CNI - Church of North India

With a view to Church Union in North India the series of consultations began in 1929. A negotiating committee was constituted in 1951 by the Church bodies concerned. They were the Church of Northern India, the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, the Methodist Church in Southern Asia and the Council of the Baptist Churches in Northern India. In 1957, the Church of the Brethren and the Disciples of Christ also joined in the negotiations. The plan reached its fourth and final edition in 1965 and, on that basis, the Church Union in North India was inaugurated on 29 November, 1970 in Nagpur.

The concern for unity of the Church grew out of a zeal for the mission of the Church, because a divided Church could not bear witness to the one Gospel and the one Lord in a country like India with diverse religions, languages, races and cultures. Through the process of negotiations and prayerful seeking of the guidance of Holy Spirit unity was achieved in the understanding and practice of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, the three-fold ministry of Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons and in the organizational structures of Pastorates, Dioceses and the Synod, Episcopacy was received and accepted as both constitutional and historic. 

With a Vision "To be a transformed and transforming community towards the establishment of the reign of God' and a Mission of "Equipping the primary constituency (Laity, Clergy, Women, Youth and Children) to be effective leaders / enablers in living and communicating "the evangel", the Church of North India, has objectives:

• To conscientize the people of God to transform the life towards its fullness 

• To strategize/plan/develop/initiate/facilitate/monitor and evaluate programmes at different levels to fulfill the mandate of the Church

With one of the strategies of being in solidarity with people's struggle and movements, CNI is engaged in orienting and reorienting the people of God to protect and promote "Life in its fullness" through the several streams of Mission. They are: Children's Concern, Women & Gender Concern, Youth Concern, Peace & Interfaith Concern, Subaltern Concern, Local Congregation Concern and Human Potential Development Concern.

Mission Statement:
"The Church of North India as a United and Uniting together is committed to announce the Good news of the reign of God inaugurated through death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in proclamation and to demonstrate in actions to restore the integrity of God's Creation through continuous struggle against the demonic powers by breaking down the barriers of caste, class, gender, economic inequality and exploitation of the nature"