1.
Church Union Movements
1.1 Formation of South India United Church (SIUC)
The first decade of 20th century marked the beginning of the Church Union Movement in
India. In 1901, churches from the Am erican Arcot Mission and two Scottish Presbyterian
Missions (one from the Church of Scotland and one from the Free Church of Scotland) began
talking about joining together. These churches were mostly in and around a city called
Madras (now called Chennai). By 1904, these Presbyterian churches decided to join together
and formed a group called the all-India Presbyterian Union. In the following year, the
Congregationalists of the LMS and the American Madura Mission in Tamil Nadu also formed
into a union. In 1908, these Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches took a big step.
They combined their efforts and formed a new united church called the South India United
Church (SIUC). This was the first successful attempt at bringing different types of churches
together into one church in India.
The SIUC, while being a union of different denominations, had a majority of its members
coming from a Congregationalist background. The Jaffna Mission of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) joined the SIUC. The SIUC started
discussions with other Christian denominations to form a larger body known as ‘The
Federation of Christian Churches in India.’
During World War I (1914-1918), the Malabar area churches, which were under the Basel
Mission, were left without guidance and became known as ‘orphan’ churches. These churches
eventually joined the SIUC in March 1919, forming the Malabar Church Council. This
incorporation demonstrated the SIUC’s role in providing support and unity to otherwise
isolated Christian communities.
1.2 The United Church of North India (UCNI)
Soon after the formation of the SIUC, a parallel movement was going on in Northern India.
Eleven missions as The Church of Scotland, the American Presbyterian, the Canadian
Presbyterian, the New Zealand Presbyterian, the English Presbyterian, the Irish Presbyterian,
the Welsh Presbyterian, the American Evangelical and Reformed Church, the American
Marathi Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission, the London
Missionary Society, and the United Church of Canada were represented in it and it ultimately
resulted in the formation of the UCNI in 1924. Its area was stretching from Bengal and
Assam to Gujarat and the Punjab.
pg. 1
Both SIUC and UCNI can be called Federal Unions in view of their administrative structure.
pg. 2
