Presbyterian
Assembly House,
Central ward, Shillong,
Meghalaya-7893 001.
Ph: 0364-226828. Fa,: 0364-228166
Administrative
Secretary: Rev. D.C.Haia
History:- The Presbyterian Church of
India, which ahs assumed the name by a resolution of the Presbyterian Assembly
in 1992, is an offspring of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, which in turn, is
an outcome of the religious awakening in England and Wales during the 18th
century. The Presbyterian Church in India began with the mission work
of the ‘Welsh Calvinicstic Methodist or Pressbyterian Church of Wales’ in Khasi
Jainatia area (Meghalaya)
with the arrival of Rev. Thomas Jones and his wife in Khasi
Hills on June 22, 1914. The mission work expanded to Sylhet- Coacher plains, Cachar
Hills of Assam, Mizoram
and later to Manipur. With the rapid
progress of the work, the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Assam was officially constituted
in 1926.
In 1935 the Synod came to be called Assembly, and the Assemblies of the
time were renamed as Synods. Under the
institution of the Presbyterian Church of India, the Assembly is the supreme
body exercising authority over all the churches within its fold. It is the only authority to effect changes or
to modify the institution. Its
interpretation of any clauses thereof is final.
It functions as a coordinating body of the activities of the whole
church. It establishes new Synods whenever
necessary. It takes up matters between
the Presbyterian and other church bodies including ecumenical organizations
like Council for World Mission, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Christian
Conference of Asia, National Council of Churches in India, etc. of which the
Presbyterian Church of India is a member.
The Presbyterian Church of India is spread over a large area covering
the entire North Eastern part of India, comprising Assam, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. The Presbyterian Church of India has mission
stations in some of the major cities of India and even in Nepal, with more than one
thousand mission workers.
The Presbyterian Assembly operates from its central
office, Shillong, having two full time administrative
secretaries, namely Rev. D.C.Haia and Rev. W.C.Khongwir. The
administrative secretaries look after the day to day functioning of the
Presbyterian Church.
According to 1998 statistics the Presbyterian Church of India has a
total strength of 8,23,456
and 2,568 local churches. There are 580 ordained pastors. In the Church there are 23 languages and
dialects groups. Khasi,
Mizo, Kuki, naga, Karbi, Biate,
Hraugkhol, Assamese, Bengali, Dimasa,
Nepali are the main languages. The
official language is English.
There are five colleges, 49 High Schools, 133 Middle
Schools and 570 Primary Schools run by the Presbyterian Church of India.
The Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of India is
divided into six Synods for
administration and pastoral ministry.
