The Fellowship of the Pentecostal Churches in India has around 1,100 churches in its network with its headquarters at

Itarsi Itarsi is a city and municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India in Narmadapuram District. Itarsi is a key hub for agricultural goods and is the biggest railway junction in Madhya Pradesh. Rail services from all 4 major metropolitan cities of India ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, India. The fellowship unanimously re-elected Dr. Matthew K. Thomas as chairman during the October Fellowship Conference in 2008. The Fellowship is regarded as one of the largest independent Pentecostal churches in India.

History

As Pentecostal churches continued to spring all over India, the graduates of

Central India Theological Seminary The roots of Central India Theological Seminary go back to 1962 when Dr. Kurien Thomas founded Bharosa Bible College at Itarsi, Central India. It was later renamed as Central India Bible College and then raised to a research institution in 1999 ...

who worked mainly in the north, began to feel the need to form a Fellowship for closer fellowship. So, at the 1966 Annual Convention of the Pentecostal Church at

, the Christian workers united to form the Fellowship of the Pentecostal Churches of God in India (FPCGI). The first elected chairman of the Fellowship was Dr.

Kurien Thomas Kurien Thomas (1922–2000) or Kurian Thomas was pioneer pentecostal missionary to Central India. Pioneering works He hailed from Kerala. In the beginning he was a missionary from the India Pentecostal Church of God but later formed a new org ...

, a pioneer Pentecostal missionary in north India, who held that position till 1984, "when it was unanimously decided that the burden should be placed upon...Thomas Matthews."Kurien Thomas, ''God's Trailblazer In India and Around the World'', (Bombay: GLS Press, 1986), p.88 The Fellowship was registered with the Indian Government in 1969 and had the following objectives:

To preach the Gospel in the whole of the land of India. To establish independent Churches.... To oppose all doctrines that are not true to the clear teachings of the Bible. The local Church should be free from any central rule or domination by any other Church, nor should one minister rule over another. That each might help and encourage each other.

The Fellowship of the Pentecostal Churches in India has now over 1,100 pastors working in close network with the headquarters at the mother church at

. Pastor

pastored the Church from 1945 till his death in 2000. He is now succeeded by his son Dr. Matthew Thomas who is the chairman of the Fellowship ( FPCGI), editor-in-chief of Basileia Theological Journal, executive member of

Pentecostal World Conference The Pentecostal World Fellowship is a fellowship of Evangelical Pentecostal churches and denominations from across the world. The headquarters is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its leader is William Wilson (Tulsa, OK). History The Pentecostal World Fello ...

, and president/principal of

. The headquarters is at Office of FPCGI,

, PO Box 63, Malviyaganj, Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh India. Pin - 461111.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fellowship Of The Pentecostal Churches In India Pentecostalism in India