COLONIZATION AND THE EMERGENCE OF CHURCH GOVERNANCE : REVISITING THE CASE OF HMAR CHURCH

Abstract

At a time when more than one-third of the world's Protestant missionaries were serving in British India, the Christian missionary movement extended into the frontier hills of South Manipur, profoundly transforming the religious, social, and institutional landscape of its indigenous communities. In this context, the observation of Bishop Vedanayagam Azariah of Dornakal in 1932 is particularly significant: "The religion of Christ is one of the most dynamic factors in the world. It always bursts its boundaries, however strong and rigid those boundaries may be. It refuses to be confined to any one race, class or caste. It seeks to embrace all." This paper examines the interplay between colonial governance and Christian missionisation in shaping the ecclesiastical polity of the Evangelical Free Church of India (EFCI). Drawing upon missionary correspondence, archival records of the Manipur State Durbar, and scholarly studies on Christianity in Northeast India, the paper argues that the governance structure of the EFCI emerged through the complex interaction of British colonial administration, Protestant missionary enterprise, denominational affiliations, and regional comity agreements that regulated missionary activity across the Lushai Hills and South Manipur. Rather than evolving solely from indigenous ecclesiastical developments, the EFCI's polity reflects the institutional legacy of colonial governance and transnational missionary strategies. The study traces this historical process chronologically, beginning with the arrival of Watkin R. Roberts in Senvon village in 1910, followed by the establishment of the North-East India General Mission (NEIGM), the Indo-Burma Pioneer Mission (IBPM), and the Independent Church of India, culminating in the formal constitution of the Evangelical Free Church of India in 1972. By situating the Hmar Church within the broader nexus of colonialism, missionisation, and indigenous adaptation, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of church governance in Northeast India as a product of both imperial structures and local agency.