Church History in Brief

One half of the world’s population is in Asia. India with a population of 1.11 billion is second only to China with its population of 1.26 billion as the two most populous countries in the world. (The United States is a distant third with 276 million.) India’s land mass covers slightly more than one-third the size of the United States. Hindi is the official language and is spoken by 30% of the population. English is the “associate official” language and the most important language for higher education, government, commerce, and communications. There are 14 other “official” languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit. There are at least 300 known languages in India, 24 of which are spoken by one million or more people.

Perhaps the first person in India to hear about the Church was Thomas Metcalf, a private in the British army stationed in India. He came in contact with a Church tract, entitled “Divine Authority” and wrote to Church headquarters for more information. He received, believed and distributed the additional tracts to his associates. Thomas died in November 1850 from fever and ague (perhaps malaria) having accepted the Gospel but not having had the opportunity to be baptized.

Church members Benjamin Richey and George Barber came to Calcutta in December 1849 as seamen on the bark (ship) Sharp. They had been baptized in 1849 but did not hold the priesthood. They taught the gospel as best they could. Several individuals developed a strong interest in the Church. When they returned to England they met with Church leaders. As a result of their interest and that of others, Elder Joseph Richards was sent to India in 1851. He also preached in Calcutta and baptized James Patrick Meik, his wife Mary Ann Meik, Matthew McCune and Maurice White – the first converts baptized in India. These, along with William A. Sheppard, who would be baptized later, were all taught earlier by Benjamin Richey and George Barber. In 1853 additional missionaries arrived and took the gospel to Madras (now Chennai) and to Bombay (now Mumbai) and other areas. Several small branches were established. When these missionaries returned to Utah in 1858, some converts immigrated to America. Although other missionaries and other converts followed, the India Mission was not considered successful; however, at least one branch existed through 1903.

Elder David O. McKay of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was the first General Authority to ever visit India. He visited Delhi and Bombay in 1921. The second General Authority to visit India was Elder Gordon B. Hinckley who visited in 1954 and Elder Spencer W. Kimball visited India in 1961. It appears to be no mere coincidence in the Grand Master Plan that the first three Apostles to visit India in this dispensation became Presidents of the Church and as such, the Lord’s Prophets to people of the world.

In 1954, S. Paul Thiruthuvadoss (Brother Paul), an accountant in Coimbatore, found an LDS tract and through it was introduced to the Church. He requested and received more information and in 1957 requested baptism. In 1962 Elder Richard L. Evans of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited him. In December 1964 Elder Gordon B. Hinckley of the Quorum of the Twelve and President Jay A. Quealy, Jr., President of the Southern Far East Mission came to see Brother Paul. (Elder Hinckley made two additional trips to India – in 1966 and 1977.) On February 5, 1965 President Quealy, a grandson of early Indian convert Matthew McCune, baptized Brother Paul. With President Quealy were Elders John Aki, Jr. and Gilbert Mantano – the first two missionaries to serve in India in modern time. In 1967 President G. Carlos Smith of the Singapore Mission visited India and baptized 24 of the people prepared by Brother Paul.

In 1968, Charles Redford baptized Baldwin Das in Delhi; later the rest of his family and the Roshan Juriel family joined him. In 1972 Maureen Das, their daughter was the first person to serve a mission from India; she served in the Philippines. Elders Gordon B. Hinckley and James E. Faust of the Quorum of the Twelve visited India in 1977.

In December 1978 Edwin and Elsie Dharmaraju who had joined the Church while living in Western Samoa returned to India as set apart short-term missionaries. They were instructed to teach the gospel, baptize and confirm, ordain brethren to the Aaronic priesthood and organize groups of the Church. They baptized 18 members of their family on 27 December in Hyderabad. Sister Elsie’s father, an ordained Baptist minister translated the Book of Mormon into Telugu. Brother and Sister Edwin hand carried the transcript to President Spencer W. Kimball in March 1981. Selections from the Book of Mormon were published in Telugu in 1982.

In 1978 there were only six Church groups in India and no branches. Between 1978 and 1993 at least 120 couples served in India as representatives of the Church. Most were from the United States but at least one couple was from England and another was from Australia. Local missionaries were not called to serve in India until 1986.

Coimbatore is the longest established community of Latter-day Saints in South Asia and by 1979 there were more than 200 baptized members in and around the city. Since about 1980 there has been a general policy of teaching people who are literate -- in English as well as in local languages -- and who are capable of building the Church.

1980, The India Bangalore District under the Singapore Mission was organized. The Metcalfs from Australia were the first to serve in Bangalore . Elder Metcalf was the District President. Michael Anthoney, Babu Abel, Krishnan, Samson Raj , Newton and Nixon Samuel were the first few members to meet with the Metcalfs .

1982 was a memorable year for the Church in India. The Church was incorporated as a legal entity, microfilming projects began, the Book of Mormon was published in Hindi, selections from the Book of Mormon were published in Telugu and Tamil, and the BYU Young Ambassadors visited the country. Three members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited India in the 1980’s. Elder Howard W. Hunter visited in 1981, Elder Boyd K. Packer visited in 1987 and Elder Dallin H. Oaks visited in 1989.

In June 1992, Elders Neal A. Maxwell and Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve were in Bangalore . They testified that if members would share the gospel with their friends, India would have a temple and they would see the work greatly expand. In 1998, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin visited the country.

A grand visit from a servant of the lord to India happened when Pres.Gordon B. Hinckley, who had served hard to establish the church in India visited the nation on the 3rd August, 2005 as the president of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints. Nearly 500 members from all over India started their journey to get to Delhi. They came by train, plane, car and bus, many sacrificing their hard earned savings.

President Hinckley began his address by saying, “I first came to this land nearly 41 years ago when there was not a single member of the Church in all of India!” He went on to somewhat humorously say, “...now so many years later, I have been all over this land. I have traveled to Coimbatore, Madras, Bangalore, Delhi…and all those other places!” Pres. Hinckley remarked on what a marvelous change had taken place in the Church in India and, in particular, how the country was being blessed today partly because of the growth of the Church. He said, “every time there is an added member of the Church, there is a better citizen of India, the country becomes that much better off because our people bring better strength and capacity.”

On January 1, 1992 the India Bangalore Mission – including all of India and Nepal –officially opened with Gurcharan Singh Gill as mission president. President Gill was born in northern India and raised on a farm. His people were Sikhs. At 19, he attended college in United States. The new mission was organized from the Singapore Mission with 16 young elders. By the end of 1994 the missionary force had grown to 105 including: 65 elders (all from outside India but at least 15 with Indian ancestry), 15 native Indian elders, five Indian sisters, and 10 senior couples including Elder and Sister Luther Augustus Ravuri, the first Indian couple to serve in India. (Brother Luther and his family are members of the Rajamundry Branch.) There were 147 baptisms in 1993 and 269 in 1994. Nine branches existed in early 1993 and 21 were on the records by mid-1995. The Church had 1,650 members in India and Nepal by mid-1995.

In July 1995 President Neil C.Twitchell a native of Las Vegas, Nevada, replaced President Gill. Problems with visas in late 1995 caused all non-Indian missionaries to face expulsion from the country. In January 1996 an agreement was finalized with the government allowing the mission 22 long-term visas and a promise that visas would be granted to those coming into India to replace missionaries completing their missions. All missionaries above the 22 limit were transferred to other missions by January 15, 1996. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve visited India in 1996.

President Ebenezer Soloman a native of India replaced President Twitchell in July 1998. President Soloman joined the Church in 1983 and later held several administrative positions with the Church in India. He was referred to as the gentle giant. A milestone was reached in 2000 when the First Presidency granted permission for all missionaries from India to attend the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Manila, Philippines. While there, missionaries were able to receive their patriarchal blessings and attend the Manila temple to receive their endowments. Prior to this time, MTC classes were held in the mission home in Bangalore. As a result of missionaries receiving their endowments baptisms doubled in the mission.

President Karl E. Nelson replaced President Soloman as mission president in July 2001. President Nelson is a convert to the Church from Twin Falls, Idaho. He has served as an Area Authority Seventy, regional representative, stake president, and bishop. In 2001 the mission had 640 convert baptisms. Members will remember 2002 as an historic building year for the Church in India. Elder H. Bryan Richards, a Seventy and Asia Area President, dedicated the first chapel built by the Church in India on February 2, 2002 in Rajahmundry. Groundbreaking for the second chapel in India took place in Bangalore on 22 June 2002 with President Nelson presiding. Groundbreaking for the third chapel took place in Hyderabad on 28 July 2002 with Elder Su Kiong Tan, Area Authority Seventy presiding. On 21 December 2002, ground was broken for the Coimbatore 1 st Branch Chapel and the same day the Semmedu Branch Chapel was dedicated. Elder John B. Dickson, Asia Area President, presided at both of these historic services.

Each time a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has visited India changes have taken place. The future has never looked brighter for this great mission in these two great nations of India and Nepal. Church membership reached 3958 at the end of 2002.

SUMMARY OF KEY EVENTS

1849 Church members Benjamin Richey and George Barber visited Calcutta

• Elder Joseph Richards called to serve in India
• Missionaries serving in India returned to their homes and were not replaced

1921 Elder David O. McKay visited India ( Delhi, Agra and Bombay)

1954 Elder Gordon B. Hinckley visited India

• S. Paul Thiruthuvadoss (Brother Paul) of Coimbatore found LDS tract and wrote for more information

1961 Elder Spencer W. Kimball visited India ( Delhi, Agra and Calcutta)

1962 Elder Richard L. Evans visited India and met with Brother Paul

• Elder Gordon B. Hinckley again visited India ( Madras and Coimbatore)
• Brother Paul was baptized
• Brother Baldwin Das was baptized in Delhi

1977 Elder Gordon B. Hinckley made his fourth visit and Elder James E. Faust visited

• Eighteen members of Edwin and Elsie Dharmaraju family baptized in Hyderabad

1980 India Bangalore District Under Singapore Mission was organized.

1981 Elder Howard W. Hunter visited New Delhi

1982 Selections from the Book of Mormon published in Tamil and Telugu

1986 Elder Boyd K. Packer visited India

1989 Elder Dallin H. Oaks visited India ( Bangalore and New Delhi)

1992 Elders Neal A. Maxwell and Russell M. Nelson visited India

1993 The India Bangalore Mission covering all of India and Nepal began operations

1998 Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin visited the India Bangalore Mission

2000 Missionaries called from India began attending the MTC in Manila and were endowed in the Manila Philippines Temple

2002 First chapel in India constructed by the Church dedicated in Rajahmundary; ground was broken for three additional chapels (in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Coimbatore); and a remodeled building was dedicated as a chapel in Semmedu

2005 Pres. Hinckley Vi

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Compiled by Elder Thomas E. Brown – June 2002, updated January 2003.

Sources:

From the East by R. Lanier Britsch

Nothing More Heroic by R. Lanier Britsch; extracted by Maureen M. Totland

Deseret News 2001-2002 Church Almanac

Culturgram ’95, Republic of India, Copyright 1994, Brigham Young University

India Fact File, www.timeforkids.com

Notes in possession of President Karl E. Nelson

Records in the India Bangalore Mission Offices

Records in the Church History Department; supplied by Brother Brian Reeves