The Church of India (CIPBC) 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 numbers, and were the first to minister to the expatriate British community, and later to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Indian people themselves.
In 1813 when the Charter of East India Company was being renewed, strong endeavours were made by a section of the Church in England to have a Bishopric established in Calcutta. The Bill establishing the Bishopric of Calcutta was eventually passed through the House of Commons and it made provision for Bishop of Calcutta as well as for Archdeacons of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Thus the Diocese of Calcutta was established in 1813; its territory included not only India but also those countries known today as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and also from 1824 to 1836, Australia as well. On November 28, 1815, Dr. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, the first Bishop of Calcutta arrived in India.
About 1833 a Bill for renewal of the East India Company’s Charter was introduced in the Parliament. This bill was a source of great joy to Bishop Wilson, as it empowered His Majesty to divide the Diocese of Calcutta, to erect Calcutta into a metropolitan See, and to appoint two Suffragan Bishops, one for Madras and another for Bombay. The Bill got passed through the Parliament on the 21st of August, 1833. And thus Bishop Daniel, the Bishop of Calcutta became the first Metropolitan of India ex-officio in 1835. Archdeacon Corrie of Calcutta was appointed as the first Bishop of Madras in 1835 and Archdeacon Carr was appointed as the Bishop of Bombay in 1837.
On the 10th of October 1835 the Metropolitical See of Calcutta was formed into a Province of the Church of England namely “The Church of England in India” by letters Patent. For the next ninety years, which 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. Thereafter other dioceses were established. The diocese of Colombo in 1845, the diocese of Lahore in 1877, the diocese of Rangoon in 1877, the diocese of Travancore and Cochin in 1879, the diocese of Chota Nagpur in 1890, the diocese of Lucknow in 1893, the diocese of Tinnevelly in 1896, the diocese of Nagpur in 1903, the diocese of Dornakal in 1912, the diocese of Assam in 1915, the diocese of Nasik in 1929, the diocese of Bhagalpur in 1943, the diocese of Delhi in 1947, the diocese of Kurunagala in 1950, the diocese of Amritsar in 1953, the diocese of Dacca in 1956, the diocese of Barrackpore in 1956. Later on the dioceses of Mandalay, Karachi and Nandyal were established.
The Indian Church measure was passed on 23rd November 1927 by the National Assembly of the Church of England to provide for the dissolution of the legal union between the Church of England and The Church of England in India, and to make provisions consequential thereon. On the 22nd of December 1927, The Parliament of England passed an enactment known as the Indian Church Act of 1927. The Indian Church Act, 1927 (17 & 18 Geo.5, CH.40) makes the provision incidental to and consequential on the dissolution of the legal union between the Church of England and the Church of England in India. By means of the Indian Church Act of 1927 the Province of The Church of India, Burma and Ceylon came under the administration of Indian Church Act of 1927. The date of dissolution of legal union between Church of England and Church of England in India was later on fixed through notification dates 15the of February 1930 and the date of severance was notified as 1st day of March, 1930. Hence in 1930 a new, independent Church was formed-the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon. After the independence of India and creation of Pakistan in 1947 it became Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (CIPBC). Until 1930 the Province of India was the 3rd Province of the Church of England with its Metro political establishment at Calcutta.
With the enactment of the Indian Church Measure and the Indian Church Act 1927 for the dissolution of its legal connection with the Church of England, Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon adopted the constitution Cannon and Rule on the Thirty First day of January 1930 in the General Council assembled in Calcutta. And the said Constitution, Cannons and Rules came into force on Thirtieth March 1930. The Church of India Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon is being administered by the Constitution, Canons and Rules. It is binding on all its members.
The Church of India (CIPBC) continues to receive a measure of legal protection under the terms of the Indian Church Measures of 1927 and the Indian Church Act of 1927. After the Indian Church Act 1927 it was enacted that upon the date of severance and subject to certain exceptions therein set forth that all property being held on behalf of or for the benefit of the Indian Church should vest in the Indian Church Trustees.
“And whereas by sub-section 1 of Section 6 of the said Act it was enacted that at any time after the commencement of the Act the General Council of the Indian Church might by resolution appoint such number of persons as they should see fit (not being less than three) to represent the Indian Church and to hold property for any uses or purposes thereof, and that when it should be shown to our satisfaction that the said Council had appointed such persons it should be lawful for Us by Charter to incorporate them and their successors with power to hold land without license in mortmain under the name of the Indian Church Trustees:”
And whereas the General Council of the Indian Church at a meeting of the said Council held at Calcutta on the 2nd day of February and appointed the members of the Indian Church Trustees referred in sub-section 1 of Section 6 of the Act and it was incorporated by the Royal Charter on the 11th of June 1929 and promulgated in India on 20th July, 1929 and their qualifications and actions were to be regulated by the schedule of rules attached to the Charter, which has twelve rules which states that the Indian Church Trustees will be elected, supervised and controlled by the General Council of the Church of India.
That on the basis of the proclamation made by the Privy Council on India, the Church Act 1927 and Independence Act 1947, the ownership of the Indian Church properties was examined by the competent authorities and that the Government of India, Ministry of Defense through its letter no. Eccl. 472/D-2(b), dated 23rd March 1948, New Delhi that the properties of the Church of India are vested in the Indian Church Trustees and that the Church in India is in effective control and administration over the Church properties and the General Council is regularly holding its meetings according to the Constitution, Canons, and Rules.
In utter violation of faith, doctrine and tradition of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon as well as the Indian Church Act of 1927 the four dioceses of South India namely Diocese of Madras, Diocese of Dornakal, Diocese of Tinnavelly and the Diocese of Travancore and Cochin defected and participated in the formation of the Church of South India on the 28th of September 1947 and ex-communicated themselves from the membership of Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon and later on the Diocese of Nandiayal also joined them on the 6th of July 1975. The North Indian Dioceses of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon followed suit and acted similarly in defecting from the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon and participated in the formation of the Church of North India on the 29th of November 1970. The apostolic succession was once again restored by the worldwide Anglican Catholic Church by consecrating new Bishops. It still enjoys the friendly relationship with the Anglican Catholic Church and is working towards having full communion with the Anglican Catholic Church.
The Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon is a part of the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church (Declaration no. 1, In the Constitution, Canons and Rules) and also by Resolution of the General Council it was declared to be consistent with its principles and work without loss of its identity as a Church holding the Catholic Faith and Order.
The Church of India continued to function and has never ceased to exist. The General Council, Episcopal Synod and the Diocesan Council of the entire Diocese’s are active and functioning. The General Council held on 23rd and 24th February, 2005 brought about an amendment and empowered the General Council to elect the Metropolitan. The Most Reverend John Augustine, the Bishop of Lucknow was elected as the Metropolitan of India (CIPBC) in the same General Council. He was enthroned on the 24th of February 2005 at Christ Church, Lucknow, as the Metropolitan of India.
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NOTES:
General Council:- The General Council is the Supreme body of the Church of India and it consists of all the Diocesan and other Bishops holding jurisdiction or regularly performing Episcopal functions in the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, together with clerical and lay representatives sent by the Diocesan Council. The Bishops, clergy and laity sit in the General Council as representing the diocese from which they come.
The General Council has power to make Canons, Rules and Regulations and to pass resolutions, for the general management and good government of the Church of this Province and the property and affairs.
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bishops.This series was seen originally as that of the bishops of a particular see founded by one or more of the apostles, but it is generally understood today as meaning a series of bishops, regardless of see, each consecrated by other bishops themselves consecrated similarly in in a succession going back to the apostles.
Bishops have succeeded the apostles, not only because they come after them, but also because they have inherited apostolic power. ... "To fulfil this apostolic mission, Christ ... promised the Holy Spirit to the apostles...". [These were] "enriched by Christ the Lord with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit ... This spiritual gift has been transmitted down to us by episcopal consecration".a succession going back to the apostles.
For the adherents of this understanding of apostolic succession grace is transmitted during episcopal consecrations (the ordination of bishops) by the laying on of hands of bishops previously consecrated within the apostolic succession. This lineage of ordination is traceable, according to "apostolic" churches, to the original Twelve Apostles, thus making the Church the continuation of the early Apostolic Christian community. It is "one of four elements which define the true Church of Jesus Christ"
and legitimizes the ministry of its clergy, as only a bishop within the succession can perform legitimate or "valid" ordinations. Furthermore, only bishops and presbyters (priests) ordained by bishops in the apostolic succession can validly celebrate or "confect" several of the other sacraments, including the Eucharist, reconciliation of penitents, confirmation and anointing of the sick.
This position was stated by John Henry Newman in the following words:
We [priests of the Church of England] have been born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Lord Jesus Christ gave His Spirit to His Apostles; they in turn laid their hands on those who should succeed them; and these again on others; and so the sacred gift has been handed down to our present bishops, who have appointed us as their assistants, and in some sense representatives. .... we must necessarily consider none to be 'really ordained who have not thus been ordained.
Michael Ramsey (Archbishop of Canterbury, 1961-1974), described three meanings of "apostolic succession":
