Believers Eastern Church


Believers Eastern Church is a Christian denomination of Indian origin with congregations and parishes worldwide. It is also a branch of the ministry Gospel for Asia. The church now follows an episcopal governance. The church holds Christ as the head of the Church but also requires that bishops and ordained ministers swear to submit to its metropolitan and any successors of the metropolitan. It is governed by a committee of bishops, the Synod, with one central bishop holding the honorary title of "first among equals" and follows Evangelical Christian doctrine. Believers Eastern Church is administratively based in the state of Kerala in southwestern India. In 2015, the church reported it was re-organized into 33 dioceses; a decrease from the 36 dioceses reported by Smith in 2009. According to Believers Eastern Church, it claims its membership consists of more than 3.5 million people in 10 countries speaking a hundred languages. The Church has 30 bishops, and the Metropolitan Bishop is Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan

History

Believers Eastern Church has its roots in Pentecostalism. The denomination was founded in 1993 as part of the Gospel for Asia apostolate. On 6 February 2003, K. J. Samuel, the Moderator Bishop of the Church of South India, along with the P.M. Dhotekar, Bishop of Nagpur of the Church of North India, and the Bancha Nidhi Nayak, Bishop of Phulbani of the Church of North India, consecrated Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan as a bishop in Anglican lines of apostolic succession; the K.P. Yohannan thereafter became the first Metropolitan of the Believers Eastern Church, which acquired an episcopal polity of ecclesiastical governance. Believers Eastern Church describes itself as being "Apostolic in origin, universal in nature, Biblical and evangelical in faith, ecumenical in outlook". It adheres to the Nicene Creed, biblical faith, and traditions of the historical church backed up with its own canonical constitution.
It also holds special fraternal relations with Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. The Episcopal Synod and the diocesan councils take the responsibility for planning and executing the mission, religious life and charitable programs of the Church. The Believers Eastern Church is divided as regions into dioceses, each with its own bishop. Each local church has members ranging from less than one hundred to a thousand with an average of hundred, and the number of parishes themselves are increasing. The Believers Eastern Church is divided into various dioceses under the leadership of Diocesan Bishop or a Vicar-general.
In 2009, the church ordained seven bishops. On 2 March 2017, Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan consecrated twelve bishops for the Believers Eastern Church.

Faith and practice

The liturgy used in Believers Eastern Church "includes prayers, Scripture readings and a confession of the Nicene or Apostles' Creed of the Church." The readings come from the Revised Common Lectionary, which has a three-year cycle; Believers Church observes the liturgical calendar of Western Christianity, thus keeping Lent, for example. Believers Church administers the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. Women in churches of this denomination wear Christian headcoverings, in accordance with Believers Church's interpretation of. Communicants of Believers Eastern Church use the sign of the cross in their prayers. Believers Eastern Church is an "Ancient-Future Church" and as such, is considered by some to be heretical.

Beliefs

The church accepts the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible as the inspired Word of God which is inerrant and the fundamental standard of faith, and complete and final written revelation of God. It also adheres to the Nicene Creed. The church believes in the following doctrines:
For being distinguishable members of Believers Eastern church, and the message of the Word of God to be applied in an individual's life leading to a greater maturity in Christ, following are the official code of living.
The Sisters of Compassion is a religious order of nuns within Believers Church that is dedicated to serving the "neglected of society".

Humanitarian services

Believers Eastern Church is involved in various social projects and has been lauded for "its humanitarian service towards the society at large." The church's social service includes poverty alleviation, and promoting adult literacy. The church is also providing shelter to street children through a home called Asha Grih, which is licensed by the Indian Government. Additionally, Believers Eastern Church has a child development project called Bridge of Hope. BOH provides holistic development to needy children throughout South Asia. As of 2012, the project is helping 60,000 underprivileged children by providing them free education, a nutritious diet and school supplies. Bridge of Hope's 525 project centers are staffed by 2,400 individuals. Other major projects include the Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Believers Eastern Church Caarmel Engineering College and Believers Church Theological Seminary. Most of the funds for these social projects are sent over from the United States by the ministry Gospel for Asia, of which Believers Church is a part. The metropolitan of Believers Church, Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan, is also the president of Gospel for Asia.

Court rulings

The Times of India has reported that "The Believers Church, founded by Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan, and three NGOs associated with it have been barred from bringing in foreign funds to India with the Ministry of Home Affairs canceling their FCRA registrations." As of September 2017, GFA provided the requested documents for review to MHA and "Fr Panthapallil said though the MHA website has advertised that the registrations of the four organisations are cancelled, they are still under revision." In August 2017, The Hindu reported that, "The Church of South India has decided to pull out from the Kerala Council of Churches, an ecumenical forum of non-Catholic Protestant Churches in Kerala, in protest against the KCC decision to provide membership to the Believers Church. The latest development has to be viewed in the backdrop of the controversy over the episcopacy claims of the Believers Eastern Church that its head, K.P. Yohannan, was consecrated by the CSI Church." Narada News in India reported concerning that, "The CSI senate committee probed the issue. They came to the conclusion that their bishop was paid huge sums of money and a luxury car for this. The church sacked bishop KJ Samuel from the CSI for this deed."
There is also been an ongoing court case regarding the illegal filling in of wetlands in order to build the Believers Church Medical College Hospital. GFA has been paying a special tax because a "substantial" amount of its income is not used for intended purposes of the fundraising. An Indian court said, "It is not in dispute that substantial income of the assessee trust was not used by both the assessees for the purposes for which they were formed." Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan says that the claims were politically motivated and that the workings of Gospel for Asia and Believers Church are transparent.
GFA has been criticized for engaging in predatory proselytization while providing aid in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami. The Hindu American Foundation condemned the organization for pressuring vulnerable tsunami victims to convert to Christianity, setting up illegal unregistered orphanages and forcing orphans recite the Christian prayers several times a day.
The operations of Gospel for Asia and Believers Eastern Church were scrutinized after Believers Eastern Church, under the guidance of Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan, purchased a rubber estate in Kerala, India. Opponents said the church had diverted foreign funds to amass land for itself and for uses other than declared purposes. Further, it was alleged that the rubber estate, which Believers Eastern Church purchased from Harrison's Malayalam Ltd., was on leasehold from the government and not saleable. Hence, Believers Eastern Church was accused of illegally holding government land. At a later time, Harrison's Malayalam was accused of forging their land title, leading to continued debate about the legality of the sale.
Legal proceedings are still ongoing. "Former Ernakulam District Collector Dr M G Rajamanickam, who was appointed as the Special Officer of the government to confiscate the illegal and excess estate lands under the custody of various companies, had issued an order in May, 2015, confiscating the 2,268 acre of land from Believers Eastern Church." However, this ruling was appealed and now there is further complication because the local government wants to build an airport on this estate. News outlets are reporting that the local government wants to buy the property. However, it is also reported that "The government does not need permission from K P Yohannan to set up airport in the Cheruvally estate, BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan said." The BJP is currently behind a large scale anti-corruption crackdown on Black Money inside India. The final status of the estate for building the airport is still unsettled.
There is also been an ongoing court case regarding the illegal filling in of wetlands in order to build the Believers Eastern Church Medical College Hospital. GFA has been paying a special tax because a "substantial" amount of its income is not used for intended purposes of the fundraising. An Indian court said, "It is not in dispute that substantial income of the assessee trust was not used by both the assessees for the purposes for which they were formed."
Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan Metropolitan says that the claims were politically motivated and that the workings of Gospel for Asia and Believers Eastern Church are transparent. Further, the rubber estate is an investment to help fund social work among underdeveloped communities and not a personal land grab as opponents have stated.

Ecumenical relations

Believers Eastern Church is a member of the Kerala Council of Churches.
The Believers Eastern Church has also held ecumenical contacts with the Anglican Church in North America.