Assam Baptist Convention (ABC) is a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Christian denomination based in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, with more than 37,000 members and 300 congregations.

History

The Assam Baptist Convention traces its origins back to the work of 19th Century Baptists missionaries in Assam such as Krishna Chandra Pal, Nathan Brown, Oliver Cutter and

Miles Bronson Miles Bronson (1812–1883), was one of the first American Baptist missionaries who worked in the state of Assam in northeastern India. Mission Work Assam Bronson arrived at Sadiya in Assam on July 8, 1838. Previously, Nathan Brown and O.T. Cu ...

. The first indigenous person from Assam to be baptized into the baptist faith was Nidhi Levi from the

Jalia Kaibarta Jalia Kaibarta (or Jaliya Kaibartta, or: Jāliya Kaibbarta, possibly also: Jalia Kaibartya) is a community comprising people of low ritual status, fishermen, who later acquired respectable caste identities within the larger Hindu fold, helped b ...

ethnicity baptized in 1841. The Baptist Church of Assam was formed in 1845 with its headquarters at

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

. There was a small revival in

Nidhi In the context of Hindu scriptures, "Nidhi" is a treasure, constituted of nine treasures (''nawanidhi'') belonging to Kubera (also spelt as Kuvera), the god of wealth. According to the tradition, each nidhi is personified as having a guardian spi ...

in 1847, but as of 1861 the Assam Baptist Church had only 31 members. The Assam Baptist Convention currently operates a school in

Nagaon Nagaon (previously Nowgong; Assamese নগাঁও), is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati. History This division was organised on the both banks of Kalang river ...

World Baptist Convention report on various international projects
/ref> and another in

Golaghat Golaghat ( ''Gʊlaɡʱat'' ) one of the largest subdivisions of the Indian state of Assam, later elevated to the position of a full–fledged district headquarter on 5 October 1987, is a city and a municipality and the seat of administrative ...

Sources

Christianity in Assam Religious organizations established in 1845 Baptist denominations in India 1845 establishments in British India {{baptists-stub

History

See also

Sources