History of Anglican Church of India

Brief History of Anglican Church of India (CIPBC)

The Church of India (CIPBC) (formerly the Church of England in India) is the original Anglican Church in India. The Anglican presence in India dates back four hundred years ago to 1600, when Queen Elizabeth I, was still on the throne of England. From that time until within living memory British Chaplains and missionaries arrived in ever increasing number, and were territory included not only India the first to minister to the expatriate British community and later to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Indian people themselves.

For the next ninety years that is until 1927 the Church of India was a Province of the Church of England, under the authority of the Crown and the British Parliament. Arising from the enactment of the Indian Church Measure, 1927 and the Indian Church Act, 1927 for the dissolution of its legal connection with the Church of England, the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon formed the ecclesiastical Province. It was the time it governed by its own very comprehensive “Constitution, Canons and Rules are binding on all members of the Anglican Church of India, that is all the clergy and lay people as well. It was the Government Church under Ecclesiastical department and Crown was the trustee of the Anglican Church.

It was described through the Acts and Measure cited above that the legal and administrative relations and connection with the Church of England were no more. The Anglican Church in India became autonomous Church body and followed the same Creeds, traditions, the Sacraments and Holy orders of men.

The modern world has changed the mind of religious leaders of the Church of England while the cool approval for women ordination was given by the Canterbury. Gradually the Church of England has adopted corner for same sex marriages and admission of same sex (gay) to the Holy Order of Priest-hood and Episcopates.

Indeed within a short time, 15 (of 35) Primates had declared that communion with Ingham and New Westminster was broken or badly damaged. The 15 Primates said that New West’s Bishop contemptuously ignored the Primates recent rejection of liturgies for same sex couples and Archbishop of Canterbury Williams earlier warnings that any repudiation of the Lambeth resolution would endanger "sacramental unity".

Liberal Canadian Primate Peers recently joined other Primates in endorsing a Pastoral letter that rejected public same-sex blessing rites, but later denied that the Pastoral was a direct and unanimous repudiation of such rites. One conservative leader thought that Peers should be reprimanded for his "bad faith", but the Primate is probably not worried: he retires in 2004. In 1987 the Anglican Church in Australia (ACA) split into two separate denominations. The larger part, the ACA, abandoned the traditional faith of the Church of England, but kept the property without any resolution. The smaller part, the Anglican Catholic Church, has for the moment lost that property, but was kept the traditional Anglican Faith. The case is different for the Anglican Church in India. It was Government Church and the Church properties were governed by Acts of Parliaments, Statutory Rules, Royal Charters and Gazette Notifications.

The Anglican Communion divided throughout the world. The Church of England has not maintained unity under the leadership of Archbishop of Canterbury because of change in biblical facts. The sufficient teaching of St. Paul is provided in New Testament of the Holy Bible keep the women and same sex away from the holy order of Priesthood and Episcopates.

What does it mean to be an Anglican? What holds the Anglican Communion together? A common Faith and Practice? Not any longer, when the official definition (by the Eames Commission) says that it is now only an "impaired Communion" (which must qualify as the ecclesiastical oxymoron of the decade). So what does hold it together – The Book of Common Prayer? Because that compendium of doctrine and worship. We generally talk for the Faith and doctrine, Creeds and rituals Sacraments and apostolic Ministry in traditional way. A commonly held summery of the Faith, such as the Lambeth Quadrilateral (Scripture, Creeds, Sacraments, Apostolic Ministry) or the Vincentian Canon? Obviously not, since certain items have been abandoned unilaterally by section of the Communion (which is why it is now "impaired".

The Anglican Church of India (CIPBC) is autonomous Church body having it's nine Bishops in valid apostolic succession. It has good relations to other Traditional Anglican denominations who continued in valid apostolic succession. The Anglican Church of India is affiliated to the Worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion of about 42 Anglican Churches. The Most Rev. John Hepworth is Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion.