The Kerala government on Tuesday gave in-principle approval to recognize Pentecostal churches as a Christian church denomination, a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said.
The decision comes days after a delegation of Pentecostal church leaders met with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the latter’s official residence in Thiruvananthapuram with the same request. Church leaders also handed over the same memorandum to Opposition Leader V D Sathisan.
The Cabinet also decided to form a three-member committee of senior officials to study various problems faced by communities including members of the Pentecostal Church and Scheduled Caste Christian Converters (SCCC) and make recommendations.
Although they are Christians by faith and prayer, various Pentecostal groups in Kerala such as the Indian Pentecostal Church (IPC), Church of God, New Indian Church of God, and Betley Society are not officially recognized as a Christian denomination. Pentecostal groups differ from Catholics and other Protestant groups in doctrine, style of worship, and authority. While Catholics view the Pope in the Vatican as the sole authority figure, Pentecostal communities point to the Bible. There are also differences in their beliefs, including salvation, birth, and baptism.
Pentecostal communities together make up about 4% of the Christian population in Kerala. The main Christian denominations in the state are the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (about 40%), the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (7%), the Malankara Orthodox Church (8%) and the Jacobite Syrian Church (8%).
With official recognition as a Christian denomination, members of the Pentecostal church will receive benefits in line with other Christian groups including eligibility in state and central sponsored schemes, approval for educational institutions and posts in educational and health institutions, welfare pensions for Sunday school teachers and representation on minority committees.
One of the main demands of the Pentecostal churches in the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister was reservation for Dalit Christians. The three-member expert committee is expected to submit its recommendations to the state government
