Church of Pakistan

The Church of Pakistan is a united Protestant Church in Pakistan, which is part of the Anglican Communion and a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches[4] and the World Methodist Council.

Church of Pakistan
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationAnglican, Methodist, Reformed
PolityMixed polity with episcopal and presbyterian elements[1]
ModeratorHumphrey Peters
AssociationsAnglican Communion, World Council of Churches, World Communion of Reformed Churches,[2]
Christian Conference of Asia
Origin1970 (1970)
Pakistan
Merger ofAnglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Lutherans
SeparationsChurch of Bangladesh (1974)
Members500,000[3]
Ministers600[3]
Official website
Part of a series on
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Along with the Church of North India, the Church of Pakistan is a successor of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (CIPBC), which was earlier known as the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (CIBC).[5]

Establishment of the church

It was established in 1970 with a union of Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians (Church of Scotland), United Methodists, and Lutherans. It is the only united church in South Asia which involves Lutherans. Though united, it is mainly Anglican in theology and outlook, since Anglicans form the bulk of the 800,000 strong membership and most of the important episcopal sees.

The church has two theological seminaries: the Gujranwala Theological Seminary and St. Thomas' Theological College, Karachi.

List of dioceses

The Diocese of Sialkot is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Today, the whole Church of Pakistan is listed as a member on the WCRC website. The Sialkot Diocese has more than 40,400 members in 45 congregations and 28 house fellowships. It adheres to the Apostles Creed, Heidelberg Catechism, Westminster Shorter Catechism and Nicene Creed.[4]

Moderators of the Synod have included Zahir-Ud-Din Mirza, Bishop of Faisalabad (1990–?).[6] Immediately after the 1970 union, the Church had four dioceses: Multan, Lahore, Sialkot; in 1980, four more were created: Hyderabad, Raiwind, Faisalabad, Peshawar. In 2013, there were eight diocesan bishops plus an area bishop for the Gulf ministries (especially among Urdu-speakers) — an appointment in cooperation with the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, and the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.[7][8]

Diocese of Raiwind
The church in Murree

Diocese of Raiwind is one of the 8 Dioceses of the Church of Pakistan and came into being in 1980, 10 years after the Church Union in which Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterian, Lutherans and the Methodist amalgamated to form the Church of Pakistan. Dor within its Episcopal jurisdiction comprises the former United Methodist Mission areas and is predominantly rural and semi-urban. The central diocesan office is in Lahore, based at 17-Warris Road. The Diocesan area stretches out from Warris Road, almost 65 miles South of Lahore. Diocese of Raiwind has more than 26000 members in 38 congregations and six departments and 11 Schools. The main ministries of the Diocese are Pastoral Care, Village Schools, Sunday School Ministry, Peace Building, Hostel for poor children, Youth Empowerment, Women Empowerment, Special Education.

Relation with the Anglican realignment

The Church of Pakistan is a member of the Global South. Moderator and Primate Humphrey Peters is a supporter of the Anglican realignment, and he attended the Anglican Church in North America meeting of the College of Bishops, in Orlando, Florida, at 6–10 January 2014.[9] Bishop Azad Marshall, of Raiwind, attended G19, the additional conference for those who weren't able to attend GAFCON III the previous year, held in Dubai, on 25 February-1 March 2019.[10]

Archbishop Foley Beach, of the Anglican Church in North America, visited Pakistan in November 2019, where he met Moderator Humphrey Peters and Bishop Azad Marshall, of the Church of Pakistan. He also met Muslim scholars during his staying.[11]

See also

References
  1. Robert Benedetto, Darrell L. Guder, Donald K. McKim (3 November 1999). Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches. Scarecrow Press. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-8108-6629-4. The Church of Pakistan is the largest Protestant denomination in the country, incorporating the Scottish Presbyterian mission. The united church retains some aspects of Presbyterian polity.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Database (undated). "Member Churches" Archived 21 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. World Communion of Reformed Churches. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  3. "Church of Pakistan". World Council of Churches. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  4. Database (9 February 2006). "Sialkot Diocese of the Church of Pakistan". Reformed Online. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  5. Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths. Penguin Books Limited. p. 177. ISBN 9788184753967.
  6. "Overseas Appointments". Church Times (#6633). 30 March 1990. p. 4. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 22 July 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  7. Marshall, Azad. "The Church of Pakistan (United)" (Ch. 29) in Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins, IV, Justyn Terry & Leslie Nuñez Steffensen (eds) Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion (p. 333)
  9. Communiqué from the College of Bishops, January 2014, ACNA Official Website.
  10. Standing with the Suffering, GAFCON Official Website, 1 April 2019
  11. American archbishop lauds CoP for uniting church leaders, Pakistan Today, 20 November 2019

Bibliography
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