Baptist Church of Mizoram

Baptist Church of Mizoram
Classification	Evangelicalism
Orientation	Baptist
President	Prof. Rev. Dr. R. Zolâwma
Associations	Baptist World Alliance
Headquarters	Baptist Church of Mizoram Office, Serkawn, Lunglei, Mizoram, India
Origin	11 January 1894 Mizoram, India
Congregations	663
Members	169,854
Official website	mizobaptist.org

Baptist Church of Mizoram is a Baptist Christian denomination in India. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. As of 2020, BCM has 169,854 members in 663 local churches along with 148 Pastors and 3,304 Elders in 85 Pastorates and 15 Area Baptist Councils. The headquarters is in Lunglei, Mizoram.

History

The church was founded by Baptist English missionaries, Rev. James Herbert Lorrain (Pu Buanga) and Rev. Frederick William Savidge (Sap Upa) in 1894.

Organization and structure

Assembly

Assembly is the highest table of the organisation. Assembly Meeting is held annually which will be called by the General Secretary and the President shall be the Chairman of the Meeting. Several representatives from Area Level and selected representatives from other church organisations may attend the meeting for better diplomacy among religion based organisations.

Area Level

Area Level Meeting is the second highest table in the organisation. Several Pastorate (Bial in Mizo language) ranging from 3 to 10 are supervised from the Area Level Table. The Area Level is headed by an Executive Secretary or Pastors elected to be the Chaiman of the Level. Every Area is affiliated to the Assembly.

Pastorate

A pastorate consist between 3 and 10 local churches. The pastorate is headed by a Designated and Qualified Pastor. The Pastorate level has separate Fellowship Organisation Departments in its own level. Every Pastorate is affiliated to Area Level.

Local Churches

Local churches have their own church in their respective locality. The leaders of the Local Church are elected every 2 years (1 year for Chairman) from Church Elders. Every church is affiliated to Pastorate.

Institutions

The Baptist Church of Mizoram operates the following:

Academy of Integrated Christian Studies (AICS)

Academy of Integrated Christian Studies,Tanhril, Mizoram

The Academy of Integrated Christian Studies (AICS) is a BD Level theological institution established by the Baptist Church of Mizoram in 2000 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. R.L.Hnuni. This institution offers several programs such as Theological Training, Missionary Training, Ministerial Training, Music Training and Research and Development. The institution is located in Shekina Hill.

Baptist Higher Secondary School (BHSS)

Baptist Higher Secondary School, Serkawn

Baptist Higher Secondary School is a school owned by Baptist Church of Mizoram. The school enrolls students for Secondary and Higher Secondary levels. The current Principal of Baptist Higher Secondary School is Pu. R. Zosangliana. The current Vice Principal is Pu. R.Lalneihthanga.

The school has three hostels, one for Junior section, the Girls’ hostel and one for the boys. The over all administration is run by the Principal with the help of the two Vice Principals. The over all strength of the staff is around 80 in number. The school's motto is "The Utmost for the Highest".

Students gathering for a devotion

Baptist Church of Mizoram expanded the school into lower classes including Nursery to Middle Schools by merging with co-existing school called Baptist English School , thus, from 2005 it is known as Baptist Higher Secondary School Junior Section. It enrolls a number of 1,070 students in the 2019-20 Academic Session with 43 Teaching Staffs. The current Vice Principal for Baptist Higher Secondary School Junior Section is Pu. Z.D. Lalnunmawia.

Mission (Beginning)

In 1968, the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS), after working for almost 65 years, decided to withdraw their mission work in south of Mizoram due to the Indian Government's rejection of their permission to stay longer in Mizoram. In the same year that the BMS decided to withdraw their mission work, the ZBM also sent Rev H. Rokhama as the first cross-culture missionary outside Mizoram. Moreover, on 18 January 1968, Rev C.L.Hminga was appointed as the first full-time ZBM Secretary, and the ZBM had also organized its own office in a separate building. From this time onward, until the Assembly of BCM decided to form a new structure, all the office works of the ZBM was conducted from this office.

A Concise Account of Mission Department

A concise account of the BCM Mission works, as it stands for 46 years (1966 – 2012) from the inception of the BCM Mission Department as the Zoram Baptist Mission, can be made as follows:

Missionary Personnel

ZBM started cross-culture missionary work, employing only two full-time missionaries in 1939. Now, (in 2012) BCM Mission Committee has more than 800 mission workers including missionaries.

Mission Fields and Stations

BCM Mission Committee has 23 mission fields including mission stations in different parts of India and works in partnership with other mission agencies outside India.

Mission Fund

The ZBM (as its previous name) had only Rs. 12.50p (Rupees twelve and fifty paisa) in its initial stage. Now the BCM Mission budget of 2012 - 2013 has grown to Rs.11, 79, 78,000.00(Rupees eleven crore seventy-nine lakhs and seventy-eight thousand).

Churches

BCM Mission Committee has established more than 1436 local churches and 25 preaching stations among different tribes and people groups.

Believers

BCM Mission Committee has roughly 1,81,768 believers in different mission fields and mission stations.

Schools and Students

At present Mission Committee runs 54 mission schools within and outside Mizoram, of which 10 are High Schools, 5 Middle Schools, 39 Primary Schools and having around 6500 students.

Beliefs

BCM is a member of the Baptist World Alliance.

Statistics

Brief statistics of BCM according to BCM Assembly 2020 are as follows:

Sl. No.	Particlulars	FY 2018-19	FY 2019-20	Difference
1.	Total Churches	677	663	-14
2.	Families	36242	36338	96
3.	Church Members	173373	169854	-3519
4.	Baptized Members	122284	122072	-212
5.	Addition of Members (Incl. Birth; Joining from other denominations; etc.)	5569	5126	-443
6.	Subtraction of Members (Incl. Death; Joining other denominations; etc.)	1793	2549	756
7.	Active Ministers	154	148	-6
8.	Pensioned Ministers still Alive	39	39	0
9.	Probationary Pastors	27	18	-9
10.	Senior Church Elders (Upa)	3229	3304	75
11.	Junior Church Elders (Rawngbawltu)	4150	4105	-45
12.	Pastorates	85	85	0
13.	Areas	15	15	0
14.	TKP Members	47372	48791	1419
15.	BMP Members	15684	15100	-584
16.	BKHP Members	33746	35364	1618
17.	KNP Members	33427	33384	-43
18.	Mission Fields & Stations	24	24	0
19.	Mission Partnerships	29	29	0
20.	Foreign Mission Partnerships	9	9	0
21.	Missionaries	1001	1001	0
22.	Local Workers	296	298	2
23.	Total of Sl. 21 & 22	1297	1299	2

Area Wise, Bru Baptist Church, Chakma Baptist Church and Non-Mizo Statistics

(Statistics as on 2020)

Population of BCM as of FY 2020

  Lunglei Area (49.26%)

  Aizawl Area (22.20%)

  Lawngtlai Area (14.66%)

  Bru Baptist Church (9.67%)

  Chakma Baptist Church (3.66%)

  Non Mizo (0.51%)

Particulars	Lunglei Area	Aizawl Area	Lawngtlai Area	Bru Baptist Church	Chakma Baptist Church	Non-Mizo	Total
Families	17661	8836	5087	3196	1300	258	36338
Members	83684	37713	24912	16441	6230	874	169854
Baptized Members	63843	26854	17047	9713	3890	725	122072
Senior Church Elders (Upa)	1498	822	531	342	93	2	3304
Junior Church Elders (Rawngbawltu)	1518	1005	653	483	378	68	4105
Total Number of Churches	187	192	91	104	71	18	663

See also

• Christianity in Mizoram
• Council of Baptist Churches in Northeast India
• North East India Christian Council
• List of Christian denominations in North East India

External links

• http://www.mizobaptist.org/ official site of the Mizoram Baptist Church
• https://web.archive.org/web/20090528091826/http://www.mtkp.org/ official site of the Mizoram Baptist Youth Fellowship
• A brief history of Pioneered Churches in Mizoram
• Baptist World Alliance Member bodies