Brethren Assemblies In India
Though the Brethren Assemblies -- at least by the reckoning of some -- in the places of origin are facing a decline of sorts, the situation is totally different in the Far East, including India. In fact the NT Pattern church in India is a vibrant one, having a large number of outreaches, with scores of new churches established every year, and this church history of Far East is incomplete without an account of the origin and growth of the Brethren Assemblies in India.
The Christian faith came to India in AD 50 when Saint Thomas the doubting disciples came here with the gospel. He received a warm welcome from Hindu kings and nobles and soon many professed faith in Christ, and an active community of Christians came into existence in India in the middle of the first century AD.
This community kept growing and soon there were churches all over the southern and western parts of India. This was an educated community of people, as opposed to the general illiteracy, and had business links with many countries. Many non Indian Christians also moved to India and merged into this mainstream, making it a culturally rich community.
In the first millennia the church in India kept faithful to biblical truths, but towards the close of it the Roman Catholic church treacherously (inducement, murder, politics, deception) took control of large segments of Non Catholic churches and established themselves firmly in the Indian soil. This admixture of error with truth led to more than one revival and several denominations oriented to the gospel came up, specially towards the second half of the second millennium. However, gradually ecclesiastical priesthood and religious rituals began sapping their strength and vigor. This coincided with the modern missionary movement in the west, and an increasing number of missionaries began coming to India. Gradually their work began replanting the seeds of gospel among Indians.
During this period the Lord raised many men from the decaying church in India who began studying and teaching the pure word of God, denying the spiritual efficacy of church rituals. This eventually led to a greater interest in studying the pure word of God, and many began to gather in homes to search the scriptures -- particularly in the tiny south Indian state of Kerala. With the establishment of a printing press, Bible was easily available (though costly) in this language. These investigations eventually lead them to the discovery of the doctrines of justification by faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the baptism of believers as opposed to infant baptism practices in their own churches.
The discovery led to action, and soon four men who accepted Christ as savior were baptized. Convinced of the need for believers to commemorate the death of the Lord in a non ritualistic manner, they celebrated the first Lord's Supper under a tree in 1887. This is reckoned by many to be technically the birth of the Brethren Assemblies in India. Just as the Lord raised a group of people for Himself in the West, He also raised a group unto Himself independently in the East.