~ ..Lilil.Ie«Llrb Hom the OUJJUJ MISSIONARY RESEARCH LIBRARY 3041 BROADWAY, NEW YORK
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~ ..lIlIl.ie«llrB hom the OUJJUJ MISSIONARY RESEARCH LIBRARY 3041 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. N . Y. 10027 December 1970 Vol. XXI, No . 12 Library-3041 Broadway (at 120th Street). New York. N.Y 10027 Telephone: (Area 212) 662·7100 Editorial Office--Room 678. 475 Riv ers ide Drove. New York. N.Y 10027 Subscription: $3 a ye ar; 1-15 copies, 35¢ Telephone ' (Area 212) 870·2175 each; 16-50 copies, 25¢ each; Circulation Office--637 West 125th St .. New York. N.Y 10027 more than 50 copies, 15¢ each Telephone (Ar ea 212) 870·2910 CHURCH UNION MOVEMENTS IN SOUTHERN ASIA (Possibility of New Church/Mission Board Relationships) Wilfred Scopes Associate Secretary Sout hern As ia Of f ice The United Chur ch Board f or World Mi ni st ries United Church of Christ It may be r ec al led that i n 1947 a notable event took plac e in Protestant Church history vrhe n Epis copal and non-Episcopal Chur ches united for the first time through the formation of the CHURCH OF SOUTH I NDIA. Thi s event s t i mulated similar movements in adjoi ni ng ar eas , notably i n Pakist an , No r t h I ndi a and Ceylon , and we r ejoice that at least in two of the above ar eas the l ong negoti ati ons have now come t o fruition. THE CHURCH OF PAKISTAN \ ~o r d ha s been r eceived that this new Church was inaugurat ed on Novembe r 1st at Lah ore, We st Pakistan, the f our part i cipat ing Churches being: Anglican Church (C. I . P. B.C . ) Met hodi st Church of South Asia (MCSA ) United Church (Scottish and English Presbyterian s) Pakistan Lutheran Church The se t ogether r epresented a member shi p of 200, 000, and thus the nevr Church becomes the l ar gest non - Roman Chur ch in Pakistan. It i s hoped that in due course the Unit ed Pre sby terian Chur ch of Amer ican or igi n wi l l also decide t o j oin. For the present, f our dioceses ar e being organized in West Pakistan, and one in Ea st Paki st an , under the leadership of the first Moderator, the Rt. Rev. Inayat Masih, the f ormer Anglican bishop of Lahor e . He i s rightly determined that the life of the new Church will be r ooted and grounded in the life and culture of Pakistan. I n the course of t he inaugur at i on service the ministries of the participating Churche s 2 were united by an appropriate ceremony of "laying on of hands" - "seeking from God for our ministers whatever of the ~ullness of Christ's grace, commission and authority each may need for the performance of his proper office in the Church of Pakistan." Earlier the Churches had been united by the simple act of reading their resolutions. Although Protestant Christians in Pakistan have strong ties with their brethren in North India, the present political situation is such as to indicate that, at least for a time, fellowship between them will be limited. The presence of the Bishop of Iran at Lahore on November 1st, and his giving of the inaugural address testified to Pakistan's growing re lationship with Iran. Pakistan's President, General Yahya Khan, graciously sent a message of congratulations with the reassurance "that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan means to stand by its pledges to accord just and equal treatment to all people regardless of caste, creed or color." The Muslim composer of the national anthem, who was present, spoke briefly in praise of the movement to unity among Christians, hoping that Muslims would learn from their example. Bishop Masih who has reported all this adds, "Such national recognition of the tiny Chris tian community - less than 1% of Pakistan's population is Christian - must encourage those who fear that a State whose ideology is firmly Muslim is no place for Christians." He adds, "One relic from the national past has been pressed into service by the new Church to claim Pakistan for Christ. In 1935 a small cross was found in the excavation of the an cient city of Sarkup, near Taxila, and with some other objects indicates the presence of Christians in north-western Pakistan in the second century A.D., thus linking up with the legend of St. Thomas the Apostle as the evangelist of India. The Taxila Cross has been kept in Lahore Cathedral and is now used in the symbols for the new Church of Pakistan." THE CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA Word has also been received that this Church was duly inaugurated on November 29th at Nagpur, Central India, the six participating Churches being: Anglican Church (CIPBC) * Baptist Church (CBCNI) Church of the Brethren * Disciples Church * Methodist Church (British and Australasia Conferences) United Church of North India (UCNI) * Those marked with an asterisk are in part supported by one or more of the following North American Mission Boards: Anglican Church of Canada Church of the Brethren, General Board, USA Presbyterian Church of Canada, General Board of Missions United Christian Missionary Society (Disciples of Christ), USA United Church Board for World Ministries, USA United Church of Canada, The Board of World Mission United Presbyterian Church, USA It was hoped all along that the large Methodist Church in South Asia, related to the United Methodist Church in the USA would also be joining, but to the great regret of all the other churches, this has not proved possible, at least for the present. The estimated membership of the six uniting Churches is 700,000, now intermingled in 16 dioceses. As in the case of the new Church in Pakistan, all ministries were united during the service of Inauguration, by a laying on of hands. 3 THE OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW PATTERNSOF RELATIONSHIPS From time to time at temp ts have been made t o r e -examine and r e - defioe the r elation ship be t ween the Churche s in I ndia and their supporting Mission Boards . The complex a nd baffling nature of these r elation ships have l e f t the par t ne rs in co nve rsat ion frustrated, and at t i mes, estranged . Di s cus s i on and action have gone through the pha se s of "de volution ," "Partnership" a nd "J oint Action f or Mission ." Yet the picture in 1970 i s still that of Churches in India heavily dependent on the Mission Boards which are ever exposed to the charge of bei ng pater nal ists and dictators. The pre s sure s under which the Churche s i n India are living ar e recogni zed , e . g. national i stic asp i r at ion , gover nme ntal policie s, r e surgence of ol d religions, t he p sych ology of be i ng r e cipients. The r e are pres sur es also on Mission Boards, not onl y those arlslng in re sp on se t o t he above , but also those now ve ry evident on the "Home Front , " e .g . t he changi ng philosophy of missions , attitude of Church const i t ue nc ies e spe c i al l y i n the light of the gr ievous needs f or mission "at home," wi t h a de crea s ing support f or "wor l d mis sion ." At a me eting of Mis s i on Board Executives in December 1968, called by the Sout her n As i a De partment of DOM/NC C, Church-Mi s sion relationships were reviewed, and fol lowing a presen t ation by Mrs . Renuka Soma sekhar, the group agreed , among ot he r t hings : To investigate the pos sibilit y of cr eat i ng an I ndia of f ice in line with her chal l enge : "Can the mission boards now take a real l eap f'orward , a s f ar a s India i s co ncer ned , i n discontinuing their denominational India secretar iat a nd in joi ni ng togethe r in t he f ormation of one Indi a co ~~ i t tee in which the several secr e tar ies f r om t he var i ous denominational boar ds wou.Ld hold a "concer n" portfoli o for the whole of I ndia on behalf of all the co -operat i ng boards?" ( pp . 52- 53 of "Missi on wi t.h Integrity in India") It was at once evi de nt t hat the implement ation of this recommendation f or the whole of I ndia i s a t present i mpos sible, but conviction grew that the Inau gurati on of the Church of Nor t h India could provide an oppo r t uni t y t o initiate a whole new pattern of relat ions .i ps bet ween that Church and its suppor t i ng Mis sion Boar ds . The conviction wa s conf irrrled by t wo consultations with r epresentative s of the Negoti ati ng Committee, in October 15.16 9 at Seabur y House, Conn ., and in J anuary 1970 at Nagpur, Indi a. Thus , on the r e commendat i on of thi s me eting of December 1968, a CNI- Relat ed Churche s Com mi t t e e was set up , consisting of staf f membe rs of the se ven Nor t h Ame r ican Boards co n cerne d .