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March 06, 2006

Indians Evangelize Wales

A great story: Indian tribe sends a missionary to tackle spiritual void in Wales, from today's Daily Telegraph. It begins:

Indian tribes who were converted to Christianity by missionaries from Wales are now returning to evangelise the Welsh because they believe that the country is in a state of religious decline.

The Diocese of Mizoram, in the north-east of India, has already sent one missionary to south Wales. It is planning to send a second in April, to help the Welsh Presbyterian Church with its shortage of ministers.

"Welsh" and "Presbyterian" aren't two words one normally puts together, but world Christianity is a more varied thing than we realize. Sadly, though Wales became

one of the most religious areas in Britain, following the great revival of 1904 which culminated in a period of fervent chapel building . . . the 2001 census showed that fewer than one in 10 people in Wales regularly attended church or chapel.

Posted by David Mills at 09:57 AM | Permalink

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Regarding the Welsh Presbyterians: Unlike its English and American counterparts, the Welsh Methodist revival of the 18th century was a product of the Calvinistic branch of the movement (which included, among others, the great preacher George Whitefield). The resulting church, which broke from the Church of England in the early 19th century, was known (in Welsh) as "Yr Eglwys Fethodistaidd Galfinaidd," or "The Calvinistic Methodist Church."

In the USA, the Calvinistic Methodists were absorbed into other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, although I think there may be a couple of Welsh Presbyterian churches left in eastern Pennsylvania.

Posted by: Andy | Mar 6, 2006 11:12:50 AM

Aha. So that's where they come from. When I seminary, I regularly did supply preaching at a small, originally Welsh Presbyterian church in rural Wisconsin. It was founded by Welsh immigrants who worked the mines in the area. Out front was a monument to their founding pastor. One side was in English, the other in Welsh. They still host a Welsh hymn fest every summer, the term for which in Welsh escapes me.
Fond memories.


Posted by: Rev Dave | Mar 6, 2006 12:58:45 PM

I believe the well-known Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Calvinistic Methodist, too.

Posted by: Will S. | Mar 6, 2006 8:31:26 PM

So now it's come full circle: what with Indians doing missionary work in the U.K., and the heroic Bishop Akinola (of the (Anglican) Church in Nigeria) inviting dissenting conservative Anglican churches in North America to come under his jurisdiction, and forming a covenant with breakaway non-Communion Anglicans in North America, it appears that, to the extent that it occurs, the re-vitalization of the Faith in the First World, will increasingly come from the Third World.

Posted by: Will S. | Mar 6, 2006 8:47:41 PM

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