Draft:Khasi Unitarian Union
The Khasi Unitarian Union is a Unitarian church based in the Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, India.
History
[edit]The Khasi Hills Unitarian community was founded by Hajjom Kissor Singh (June 15, 1865 - November 13, 1923) in 1887. Kissor Singh had been raised in a family which practiced traditional Khasi religion, but after he and his brother were sent to a missionary school, he converted to the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church at age 15.[1][2] He became dissatisfied with the doctrine he was taught, and became determined to leave them to find "the true religion of Jesus, the love of God".[3][4][1]
Much of Kissor Singh's early independent religious study was influenced by correspondence with Unitarian minister Charles Dall, who was working as a missionary in Calcutta.[2] In 1887, Kissor Singh decided to found a new religious movement under the name Ka Niam Unitarian (the Unitarian religion) with the assistance of American Unitarians, defining it as "duty to God, to fellow humans and to oneself". He led the movement's first service at his home in Jowai, attended by two men and one woman, on September 18, 1887.[3][4][1] By 1889, the group had grown enough to build their own church building.[4]
The American Unitarians also sent Kissor Singh money to print 500 copies of a Khasi language hymnbook in 1892.[1] Kissor Singh translated many of the hymns himself. The Jowai group opened a free co-ed school in August 1893, headed by a female teacher. Initially serving twenty students, after two years the school had 60 students taught by four teachers.[4]
By 1899, the church had 214 members.[4]
By 2011, the KUU's mother church in Jowai had 1,000 congregants.[5]
The KUU is the third or fourth largest Unitarian community in the world (estimates of member numbers differ), behind the United States and Romania.x A 2011 estimate put the KUU at 45 congregations and 10,000 members, while a 2021 estimate put the number of churches in the KUU at more than 35.fourth largest Unitarian community in the world, behind the United States and Romania.[4][5]
Theology
[edit]The Khasi Unitarian statement of faith, published in 1888, reads: "We believe (1) in the unity of God; (2) in the Fatherhood and Motherhood of God; (3) in the Brotherhood of Man; (4) in Love, Union, Worship, and Faith; and (5) in Immortality.”[1] Additional catechism is drawn from The Book of Brief Questions About Unitarianism, which was co-written by Kissor Singh and Robin Roy. The book is split into six chapters: chapters one and two deal with "the subject of God," chapters three, four, and five address adherents duties to God, other people, and themselves, while the final chapter addresses sin, "defined as not doing one's duty, or going against the commands of God".[2]
Khasi Unitarianism merges elements of traditional Khasi religious teachings and practices with Christian practices (Sunday services, ministerial hierarchy, and church buildings, among others) brought to the region by missionaries.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Lavan, Spencer (2003-11-02). "Singh, Hajom Kissor". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ a b c d Rex, John (March 2001). "Khasi Unitarians of India" (PDF). uucuv.org.
- ^ a b "Unitarianism in Khasi-Jaintia Hills: A unique movement". The Times of India. 2012-09-18. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Founding of Khasi Hills Unitarians in India". First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh. 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ a b Morales, Peter (2011-03-02). "Unitarians in the Khasi Hills | International Unitarian Universalism". UUA.org. Retrieved 2024-09-10.