Evangelical Church of Maraland is a church in southern Mizoram in northeast India. It was founded by English missionary Reverend and Mr Reginald Arthur Lorrain (brother of missionary James Herbert Lorrain) in 1907. It is the largest church among the Mara people. It is one of the three Mizoram churches pioneered by English missionaries in the 19th century; others are Mizoram Presbyterian Church and Baptist Church of Mizoram.
Prior to his arrival in British India, the Rev. Reginald Arthur Lorrain founded Lakher Pioneer Mission in 1905 in London. [1] Two years later he arrived in Saikao (also known as Serkawr), a sleepy town in Siaha district of Mizoram. The church began as an Independent Church of Maraland (ICM) which later split into the Evangelical Church of Maraland, India ECMI and Congregational Church in India (Maraland); his ministry oversaw all the Mara-inhabited areas of British India that included Mara people in western Myanmar, which now function as a separate church under the name of Mara Evangelical Church after the partition of India in 1947.
The church held a series of celebrations for the 100th year of the Gospel to the Mara people and land in September (26 September 2007) and November 2007.
Rev. S.T. Zawsi is the present moderator of the Synod of the Evangelical Church of Maraland.
The Evangelical Church of Maraland (India) is a member of
The church had more than 30,000 members and 74 congregations in 2004. [2] It also has a partnership with Mara Evangelical Church in Myanmar.[ citation needed ]
The Evangelical Church of Maraland (India) continues to use the word "Maraland" signifying the un-administered part of the world. Maraland was not part of any country until the British conquered the area inhabited by the Mara people in 1922, [3] whereas the church was already founded in 1907.
The Mara people are an ethnic group of Mizoram state, India and, Chin state, Myanmar.
Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) is one of the three Autonomous District Councils within Mizoram state of India. It covers Siaha subdivision and Tipa subdivision of Siaha district. Primarily, an autonomous administrative government meant for the Mara people living in the state. It is situated at the southern tip of Mizoram state bordering Myanmar. Its autonomy was established and carved out from the erstwhile Pawi-Lakher Regional Council on 29 May 1971 and separated the next year as Lakher Autonomous District Council, and renamed to its current name in 1988. It covers 1445 square kilometres.
Protestants in Myanmar make up 5% of that nation's population in 2023. Most Christians are from the minority ethnic groups such as Karen, Lisu, Kachin, Chin, and Lahu. An estimated 0.1% of the Bamar population is Christian.
Baptist Church of Mizoram is an association of Baptist Christian churches in India. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Lunglei, Mizoram.
The history of Mizoram encompasses the history of Mizoram which lies in the southernmost part of northeast India. It is a conglomerate history of several ethnic groups of Chin people who migrated from Chin State of Burma. But information of their patterns of westward migration are based on oral history and archaeological inferences, hence nothing definite can be said. The recorded history started relatively recently around the mid-19th century when the adjoining regions were occupied by the British monarchy. Following religious, political and cultural revolutions in the mid-20th century majority of the people agglomerated into a super tribe, Mizo. Hence the officially recognised settlement of the Mizos became Mizoram.
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute is an ecumenical seminary situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India. It is affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University).
Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of Christians in India and also to a certain extent the Christians in Pakistan before the Partition of India, that adhere to some or all of the doctrines of Protestantism. Protestants in India are a small minority in a predominantly Hindu majority country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. They are also significant minorities in Punjab region, Konkan region, Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants can trace their origins back to the Protestant Revolution of the 16th century. There are an estimated 20 million Protestants and 16 million Pentecostals in India.
Mizoram Presbyterian ChurchSynod is the largest Christian denomination in Mizoram, northeast India. It was a direct progeny of the Calvinistic Methodist Church in Wales. It is one of the two churches founded by the missionaries and is now one of the constituent bodies of a larger denomination Presbyterian Church of India (PCI), which has its headquarters in Shillong, Meghalaya. The administrative body called the Mizoram Synod has its headquarters at Mission Veng, Aizawl. As the first church, it remains the largest denomination in Mizoram.
The National Council of Churches in India is an ecumenical forum for Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. It provides a platform for member churches and organizations to act on common issues relating to Christianity in India.
Darling or Dawlei is a Mara village in Matupi township of Chin State in western part of Myanmar, earlier known as Burma. Locally, the Mara natives called it Dawlei, and its transliteration in Hakha dialect is Darling.
Telugu Christians or Telugu Kraistava are a religious community who form the third-largest religious minority in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. According to the 2001 Census of India, there are over a million Christians in Andhra Pradesh, constituting around 1.51% of the state's population. This is a decrease from the 1971 census figure which put the percentage of Christians in state as 2%, and this decrease is mainly a result of low birth rates and emigration.
Mara Evangelical Church, or MEC in short, is one of the churches in Myanmar, formerly Burma, founded by English missionaries Reverend and Mrs. Reginald Arthur Lorrain in the year 1907. It is one of the oldest churches in Chin state, Myanmar. It was part of the unified Mara Church among the Mara people until it had to become independent after India and Myanmar attained independence from the British Raj in 1947. The Mara Church in India became the Evangelical Church of Maraland and Congregational Church of India, Maraland (CCI-M), while the one in Myanmar became MEC.
James Herbert Lorrain, or Pu Buanga, was a Scottish Baptist missionary in northeast India, including Mizoram, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. He and Frederick William Savidge reduced the Lushai language to writing—devised an alphabet using Roman lettering and phonetic form of spelling based on Hunterian system translation; compiled grammar and dictionaries for missionary activities and clerical administration.
The Congregational Church of India (Maraland) is located in Saikao (Serkawr), in the southern part of Mizoram Northeast India. Founded in 1907 by foreign missionary Reginald Arthur Lorrain (brother of Missionary James Herbert Lorrain) this church initially established its headquarters office in Saikao (Serkawr) and stands as the original missionary establishment.
North East India Christian Council (NEICC) is a Protestant ecumenical council of North East India, affiliated to the National Council of Churches in India as one of the regional councils in the year 1939.
Frederick William Savidge was a pioneer English Christian missionary in northeast India. He and James Herbert Lorrain brought Protestantism to Mizoram, and some parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Together they were entirely responsible for the creation of written language in Mizo, beginning of literacy, origin of formal education and establishment of churches in Mizoram. They devised the original Mizo alphabets based on Roman script, prepared the first book and dictionary in Mizo, started the first school among the Mizos. Mizoram has become the most Christian populated state in India. As a professional educator Savidge was single-handedly responsible for introducing quality education in Mizoram. He is deservedly known as the Father of Mizo Education.
The history of Christianity in Mizoram covers the origin and development of all forms of Christianity in Mizoram since the British occupation at the end of the 19th century until Indian Independance. Christianity arrived due to British intervention in tribal warfare, raids of British plantations. The ensuing punitive British military expedition was called the Lushai Expedition of 1871. The subsequent annexation of the erstwhile Lushai Hills to the British Empire opened the gateway for British Christian missions to evangelise the Mizo people.
The Kretzmann Commission was a 1969 commission of the Andhra Christian Theological College, in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was formed in 1969 by the college's board of governors to survey and study the task of theological education in the Churches related to the College Society.
The following websites contain a good articles and information on Evangelical Church of Maraland (India):