Protestantism in Burma

Main article: Christianity in Burma

Protestants in Burma make up 3% of that nation's population, many of them Baptists. The Protestant Churches of Burma were begun in the early 19th century by Adoniram Judson, an American Baptist missionary. Since the 19th century, Christianity has become deeply rooted and has grown stronger through many adversities.

In 1966 all missionaries were expelled by the Burmese government, but the Burmese Church has become a vibrant missionary-sending movement, despite financial limitations and geographic isolation. Baptists, Assemblies of God, Methodists and Anglicans form the strongest denominations in Burma. Many Christians are well-educated, but cannot rise to positions of responsibility.

Most Christians are from the minority ethnic groups such as Karen, Lisu, Kachin, Chin, and Lahu. An estimated 0.1 per cent of the Bamar population is Christian.

Anglicanism

The Anglican Communion is represented in Burma by the Church of the Province of Myanmar. As of 2006, it has about 62,000 members.

Methodist Church

Methodist missionaries entered the country along with the British once Myanmar became a British colony in the late 1800s. Methodists established, similarly to the Anglicans, schools in the country, most notably the Methodist English High School in Yangon, mostly to educate the Anglo-Burmese and British. The school exists to this day and today is known as Dagon State High School but still attached the Methodist Church.

Myanmar Baptist Convention

The Myanmar Baptist Convention is an association of Baptist churches in Myanmar.

The famous American Baptist missionaries, Adoniram and Ann Judson, moved to Yangon in 1813 when British authorities refused to allow them to stay in India. The Judsons were in Burma six years before their first convert was baptized. Adoniram Judson gathered a group of believers and labored under many trials, but his missionary tenure of almost 40 years helped firmly establish the Baptist work in Myanmar. His monumental work included translating the Bible into Burmese, which was completed in 1834. George Dana Boardman began a work among the Karen peoples in 1828. Today the Karen Baptist Convention is the largest member body of the Myanmar Baptist Convention, which was formed in 1865.

HIV/AIDS is a significant problem in Myanmar. In 1992, the Baptist Convention created a 32-member AIDS commission, because they see the problem as spiritual, as well as social and medical.

In Myanmar about 6% of the population is Christian, with two-thirds of them being considered Protestant. Almost half of these Protestants are Baptists. In 2012, the Convention had over 1.6 million members in 4722 churches. The Myanmar Baptist Convention has 18 affiliated conventions and two directly affiliated local churches under its umbrella, and is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Baptist World Alliance.

The Convention operates the Myanmar Institute of Theology, the leading Christian seminary in Myanmar, founded in 1927 and located in Insein.

Christian Reformed Church in Myanmar

The Christian Reformed Church in Myanmar is a Reformed church of Myanmar, and was founded in 1985. It has 52 congregations and 13 preaching points with more than 6,000 members. The church is divided into 10 Classes. Most of the evangelists work among Buddhist and Animist people. The church is divided into classes. The Church recognise the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort and the Ecumenical Creeds. To train pastors the church founded the Reformed Teological seminary in Yangon in 1997. The collage offers a degree of Becjalor of Theology. The Christian Reformed Church mantains a clinic opened in 1999 in Matupi. It belonged to the Reformed Ecumenical Council, the only Burmese denomination to do so. But REC merged with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, now the Christion Reformed Church is affiliated with the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

Presbyterian Churches

• Reformed Presbyterian Church in Myanmar
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Myanmar
• Presbyterian Church in Myanmar
• Reformed Evangelical Church in Myanmar
• United Reformed Church in Myanmar
• Independent Presbyterian Church in Myanmar
• Free Reformed Church of Myanmar

The biggest church is the Presbyterian Church in Myanmar with 30,000 members and 300 parishes and hundreds of house fellowships.

Mara Evangelical Church

The Mara Evangelical Church is one of the oldest church in Chin State. It was founded by American missionaries. The church has 100 congregations and 17,200 members, and it is affiliated with the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

Kachin Church

Kachin Church is a church centred in Kachin State of Myanmar. It is also present in China and India and is predominantly Baptist.

Lisu Church

Main article: Lisu Church

Lisu Church is a Christian church of an ethnic minority of southern China, Myanmar, Thailand and a part of India. Missionaries had been working in the Lisu area since the early 20th century. The first to work among the Lisu, in the Yunnan province in China, was James O. Fraser, who also developed the written Lisu language and the Fraser Alphabet, which today is officially adopted by the Chinese government. Writing and reading in Lisu has been mainly developed by the church. Today there are an estimated 300,000 Lisu believers. The Lisu Church has both the Bible and a hymn book in their own language.

True Jesus Church in Myanmar

The True Jesus Church is a nontrinitarian Christian denomination begun in China, growing out of the Pentecostal movement. Since its foundation it has spread to other countries including Myanmar.

As of 2000, there are two churches, one in Taungphila and Pyindaw Oo, and prayer houses in six different areas: Pyidawtha, Sakhamayi, Tiddicm, Falam, Nud Kyi Kone, and Yangon Shwebogan. The number of believers is 211.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Christianity in Myanmar
• Myanmar Institute of Theology
• Roman Catholicism in Myanmar
• True Jesus Church in India

External links and references

• Wardin, Jr., Albert W. Baptists Around the World
• Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists, Norman W. Cox, editor
• Crossman, EileenMountain Rain, OMF 1982. A biography of Fraser with much details on the early mission among the Lisu in China
• Christianity in Burma
• Pentecostalism in Burma
• http://www.mehsa.org/ Methodist English High School