St Paul's Church, Diu

Christianity is practiced by 0.5% of the population of the state of Gujarat in India. The French or Catalan Dominican missionary Jordanus Catalani was the first European to start conversion in Gujarat region. He arrived in Surat in 1320. The Portuguese controlled the coastal area of Daman and Diu on the Gujarat coast for many centuries, and brought Catholicism with them. They began the first conversions of local population to Christianity.

Christians in Gujarat
YearNumberPercentage
2001[1]
284,092
0.56
2011[2]
316,178
0.52

History

The Charter Act of 1813 passed by the British parliament curtailed the power of the East India Company and allowed entry of christian missionaries to areas controlled by the company.[3] Notable early Missionaries included John Taylor M. D. (d. 1821), Joseph Taylor (d. 1852), his son J. V. S. Taylor (d. 1881) the translator of the Gujarati Bible "Old Version" (1861, rev. 1899), and his grandson George Pritchard Taylor (b. 1854) author of a Gujarati grammar. Missionaries established schools in the first half of the 20th century.[4] Gujarati Christian and Khristie Bandhu are Gujarati Protestant monthlies published from Ahmedabad, with Khristie Bandhu being an older publication than Gujarati Christian. Doot is Gujarati Catholic monthly published from Anand, Gujarat since January 1911.[5]

Denominations

Roman Catholicism

The Catholic church in the state is governed from three ecclesiastical districts. These are the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahmedabad, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baroda, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Rajkot

Protestant churches

The Protestant Church of North India has jurisdiction over Diocese of Gujarat. The Methodist Church in India, one of the largest Protestant Christian denominations, also has a Diocese of Gujarat. The Salvation Army and The Christian and Missionary Alliance Church churches too can be found in the state.[6]

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

The Malakara Syrian Church in the state is governed by Orthodox Diocese of Ahmedabad.

Other denominations

Apart from this many free or independent churches are prominent in the state including many designated as Bible Churches. Although small in number they are very strong in their ideas adhering to The Holy Bible. Gandhinagar, the capital city of the state of Gujarat, is a home to Green City Bible Church, stationed on the prominent Sarkhej - Gandhinagar Highway.

The state has anti-conversion legislation.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Total population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Indian Census 2011". Census Department, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Viswanathan, Gauri (1989). Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 23.
  4. ↑ http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/138/1/WRAP_Hardiman_9971617-050208-Christianity_and_Adivasis_2.pdf
  5. ↑ "'Doot' has a message, launches its 100th edition in Ahmedabad". dna. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  6. ↑ World Christian Encyclopedia , Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 370-371
  7. ↑ "Indiase deelstaat verbiedt bekering - Kerknieuws - Kerk & Religie". Refdag.nl. 2006-09-21. Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
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