Evangelical Church of Maraland is a church in southern

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

in northeast

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was founded by English missionary Reverend and Mrs Reginald Arthur Lorrain (brother of missionary

James Herbert Lorrain James Herbert Lorrain, or Pu Buanga, (6 February 1870 – 1 July 1944) was a Scottish Baptist missionary in northeast India, including Mizoram, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. He and Frederick William Savidge reduced the Lushai language (a Co ...

) in 1907. It is the largest church among the

Mara people The Mara are the native inhabitants of Mizoram in India, native to northeastern India, primarily in the Mara Autonomous District Council of the state of Mizoram, where they form the majority of the population. The Maras are related to Kuki and ...

. It is one of the three Mizoram churches pioneered by English missionaries in the 19th century; others are

Mizoram Presbyterian Church Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod (''Mizoram Presbyterian Kohhran Synod'' in Mizo language, Mizo) is the largest Christian denomination in Mizoram, northeast India. It was a direct progeny of the Calvinistic Methodist Church (officially named th ...

and Baptist Church of Mizoram.

History

Prior to his arrival in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, the Rev. Reginald Arthur Lorrain founded Lakher Pioneer Mission in 1905 in London. Two years later he arrived in Saikao (also known as Serkawr), a sleepy town in

Saiha district Siaha District is one of the eleven districts of Mizoram state in India. The district is bounded on the northwest by Lunglei district, on the north and west by Lawngtlai District and on the south and east by Myanmar. The district occupies an ...

. The church began as an Independent Church of Maraland (ICM) which later split into the Evangelical Church of Maraland, India ECMI and Congregational Church in India (Maraland); his ministry oversaw all the Mara-inhabited areas of British India that included Mara people in western Myanmar, which now function as a separate church under the name of Mara Evangelical Church after the partition of India in 1947. The church held a series of celebrations for the 100th year of the Gospel to the Mara people and land in September (26 September 2007) and November 2007. Rev. S.T. Zawsi is the present moderator of the Synod of the Evangelical Church of Maraland.

Association/membership

The Evangelical Church of Maraland (India) is a member of *

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

* India Evangelical Mission * All India Sunday School Union The church had more than 30,000 members and 74 congregations in 2004. It also has a partnership with Mara Evangelical Church in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Name

The Evangelical Church of Maraland (India) continues to use the word "Maraland" signifying the un-administered part of the world. Maraland was not part of any country until the British conquered the area inhabited by the

in 1922, whereas the church was already founded in 1907.

Theologians holding doctorate degrees

*Rev. Dr. T. Laikai, D.D (Senate of Serampore University, India), 2004. *Rev. Dr. M. Zakonia, D.Min (United Theological Open University, India), 2002. *Rev. Dr. Laiu Fachhai, D.Th (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), 2007. *Rev. Dr. S.T. Zawsi, D.Min (University of Jerusalem, India),University of Jerusalem, India official websit
www.ujglobal.org
/ref> 2012.

References

{{reflist

External links