council of Churches in India."

Description

Today, it is an Inter-confessional autonomous Council and an ecumenical expression constantly initiating, promoting and coordinating various forms of ministries of Witness and Service in the wider community and society. The Council also serves as a common platform for thought and action and as such it brings together the Churches and other Christian organisations for mutual consultation, assistance and action in all matters related to the life and witness of the Churches in India. The NCCI is committed to the Gospel values of Justice, Unity & Peace. The Council embraces, promotes and coordinates various kinds of activities for responsible life and witness, for upholding human dignity, for ecological and economic justice, for transparency and accountability, and for equity and harmony, through its constituent members and in partnership with civil society, NGOs, People’s Movements and well wishers at local, national and international levels. The member churches and the regional councils are the primary members of the council. The Assembly which is the supreme body meets every four years. The Executive Committee meets annually to oversee the work of the Council and also appoints the Working Committee which meets twice in a year to guide and monitor its activities.

Concerns

For operational efficiency, the NCCI works through four thematic concerns related to the objectives of the organisation, as well as the agencies and autonomous bodies that have evolved from the NCCI *Concerns ** Policy, Governance and Public Witness, ** Dalit and Tribal/ Adivasi Concerns, ** Women Concerns, ** Youth Concerns, ** Ecumenical Fora In addition to the Concern of the NCCI, the following organisations have evolved out of the NCCI and operate independently, *Agencies ** All India Sunday School Association (AISSA),

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

, ** Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society (CISRS),

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, ** Christian Literature Society (CLS),

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, ** Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI),

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, ** Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA),

, ** Ecumenical Church Loan Fund - India (ECLOF),

, **

Henry Martyn Henry Martyn (18 February 1781 – 16 October 1812) was an Anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of India and Persia. Born in Truro, Cornwall, he was educated at Truro Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. A chance e ...

Institute, International Center for Theological Research, Interfaith Relations and Reconciliation,

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. *Autonomous bodies ** Urban Rural Mission (URM), ** India Peace Centre (IPC),

Members

The NCCI has a membership from the Protestant and Orthodox Church societies as well as national organisations and the internal wings of the NCCI.

Church societies

Church societies: *

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) was constituted in the year 1927 in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the Indian successor to the United Lutheran Church in America which was started as a self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating ...

, * Arcot Lutheran Church, *

Baptist Church of Mizoram Baptist Church of Mizoram is a Baptist Christian denomination in India. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Lunglei, Mizoram. History The Baptist Church of Mizoram has its origins in an English Baptist m ...

, * Bengal Orissa Bihar Baptist Convention, *

Believers Eastern Church Believers Eastern Church (BEC, previously Believers Church) is a church of Indian origin with congregations and parishes worldwide. It follows an episcopal governance and structure. It holds Christ as its head () and further requires that bisho ...

* Chaldean Syrian Church of the East, *

Church of North India The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united and uniting churches, united Protestant church in northern India. It was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together most of the Protestant churches working in northern India. It i ...

, *

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant denominations in South India that occurred after the independence of India. With a membership of over 4.5 million, it ...

, *

Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars The Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars (CBCNC) is a Baptist Christian denomination in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The churches are part of the Telugu Christian community of Southern India. Its language is Telugu. It is affil ...

, *

Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India The Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India is a Baptist Christian denomination in North East India. It is a member of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation. It is also a member body of the North East India Christian Council, the regional co ...

, * Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madhya Pradesh, *

Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Christian denomination in India. It has about 40,000 members. Its headquarters is in Bhadrachalam, Telangana. It has been founded in 1972. It is led by T. Esther Rani. The other churches belonging to ...

, *

Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam The Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam (GELC) is a major Christianity, Christian Protestant denomination in India, with hundreds of thousands of members. It was established on 2 November 1845. The church is affiliated w ...

, * Hindustani Covenant Church, *

India Evangelical Lutheran Church The India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) is a confessional Lutheran Christian church body of India headquartered in Tamil Nadu. It belongs to the International Lutheran Council and the Lutheran World Federation. It has three synods, named Am ...

, *

Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church is a major Lutheran Christian denomination in India. It was established in 1882. At that time, the founder of The Schleswig Holstein Evangelical Lutheran Mission Society of Germany (SHELM) in Germany was Pastor ...

, *

Malabar Independent Syrian Church The Malabar Independent Syrian Church (MISC), also known as the Thozhiyur Church, is a Christian church centred in Kerala, India. It is one of the churches of the Saint Thomas Christian community, which traces its origins to the evangelical ac ...

, *

Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, also known as the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church in India is an autonomous maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch base ...

, *

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...

, *

Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India''. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malab ...

, *

Mennonite Brethren Church The Mennonite Brethren Church is an evangelical Mennonite Anabaptist movement with congregations. History The conference was established among Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites in 1860. During the 1850s, some Mennonites were influenced by ...

, *

Mennonite Church in India The Mennonite Church in India (Bharatiya Mennonite Church in India ki Pratinidhi Sabha) is a Mennonite denomination of India. The number of its members is about 3,500. It has 19 congregations. Its bishop has his seat at the town of Dhamtari in Ch ...

, *

Methodist Church in India Methodist Church in India is a Protestant Christian denomination of India. The Methodist Church in India's roots originate in American Methodist missionary activity in India, as opposed to the British and Australian conferences of the Metho ...

, *

Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church (NELC) is a multi-lingual Lutheran Christian church that is centred mainly in four states of North India - Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Bengal. The reach of the Church extends into Nepal and the NEL ...

, *

Presbyterian Church of India The Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) is a mainline Protestant church based in India, with over 1.6 million adherents, mostly in Northeast India. It is one of the largest Christian denominations in that region. Origin and history In 1799, Seram ...

, *

St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (STECI) is an Oriental Protestant (Reformed Orthodox) episcopal denomination based in Kerala, India. The church originated from a schism in the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1961 and forms a part ...

South Andhra Lutheran Church South Andhra Lutheran Church is a Christian denomination in India. It is Telugu language, Telugu-speaking. It is led by Bishop Rev.E.Vijayabhasker, who was elected by an election. It has tens of thousands of members. It belongs to the Lutheran Wo ...

, *

Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church The Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Christian denomination in south India, which was established in 1919 and has approximately 500,000 members. Its headquarters is in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the prominent mainline Lutheran c ...

, * The National Organisation of the

New Apostolic Church The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian denomination, Christian church of the Catholic Apostolic Church, Irvingian tradition. Its origins are in 1863, in the split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during a schism in Hamburg, Ger ...

, *

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...

Other national societies

Other national societies:

Regional Councils of Churches

Regional councils of churches:NCCI Affiliates and Network - Regional Christian Councils
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References

{{coord missing, Maharashtra Christian organizations established in 1914 1914 establishments in British India Churches in India Christian organisations based in India

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Affiliated institutions of the National Council of Churches in India