Indian Pentecostal Church of God

The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is the largest indigenous Pentecostal movement in India, with its headquarters at Hebron, Kumbanad, Kerala-689547 India. The movement was established in 1924 and registered on December 9, 1935 at Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, under the Government of India. Members of this organization in most of the continents.

Pastor K C John now serves as the General President and Rev T Valson Abraham as the General Secretary of IPC. The not-for-profit organization has about 6,500 churches located in over 25 regions and states around the world. However, the state of Kerala, India has the greatest number of IPC churches: nearly 4,500 local congregations

Early History

In A.D. 52 Saint Thomas, as tradition states, one of the 21 apostles of Jesus Christ, traveled to Musiris (Kodungallore) and evenutally to Nelkinda (Niranam), ancient ports of Kerala. Slowly, Christianity began to appear in south west India. As a result, Christian communities were formed in seven towns in Kerala.

Reformation and revival

The process of reformation and the experience of revival continued and even coincided at times with the Topeka Revival in 1901, the Mukthi Mission Poona Revival in 1905, the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, and several more. The Indian Pentecostal communities have, in effect, evolved through centuries by interacting with various faiths, practices, and traditions.

Pentecostal pioneers in Kerala

Two important and prominent revivals took place in Kerala, one in 1873 and the other in 1895. A similar revival took place at the Mukti Mission of Pandita Ramabai, Pune, India later in 1905.

In 1909, the missionary George Berg preached in a meeting in Kottarakara and Adoor, two large towns in India. Reverend Thomas Barret ministered in Coonoor soonafter and Pentecostalism began to spread in the southern region of India. As a result, several Pentecostal congregations were formed in Kerala that year.

Four years later, Reverend Robert F Cook came to Kerala to conduct further mission work. Pastor K E Abraham, a key figure in the forming of IPC, devouted his life for mission work through the ministry of Reverend Cook.

At the dawn of the 1920s, Pastor K E Abraham, Pastor P M Samuel, Pastor K C Cherian, and many others decided to unite the various and independent Pentecostal churches into an organization. This soon created a large Pentecostal denomination very much like the international Assemblies of God.

Origin and growth

To further spread Pentecostalism, Pastor K E Abraham, founded a bible college called IPC Hebron Bible College designed to educate and equip young converts so they may be able to grow into prominent ministers and mission workers.

In 1935, Pastors K E Abraham and P T Chacko toured North India and finally reached Eluru on the east coast of Andra Pradesh; Pastor P M Samuel, after his own tour of Tamilnad, met them at Eluru. There the Indian Pentecostal Church of God was registered with the Government of India under the Societies Act XXI of 1860 on December 9, 1935.

Pastor P M Samuel from Andhra Pradesh was chosen as the first president, Pastor K C Cherian who had moved to Karnataka as the vice-president, and Pastor P T Chacko representing Travancore as the secretary of IPC.

First managing body

The following 16 people formed the first managing body of IPC:

Pastor P M Samuel (President), Missionary
Pastor K C Cherian (Vice-President), Missionary
Evangelist P T Chacko B D (Secretary), Gospel Work
Pastor K E Abraham, Missionary
Pastor T Kochukunju, Missionary
Pastor K C Oommen, Missionary
Pastor P T Mathew, Missionary
Pastor V V Thomas, Gospel Work
Pastor P O Thomas, Gospel Work
Pastor T G Oommen, Gospel Work
Pastor P T Varghese, Gospel Work
Pastor K M Zachariah, Gospel Work
Evangelist T V Issac, Teacher
Evangelist P M Thomas B A, Gospel Work
Evangelist E K John, Gospel Work
Evangelist M Simon, Gospel Work

Post-registration and expansion

From the Indian state of Travancore, Pastor P T Chacko moved to Eluru and then to Secunderabad, Pastor P M Samuel to Vijayawada; Pastor M K Chacko to Delhi; Pastor K J Samuel to Lahore; Pastor Kurian Thomas to Itarsi; Pastor P J Daniel to Allahabad.

From 1939 onwards Pastor K E Abraham held the office of the President, until he passed away in December, 1974. With his powerful preaching and sacrificial commitment, IPC and Pentecostalism grew in various regions in India.

Pastor Abraham was succeeded by Pastor P M Samuel and then Pastor T G Oommen followed by Pastor P L Paramjyothi. When Pastor Paramjyothi passed away in 1996, Pastor K M Joseph, the Vice President assumed office as President at the decision of the General Council, followed by Pastor T S Abraham. Now Pastor K C John has been elected as the General President of IPC (2006-present).

Zion Kahalam

In 1936, at the invitation of the Swedish Pentecostal Churches, Pastor K C Cherian and Pastor K E Abraham visited Sweden and other Scandinavian and European countries for about two years as representatives of the Indian Christian community, enriching the movement in various aspects. During this trip a printing press was acquired for the church. Zion Kahalam, a Malayalam monthly, was published by Pastor K E Abraham for the church from Kumbanadu.

The Kumbanadu Convention

On the third week of January of every year, one of the largest Pentecostal gatherings in the world, known as the Kumbanadu Convention, is held at Hebronpuram, Kumbanadu, on the Thiruvalla - Kozhencherry road, in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, South India. On April 1 to 5, 1925 the first common convention of the south Indian Pentecostal churches was held in Ranny and is considered the first General Convention of IPC. From 1931 on, the annual IPC General Conventions are held at Kumbanadu.

IPC Headquarters

Pastor K C Oommen sacrificially gave his house and property as a free will offering to this movement. John Ayyapillai, father of Pastor P J Daniel and Pastor P J Thomas donated 10 acres of their land to the church. It was sold and the money was spent to build "the Bunglavu" as part of IPC Headquarters at Kumbanadu.

Global Expansion

In due course of time, IPC members who went to the Middle East, Europe and North America established local churches there also. At present, the Indian Pentecostal Church of God has nearly 2,500 local churches planted outside of India.

North America

When the late Pastor George Varghese, the then general secretary of IPC visited New York City, he convened a meeting of the pastors in the region on October 28, 1988, and formed a pastor’s fellowship with now late Pastor A C George as the convener. Since then, the pastors used to meet on a regular basis for prayer and fellowship.

In accordance with the decision taken at the combined meeting of the pastors and the representatives of the churches under the IPC banner in the Eastern Region held on April 20, 1991, the first general body meeting of the fellowship of the Eastern Region was convened at the IPC Auditorium at Queens Village, New York at 4:00 p.m. on May 12, 1991. Pastor A C George, convener of the minister’s fellowship, presided over the meeting. Pastors and leaders representing ten churches attended the meeting. The meeting unanimously adopted a guideline and resolved to form a region fellowship known as Fellowship of the India Pentecostal Church of God Churches of North America—now called the Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Eastern Region of North America.

The meeting elected Reverend A C George as president, Reverend John C Daniel as vice-president, Reverend Professor T C Matthew as secretary, Varghese Pinakulam as Joint Secretary, and M A George as Treasurer. A region council consisting of one representative from each member church in addition to the officials was also constituted.

IPC North American Family Conference

As more and more IPC churches developed in the United States and Canada, there was a need of an annual convention like India's Kumbanadu Convention. Therefore, in 1998, a group of visionary IPC North American leaders, pastors, and representatives got together in a church in New York called India Pentecostal Assembly. The chairman of the meeting, Pastor T S Abraham, finally made the decision upon the approval of the majority to begin a national conference for IPC churches of the United States and Canada and named it IPC North American Family Conference (IPC NAFC).

9th IPC NAFC

Dallas, Texas will be the host city of the 9th IPC NAFC in 2008. Pastor Thomas Koshy is the national convenor.

As for the past conferences...

In Queens, New York, Pastor K V Kurien (late) as national convener, the 1st IPC NAFC was held on June 24 - June 27, 1999.
In Dallas, Texas, Rev Dr. Baby Varghese as national convener, the 2nd IPC NAFC was held in 2000.
In Orlando, Florida, Rev Dr Joy Abraham as national convener, the 3rd IPC NAFC was held in 2001.
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Rev Dr John Varghese as national convener, the 4th IPC NAFC was held in 2002.
In New Jersey, Rev Philip Philip as national convenor, the 5th IPC NAFC was held in 2003.
In Houston, Texas, Rev V M Abraham as national convener, the 6th IPC NAFC was held in 2004.
In Atlanta, Georgia, Rev V P Jose as national convener, the 7th IPC NAFC was held in 2005.
In Chicago, Illinois Rev P C Mammen as the national convener the 8th IPC NAFC was held in 2006.

United States

The IPC churches in the United States is divided into two regions. The churches in the East Coast is considered part of the IPC Eastern Region. The churches in the Midwest and the few in the West Coast make up the IPC Midwest Region.

Though the IPC started in the United States with only ten participating churches in 1991, by the end of the tenor of the first council in 1994, the total number of churches rose to twenty. However, now there are hundreds more than that amount.

Eastern Region

The first annual convention of the Eastern Region was held at Susan B. Anthony High School, New York from September 13 to 15, 1991. Pastor P K Chacko and George Oommen were the guest speaker. The second annual convention was held at Francis Lewis High School from August 20 to 23, 1992. Pastors P M Philip, T S Abraham, K M Joseph, and Dr Idi Cheria Ninan were the guest speakers. The third annual convention was held at Francis Lewis High School from October 22 to 24, 1993. Pastor Abraham Samuel, from Andra Pradresh, the scheduled speaker for the convention, suddenly became ill at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Pastor M A Varghese spoke at the convention instead. He died during his return trip to India. Eastern Region officials had the privilege to see him off before he left America.

Regular minister’s conference and fellowship meetings of member churches were the featured programs in addition to our annual conventions during the early years of the region. A send-off meeting with an agape feast was arranged on May 14, 1994 in honor of Pastors John Daniel and Bro. Joy Thumpamon who were moving to Houston to continue their ministries.

Every year, usually in October, there's an annual IPC Eastern Region convention that usually takes place in New York City.

Midwest Region

The Midwest Region council consists of IPC churches in Texas and Oklahoma. Reverend Thomas V. Koshy serves as President of this region with Reverend Mathew Oommen from Houston as Secretary, Reverend Johnson Samuel of Oklahoma as Vice-President, Bro. Sunny Kodunthara (OK) as the joint secretary and Bro. K.C. Jacob (Houston) as the Treasurer. The council also includes the member church pastors and representatives from each member church.

Every year the Midwest Region, like conducts their regional conference during the Labor Day weekend. This region also conducts yearly minister's conference and other meeting.

The Pentecostal Young People's Association

The Pentecostal Young People's Association (PYPA), the youth wing and subsidiary association of IPC, traces back its history of humble beginnings on August 30, 1947. Being one of the most prominent youth associations among the Indian communities, PYPA has its thousands of members scattered all around the globe, especially in India, Europe, North America and in the Middle East. In North America, the Eastern and Midwest Regions' PYPA organizations have been in existence more than 15 years. The PYPA governing board is organized into a hierarchy&emdash;General, State, Zonal, District, and Local levels. Currently, Pastor Daniel Konnanilkkunathil serves as PYPA Kerala State President and Pastor Jose K Abraham as the State Secretary.

The association's main aim is to spiritually teach and ultimately train youth to be a better Christians. With its motto "Saved to Serve", PYPA aims at attracting youth to the association and equip them for life.

Women's Fellowship

Under the supervision of the Eastern Region council, IPC Women’s was formed on November 13, 1991 at a combined fellowship meeting of the minister’s council, the Eastern Region council, and the representatives of the sisters from participating churches. The meeting adopted the guidelines for the conduct of the fellowship.

In 2006, a women's fellowship was created in the Mid-west region, as well. There was a separate service for women and men during the Midwest regional convention in Oklahoma City. The current Ladies' Coordinator is Sis. Susie Varghese (Dallas, Texas).

External links

References

IPC Eastern Region – Origin and Growth. T C Matthew.
India Pentecostal Church of God Eastern Region North America Bulletin. LICP Graphics and Printing. October 2005.
Autobiography of Pr. K.E. Abraham.