The next wave of colonizers came in the East India Company. Later when the colonization became wide, the crown took over with Viceroy at New Delhi. This opened up a wave of British missionaries to India. Kerala, which now formed three Kingdoms Thiruvithamcore, Kochi and Malabar also, came under the influence of the British. There was a resident at the capitals of these states. Along with them came the Missionaries. One of the firsts to be involved with the Malabar Churches was Claudius Buchanan. Mar Divanyous was the Metropolitan of the Jacobite Church at that time. He gave a copy of the Syriac Bible to Buchannan (one of the chaplains of the East India Company employees) who got copies of it reprinted and distributed them mainly among the clergy. Finding the impact of the Bible Mar Divanyous I translated the gospels into Malayalam which Buchanan got printed in Bombay. William Baily translated the New Testament by 1829 and the whole Bible was available in Malayalam by 1841. The word of God in the hands of the common people made an impact and a surge of revival and reformation took place. This was accelerated by the presence of the British Missionaries. Among those was Dr. Hermen Gundort (Bassel Mission) who studied Malayalam and wrote the first grammar book for Malayalam.

The European Missionaries opened up several Missions fields. They Included the Danish Mission in Tamil Nadu under the leadership of Berthealonmese Segan Balgue; Baptist Mission in Calcutta under the leadership of William Carey (who started the Serampore University); London Mission Society (LMS) under the leadership of Tingle Tob in Trivandrum area, Tamil Nadu; and Bengal; Basal Mission (1834) under Samuel Hebic and Gundort in Mangalore and surrounding areas, and in Malabar. Church of Scotland Mission and many others.

The first wave of Missionary thrust to India was by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1816. Though many of the Jacobite theology was at variance with the Protestant theology there was lot of cooperation between the two groups. Among the prominent missionaries were Thomas Norton, Benjamin Bailey, Joseph Fenn and Henry Baker, who were famous among these C.M.S. missionaries. They started the CMS Press in Kottayam in 1821, and began to publish Malayalam Bible and Christian literature for the use of common people. 1825, they published the gospel of Matthew, and in 1828, the New Testament, and in 1841, the complete bible.

The church leaders of Malankara Syrian Christian Church and C.M.S. worked together from 1816 to 1836. The Bishops of Malankara Syrian Christian Church, Pulikkottu Mar Divannaciose (1817-18), Punnatra Mar Divannaciose (1818-27) and Cheppadu Mar Divannaciose (1827-52) along with the CMS missionaries started the Seminary now known as Pazhaya Seminary (Old Seminary) for the training of the clergy in 1818.. The theological differences came to surface and in January 16, 1836 there was clear rift between the Missionaries and the Syrian Churches, and CMS and the Church separated. CMS then turned to evangelization among the Hindus.

So the missionaries turned to the non-Christians and started working among them. According to a panchayat court verdict, the properties and schools which were common among the missionaries and the Malankara Syrian Church were divided following the declaration of the church commonly known as Mavelikkara Padiyola.. One group of believers and priests who believed in the reformation principles joined with the C.M.S and started the CMS church. Those who came from the Syrian Christian Church retained their identity even within the new church. Another group of believers under the leadership of Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan (1796-1845) decided to stay in Malankara Syrian Church and worked for reformation from within the church.

HOME ............. NEXT