Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade

Summary

Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade (OBEC) is a Baptist Christian association of churches in the state of Odisha in Eastern India. It is affiliated to the Baptist World Alliance. Its headquarters is in Bhubaneswar.

History edit

On 7 February 1822, William Bampton, James Pegg of General Baptist Missionary Society of England reached Orissa at the Pattamundai Coast and preached in Berhampur. The first baptism took place in Berhampur on December 25, 1827, of Shri Eron Senapoti served by Bampton. The first ordination of the Oriya preachers Gangadhar Sarangi and Ramchandra Jee Jachuck took place in 1835. In 1867 Indian Auxiliary Mission was formed and continued until 1899. Then, Indian Baptist Missionary Society was formed and continued till 1909. Afterward, that society continued under another name, Utkal Christian Church Union, until 1933, when it changed its name again not as a Union but as part of a Central Council. Later the Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade took over the evangelical responsibility of Orissa Baptists since 1969 independently. According to a census published by the association in 2023, it claimed 3,842 members and 34 churches. [1]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Baptist World Alliance, Members, baptistworld.org, USA, retrieved May 5, 2023