a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

peculiar to Pentecostalism in Rajasthan, but a general feature of Pentecostal
ecclesiology across the globe. In the early years, there were strong ties between
Pentecostals in Rajasthan and other states in north India. The Fellowship of the
Pentecostal Churches of God in India (FPC) claimed to be the largest Pentecostal
Association in north India. 16 According to Mathews, there were 102 full-time
ministers on its roll by the year 1976, and a majority of them were north Indians.
He argued that from ‘Kerala to Uttar Pradesh FPC ministers are working on faith
for the Pentecostal testimony.’ 17 However, in the course of time many breakaway
groups were formed out of this fellowship. In his study of missionary
organizations in Banaswara, Lal observes that ‘the quarrels among the members
of the same denomination and hostility between different denominations prevent
the Christian missionaries from acting as a united force in Banaswara.’ 18 Although
‘doctrine’ is projected as the issue for almost all divisions, in most cases, personal
conflicts remain the chief reason for such division. In certain incidents, where
doctrine was the issue for division, it is an irony that the breakaway group also
followed the parent organization. For example, some south Indian leaders
admitted that they left a parent organization some years ago, and a major reason
for this separation was related to jewellery, as they taught that believers should
not wear jewellery. However, over the course of time, they too began to allow
their members to use jewellery. 19
16 Thomas Mathews, ‘Rajasthan News Letter: FPC Udaipur Convention,’ Cross and Crown 7, no.
1-2 (1976): 17. FPC was like a loose federation of many independent local churches, with its
headquarters in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh. Kurien Thomas was its founder, and Thomas Mathews
held various key positions of this Association, before he left it.
17 Mathews, ‘Rajasthan News Letter,’ 17.
18 Lal, Tribals and Christian Missionaries, 64.
19 This was confessed by three south Indian leaders on 08 May 2008.
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