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. [1]
The North East India Christian Council (NEICC) was established on 23 November 1937 by the American Baptist Mission; the Santal Mission of the Northern Churches; the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Mission; the Co-operative Baptist Mission of North America- "the Mid Mission", the English Baptist Mission South Lushai Hills; the Church of God; the Welsh Presbyterian Mission; and the Church of India.
The Office Bearers are for a term of two years, except the General Secretary whose term is four years. The present Office Bearers for the term 2022-2024 are:
The Council has the following Committees:
Six Standing Committees as the following:
The Council has Women and Youth Assembly called NEICCWA and NEICCYA having separate functions and administration under the guidance of the NEICC. Each of them meets every two years in Biennial Assembly. Women Assembly has full-time Secretary and run a hostel for women. Both the assemblies often organize various programs for its members.
The Council meets once every two years in a Biennial Assembly in the third week of May in which each member Church and associate members send their representatives according to the basis of representation made by the Council.
The NEICC runs a College called, ‘the Union Christian College’ at Umiam Khwan (Barapani), Ri Bhoi district, Meghalaya, 27 km away from Shillong. It is fully residential and co-educational. It offers courses in Arts and Science and Commerce streams. It has been placed under the Deficit System of the Government of Meghalaya. A Chaplain and a Doctor is also posted to care for spiritual and physical life of the community. The College is affiliated to North Eastern Hill University (NEHU).
Along side the Union Christian College, NEICC also runs UCC Higher Secondary School offering Arts and Science streams.
All affiliated bodies observe the NEICC Day of Prayer, that falls annually on the third Sunday of October. Prayers are offered for the life and ministry of NEICC, sermons are preached on a selected theme for that day and special offerings are collected for NEICC funds. In some cities, Pulpit Exchange programs are practiced where preachers of NEICC units would go and preach in the pulpits of other denominations. This practice is highly beneficial for the promotion of unity and mutual understanding among the units.
Membership is open to any Protestant church in North East India with a membership of 5000 and above, that is recommended by a unit which is nearest to the applying body. At present, there are 55 units, 37 churches and 18 para-church organizations. The following is the list of NEICC as it stands in 2022:
Meghalaya is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills and (b) the Garo Hills on 21 January 1972. Meghalaya was previously part of Assam, but on 21 January 1972, the districts of Khasi, Garo and Jaintia Hills became the new state of Meghalaya. The population of Meghalaya as of 2014 is estimated to be 3,211,474. Meghalaya covers an area of approximately 22,430 square kilometres, with a length-to-breadth ratio of about 3:1.
Northeast India is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
Shillong is a hill station in the northeastern part of India and the capital of Meghalaya, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a population of 143,229 according to the 2011 census. It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the British of Scotland. Hence, they would also refer to it as the "Scotland of the East".
Ri Bhoi is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Nongpoh. The district occupies an area of 2378 km² and has a population of 258,840. As of 2011 it is the second least populous district of Meghalaya, after South Garo Hills.
Jowai is the headquarters of the West Jaintia Hills district of the state of Meghalaya, India, and is home to the Pnar, a sub-tribe of the Khasi people. It is located on a plateau surrounded on three sides by the Myntdu river bordering Bangladesh to the south. Due to its high altitude of 1365 m above sea level, Jowai experiences warm summers with cool to chilly winters.
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& Nagaland and significant minorities in Konkan division, Bengal, Kerala& Tamil Nadu, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants today trace their heritage back to the Protestant Revolution of the 16th century and Ancient Christianity in the Indian Subcontinent.
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 was the first church in Mizoram 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 Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) is a mainline Protestant church based in India, with over one million adherents, mostly in Northeast India. It is one of the largest Christian denominations in that region.
The Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council is a militant organization operating in Meghalaya, India. It claims to represent the Khasi-Jaintia tribal people, and its aim is to free Meghalaya from the alleged domination of outsiders from the Indian mainland. It was proscribed in India on 16 November 2000, but the ban was later lifted, before banning it again in 2019.
Dr. H. Gordon Roberts Hospital, Shillong, or KJP Hospital, is one of the oldest medical centres in Meghalaya. This Christian institution was founded by Dr. Hughes Gordon Roberts and is located in the city of Shillong in the north east of India.
Biate is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Biate people in several parts of Northeast India: in Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura. Biate is pronounced as Bia-te.
William Williams was a Welsh Presbyterian missionary to Khasi Hills, northeast India, in the late 19th century. He was a son of a ship captain in Nanternis, a small village in Wales. Following his father's footstep he became a sailor for five years. Then he took a profession in carpentry for two years. After graduating in theology from East London Missionary Training Institute he became a pastor. Pursuing his ambition he became a missionary of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Foreign Mission to Khasi people in India from 1887 until his death. He died of typhoid in 1892.
Evangelization of indigenous population to Christianity began in the 19th century under the British era. In the 1830s, American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society had become active in Northeast to evangelize indigenous tribes to Christianity. Later, they were offered to expand and reach into Cherrapunji Meghalaya, but they lacked the resources to do so and declined. Welsh Presbyterian Mission took the offer and they began work at the Cherrapunji mission field. By the early 1900s, other Protestant denominations of Christianity were active in Meghalaya. The outbreak of World Wars forced the preachers to return home to Europe and America. It is during this period that Catholicism took root in Meghalaya and neighbouring region. Currently, Catholics, Presbyterians and Baptists are three most common Christian denominations found in Meghalaya.
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. Christianity arrived as a consequence of tribal warfare, raids of British plantations, and the ensuing punitive British military expedition 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.
Northeast India consists of the eight states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Tourism in this area is based around the unique Himalayan landscape and culture distinct from the rest of India.
National Twipra Christian Fellowship (NTCF) is an association of Christian church fellowships in India and Bangladesh composed of Tripuri Christians. NTCF was founded on 20 August 2011 and the present leadership is at Shillong, Meghalaya. There at present 18 city fellowships which are associated with the NTCF as of 2017. The Annual NTCF Conference is the main program of the organization which is organized in a selected city in India.
The hill tribes of Northeast India are hill people, mostly classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs), who live in the Northeast India region. This region has the largest proportion of scheduled tribes in the country.