The Arcot Mission of the

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 82,865 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...

was located in

Arcot Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, betwe ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

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 ...

. The mission was founded by the Scudder family including John Scudder Sr. (1793–1855) in 1851 in order to provide medical help and to proclaim love Christ through medical service. Through to the Indian Independence period, the Arcot mission was known for its medical care as well as giving good quality education to the oppressed communities in india.

Background

In 1819, John and Harriet Scudder arrived in India to start missionaries. Many years later in April 1846, the Scudders were asked to go to work at the newly established Madura Mission of the American Board. At the time, there was a

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epidemic and the Scudders were the only physicians available. This began the start of the Arcot Mission of the

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

. In 1851, the Arcot mission was approved for establishment and then it was only organized in 1853. From 1853 until 1857 the mission was administered by the ABCFM. Henry Martyn Scudder the eldest son of the Scudders, was the person who established the mission along with two of his brothers. Him, along with his wife moved to the

North Arcot District North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

and started a dispensary to both help the people and also to win their favor. The mission was a test to see missionaries can be run and started by members of the same family. If it worked or failed, it would set a precedent for other missionaries.

Mission

At one time the mission included 16 missionaries, 460 Indian agents, 114 non-Christian teachers, 2,305 communicants, and 10,060 Christians. The mission had multiple fundamentals to its existence including, "The preaching of the Gospel", "The preparation and extensive diffusion of Vernacular Tracts and Books", and "The education of those who join us". The missionary must preach to everyone in order to have the masses convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Arcot must also fuse both the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

views with the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Issues in the Missionary

A major issue, specific to India was the caste system. When people converted to Christianity they refused to give up their caste, especially if they were in a high caste. There were so many issues that in order to resolve this issue they set guidelines for people wishing to convert. This included that people needed to renounce the use of castes forever and the person had to renounce their caste again before they went to Communion (Page 34 of From Mission to Church). These rules became one of the utmost important policies of the Arcot Mission and were strictly followed.

Women's Roles in the Missionary

When the Arcot Mission was founded, women were not able to be missionaries. Therefore, the founding member of the mission are only men. Officially, Henry Martyn Scudder, William Waterbury Scudder, and Joseph Scudder are the founding members of the missionary. Their wives, however, played equally important role in the founding.

Legacy

"The mission built up an indigenous church in which the Indians had full membership and equality. Francis Clark, president of Christian Endeavor, visited Arcot. By 1950, the mission claimed to have 35,000 converted Indians. With its independence granted in 1947, India put restraints on missionary activities. The collection consists of books, booklets, brochures, magazine articles, maps, pamphlets, and reports."4. Hope College Digital Commons @ Hope College Collection Registers and Abstracts Archives and College History April 2012 W88-0312. Arcot Mission, India. Records, 1860-2011. 1.50 linear ft.

References

{{reflist Christian missions in India Vellore Christian medical missionaries Medical missions