History : Council of Mission
* The milestones of our faith journey
* Mott's visit
* Council of Mission
* Serving the Society
During its first nine years the National Council was a council of missions , not of churches. The members were representatives of missionary societies, and consequently for the most part missionaries.
The first secretary of the Council, Rev. H. Anderson , the India Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society without whom, as the editor of the Harvest Field later wrote, ‘the National Council would soon have ceased to exist.'
The Statement on Comity, adopted by the National Missionary Council in 1916 was a worthy document and was copied by mission councils in other countries. It laid down specific rules for arbitration and conciliation, territorial arrangements, transfer of mission workers and Church members, common salary scales for workers, etc. But above all it emphasized on ‘co-operative efforts' for the common purpose, the evangelization of India . Similarly in its conclusion it urged that the members come together for frequent consultation and common worship, as far as this was possible.
In the following years the Evangelistic Forward Movement made its mark on the churches in South India . The Committee arranged for special rural campaigns, weeks of evangelism, spread of literature, film shows, guest speakers and conferences for the ministers and for workers. Thousands of voluntary workers in all the churches participated in the new evangelistic efforts, and thousands of non-Christians were brought under Christian instruction. Even more significant was perhaps the result of the movement in terms of Church unity, in so far as it rightly can be called the beginning of the Church of South India . This was brought into focus especially through the ministerial conferences, which proved to be the cradle of the Church Union negotiations in South India . The famous Tranquebar meeting in May 1919 was one in a series of such conferences for ministers, arranged by the Evangelistic Forward Movement, and thus the formation of the Church of South India is, at least to some extent, an outcome of the missionary cooperation initiated by the National and Provincial councils.
Another very significant cooperative effort established by the Council in this period was in the field of Christian Literature. The fund was established finally in 1920 under the name, Indian Literature Fund , the constitution of which was adopted by the Council in 1923. Its capital was further increased through the efforts of William Paton and it soon became one of the most effective efforts of the Council. Its main function has been to receive reports from the Regional Literature Committees and to subsidize their books, tracts and magazines published in the vernaculars.
Parallel with the national movement went an increasing demand from Indian Christians for ‘Home Rule' in the Churches. Proposals for the formation of a National Church were brought forward again, and in the National Council Bishop Azariah continually reminded the missions of the rapid changes taking place in India . Thus the national movement forced the National Council to reconsider the entire character of the relationship between churches and missions.
In January 1923 the Council then met at Ranchi , for the last time as a ‘missionary council.' The name was changed to National Christian Council of India , Burma and Ceylon .
The meeting at Ranchi in 1923 is an important landmark in the history, not only of the NCC but of the Indian churches. What took place was more than a change in name and constitution; it was no less than a peaceful revolution in missionary thinking and policy. The missionary aim was no longer to be the spread of missions and missionaries, but the planting of the Church.
The period 1923-1941 might very well be described as the ‘Paton-Hodge' era in the history of the NCC after its two leading secretaries, William Paton (1923-1927) and J.Z. Hodge (1929-1941). Under the leadership of these two men, the NCC experienced a considerable expansion, not only in its activities, but also in its organization. Several new regional councils were added to those already existing, namely the Andhra Christian Council (1923), Santal Christian Council (1953), Utkal Christian Council (1938), and Karnataka Christian Council (1939) and their activity increased. Also the secretariat was expanded. |
