Invitation for Indian Christian Day (ICD)

Why Indian Christian Day?

We have a marvelous opportunity to amplify the impact that Christians and their congregations, parishes, and ministries have made and continue to make as followers of Christ, both across the subcontinent of India and within our global community.

I cannot imagine an India, or any nation, that has not benefited from the faith, sacrifice, and love shared over more than 2,000 years because of the prophetic life of Christ. Christianity as a movement was first introduced by St. Thomas and his companions in the southern region of the Indian subcontinent around 50 AD.

These first Christian communities were established in Kerala in the first century, and some are still in existence today. Over the centuries, a tapestry of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches took shape across India to worship, witness, and serve the good news to humanity. I believe that generationally, Indian Christian contributions in quality and quantity have exponentially transformed personal and social lives far beyond our numbers because we are called to see the image of God in one another—human flourishing comes when we cross boundaries of politics, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Why celebrate Indian Christian Day now?

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field. It’s the smallest of all seeds. But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.” (Matt. 13:31-32, Common English Bible).

In a time of major conflicts across the globe, the 32.2 million Christians in India and the 1 million Christian immigrant diaspora across the U.S. remain committed to the gospel’s imaginative promise.

On Indian Christian Day, we gather with people of faith and goodwill to affirm the God whom we understand through the life of Christ, lived among us today—a God who is perhaps best known not dogmatically, but rather experienced devotionally, a God of love in action.

Jesus of Nazareth was born in Asia two-thousand years ago among a people in desperate need of such a message. On page after page of the gospels, we celebrate a faith in Christ that doesn’t dominate, avoid, colonize, intimidate, demonize, or marginalize. Instead, we celebrate a faith that incarnates into lives and communities, joins in solidarity, protects, listens, serves, and empowers.

Indian Christians for centuries have been inspired to live out the kingdom of God and to address human insecurity in its myriad forms with divine mercy and grace. We celebrate our unity in this common mission that takes many forms.

What difference has Christianity made in India?

From a “mustard seed” came a passion to care for vulnerable orphans, widows, the poor and economically insecure, and the oppressed—especially empowering the voice of women in society—compelled Christians to found thousands of the best educational institutions in the country. Examples include St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, St. Xavier’s Medical Colleges in Calcutta and Mumbai, Loyola College in Chennai, and St. John’s in Agra. These schools, developing in cities and rural towns, have graduated generations of India’s leaders in literature and the arts, public health care, journalism, jurisprudence, science, and technology. Hospitals in Vellore and Ludhiana are among the best models for health care, offering access to people regardless of caste or tribal identity. The Basel Mission, headquartered in Mangalore, introduced the manufacture of terracotta tiles and other products to improve village house construction. Disaster relief and rural development are other areas where the community has made significant impacts, including the establishment of two agricultural colleges in Allahabad (the Allahabad Agricultural College) and near Salem, Tamil Nadu, for “rural reconstruction.” Christians played a vital role in rejecting sati and untouchability, establishing organizations to meet the needs of physically and cognitively challenged individuals, and opposing child marriage.

Nation builders committed to a pluralistic democracy for India have come from various Christian traditions, including R.S.N. Subramanian, a barrister from Madras; Kali Charan Banerji from Bengal; G. G. Nath, a barrister from Lahore; Peter Paul Pillai of Madras; and Madusudan Das, a lawyer from Orissa. George Joseph from Kerala was an active participant in the Home Rule movement, and Shri Thevarthundiyil Titu inspired others with his civil disobedience. J. C. Kumarappa, a veteran Congress leader, Paul Ramasamy, Venkal Chakkarai, Arthur Jayakumar, and hundreds of other leaders were significant contributors. Joachim Alva (1907-1979), a journalist, advocated the concept of Swadeshi and human brotherhood. There are records of active Christian participation in the Swaraj Movement (1905), the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920), the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930), and the ‘Quit India’ Movement (1942) and contemporary struggles for peace with justice. This living legacy benefited hundreds of millions of God’s people beyond one faith tradition.

And, today hundreds of Christians continue to lift up the gospel’s call to welcome all people and show the love of Christ. John Dayal from the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR), Tehmina Arora with the Alliance Defending Freedom in India (ADF), Archbishop Peter Machado, Rev. Dr. Vijayesh Lal of the Evangelical Fellowship of India; the church has raised up Christian Dalit leaders to show us how to live the gospel, people like Franklin Caesar Thomas with the National Council if Dalit Christians (NCDC), Shibi Peter with the National Dalit Christian Watch and NDCW), Ruth Manorama, and Cynthia Stephen.

This is only a snapshot of the lasting impact Indian Christians and Indian Christian churches have made and do make. Will you lift up Christians who have changed your life and the lives of Christians in India and in the Indian immigrant diaspora?

In 2024, within the complexity of our globalized society, Christian churches in India continue to take risks to live out the message of Christ, seeking to see God among the suffering, the outcaste, and caring for the earth—those closest to the heart of God

Who should attend an India Christian Day event?

All are invited.

Join us for a day as we celebrate and stand with Indian Christians as we image how to strengthen our witness for justice, mercy and health in India and in our nation. Share this invitation widely. And learn more about how we can face the challenges of the future together with hope.