History of Pentecostalism in India - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

19th century

Pentecostalism

Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

began in the ministry of a Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

woman who was converted to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. Pandita Ramabai

Pandita Ramabai

Pandita Ramabai was a social reformer and activist. She was born as Hindu, started Arya Mahila Samaj and later converted to Christianity to serve widows and helpless women of India....

led a small but renowned group that experienced the baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

of the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...

in the early 1900s. Her work remained limited due to the lack of training and evangelism

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

Robert F. Cook and the Church of God

The Pentecostal movement experienced a great explosion in growth with the arrival of a number of foreign missionaries. Most significant among them was Robert F. Cook

Robert F. Cook

Robert F. Cook served as the prime missionary responsible for the establishment of the Pentecostal movement in India. Though a number of missionaries came before him and though the Pentecostal experience took place in India independent of foreign missionary work, Cook was the one that first...

, from the U.S. He arrived in North India and established a few mission posts there. However, due to the lack of support, he was unable to develop his works in a significant manner. Cook relocated his headquarters to Mulakuzha. The headquarters of the Church of God in India remains there now.' He was with Assemblies of God till 1930.

Indian Pentecostal Church of God

K.E. Abraham, a pastor that had worked closely with Cook for a number of years, decided that he no longer wanted the mission work taking place in India to receive foreign funds. With that as his main reason, he split from Cook. KE Abraham was one of the pioneers of IPC. There were many other men of God who used by Lord for the establishment of this largest Malayalee Pentecostal Denomination.

Sharon Fellowship

P. J. Thomas

Parackanal Joseph Thomas was an Indian pastor. He played an important role in the development of the Indian Pentecostal Church.-See also :* * * - External links :* * *...

, is the founder of this church and he received degree from Wheaton College

Wheaton College (Illinois)

Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...

, in Illinois, USA. He returned to establish a new organization, named the Sharon Fellowship Church. Now it has more than 2050 local churches India and other 34 countries. Rev. Dr. T. G. Koshy is the president of this organization. It has a strong emphasis on theological scholarship. It currently has the only Pentecostal accredited seminary (Faith Theological Seminary) that offers post-graduate degrees.

The Pentecostal Mission

− The Pentecostal Mission (TPM), formerly known as Ceylon Pentecostal Mission (CPM), is a Pentecostal denomination which originated in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The international headquarters is now situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Ceylon Pentecostal Mission was founded by Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

convert Ramankutty, later known as Pastor Paul. Pastor Paul was born to Hindu parents in the district of Trichur in Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. While in Sri Lanka, at the age of 18, he became a Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. Later, he felt a strong call from the Lord for his life and began to preach and share the gospel in various parts of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. In the initial stages, he had worked with other evangelists. Pastor Paul served as the founder chief pastor of this church.
− This organization stands out among the Pentecostal churches because of its exclusivist teachings and organization structure. Some of the distinctives are that fulltime workers were expected to practice an ascetic life-style including celibacy, obedience to the elder pastors, communal living (including disposal of private possessions) in faith homes. Today the church is known by different names in different countries, but all stand under the name of “The Pentecostal Mission

The Pentecostal Mission

The Pentecostal Mission or New Testament Church formerly known as Ceylon Pentecostal Mission , is a pentecostal denomination which originated in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The international headquarters is now situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India...

”.

Assemblies Of God In India

- The Assemblies of God has grown rapidly throughout India. With early works established in Calcutta, as well as in Kerala, the church has continues its growth. The district of Kerala has now been divided into two in order to better handle the growth. The church has also established a number of reputable Bible Schools throughout India.The largest Malayalam, (the language of kerala) church in the world with over 10,000 communicant members is headed by [Rev Dr. M A Varughese] in [Bangalore] and its overwhelmingly expanding.

21st century

The Church of God in India, the Assemblies of God, the Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Sharon Fellowship and The Pentecostal Mission (formerly Ceylon Pentecostal Mission) are some of the largest of the myriad Pentecostal organizations in India.
There are numerous other groups that are either independent or affiliated to the above mentioned mainline Pentecostal groups. With strong support from churches and charities in the USA, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, these groups have been able to build solid organizations with presence in almost every state of India. It must be noted that many of these groups are more charismatic

Charismatic movement

The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...

in theology and often do not conform to the foundational teachings accepted by the mainline Pentecostal churches.