29

The Missions of the Serampore Trio:

An Ecumenical Perspective
K. L~ RICHARDSON

And Christ-centred humanism has the best opening 9f

making its impact in this dialogic social existence. This is
the cultural mission ofchristian ecumenism in contemporary "
society, and more specially in India. 1

This article is a sincere attempt to critically reflect on

certain mission of the Serampore Trio in the light of contem porary
ecumenical concept of mission. The missionary vision and mission
strategies of them were significantly ecumenical both in christian
and secular lines even in the nineteenth century itself.
In the early years of nineteenth century, the trio had emerged
as a dynamic force of christian mission which spoke of cosmic
Christ. William Carey and his team strongly believed that mission
was concerned not only to a person but also to his environment.
Therefore, we found a wholistic concept of mission in the
ministries of Serampore Trio i.e., mission to the total peron in
the whole society. Our chief aim in this article is to identify how
the missions of the Serampore Baptists reached the nineteenth
century Bengal society -in a broader and secular ecumenical
sensibility. Secular ecumenical missions are understood here as
the Christian missions ventured in the total context of people's
culture and community.

A. Historical Context of the Serampore Trio:

Though the first christian activity in Bengal beganftom 1576

by the Jesuits, the total life of Bengalees was not influenced by
it. But the mission of Serampore trio had a tremendous impetus
on the life ofthe Bengal society from 1800. William Carey started
his ministry in Bengal in 1793 and he had been joined by John
Marshman, a school teacher and WilliamWard, a printer. This
partnership was generally called - Serampore Trio who worked
unitedly for many years for the upliftment of Bengal society in
educational, social and religious environments.
Politically, the Danes settled at Serampore from 1755. Col.
,"
Rev." KL. Rich~dson teaches Efistoryof Christianity at Bishop's CoUege,
Calcutta.
 30 , Indian Journal of Theology

Ole Bie was the ,Chief Administr~tor of Sera~pore' town from

1776-1805. In 1777, the Danish settlements ofIndia came into
the direct administration of the crown of Denmark arid Col. Bie
,became the crown regene. From the beginning, the mutual trust
and right relation had never achieved totally between English and
Danes till the Serampore town fell into the hands of British in
1845. The history of Tranquebar Mission or Danish - Halle
Mission launched in' India in 1706 under the Royal 'Danish
patronage (King Frederick N of Denmark), vindicates the
missionary consciousness and ,ecumenical consciousne$s, of
Danes. Hence the Danes at Serampore were also very visionary,
action-oriented and encouraging towards Baptist missions; On
the other hand, British authorities did not allow any missionary
for propagation in their territory until the 181,3 Ch~rter came
into force.,'
Socially, the life ofthe Bengal society was divided on the basis
of castes and their traditional occupations. Intercaste marriages
or dining were strictly forbidden. Practice of polygamy was a
common factor among Kulins 3 .,
Religio-Culturally, the Hindu beliefs and traditions were part
of community life. Durge Puja wa.'s the national festival of Bengal
and each village had its own deity. Many social evils continued
in the society on the basis of religion and culture. The Hindu and
Muslim relation was cordial and harmonious4

B. Ecumenical Missions of the Serampore Trio: '

The missionaries had encountered the society, religion and

various situations to bringout their christian missions with a new
vision and spirit. The ecumenical missions of the Trio are
examined in educational, social and religious fields.

1. Educational Missions

All missionaries in India used 'Educati~n' as a key instrument

in their missionary work to propagate the gospel. Perhaps; the
chief aim of the Serampore Trio might be the same in the beginning
oftheir missions. But later ,the concept of education in the minds
of Trio became completely different as per the demands of the
then Bengal social religious and cultural situation. The realitY'of
the society was largely studied by them. So a global thought of
education emerged in their miuds to liberate the local society.
Innovative schemes of education were initiated and implemented
sincerely though they had t6 struggle in their lives due td various
 The Missions of the Serampore Trio 31

factors. Contextually, it. was the intention of the East India

Company to encourage Bengali,. Marathi and .other regional
languages at FortWilliam College to benefit themselves in
commercial enterprises with natives .. Whereas the Baptist
missionaries, launched the educational institutions for the sake
of the whole society. Here the society or the peoples must be
looked upon as 'Oikoumene', ofthe whole inhabited world. No
denomination, race, class, sex, caste or any. other criterion of
difference was evolved in the ecumenical ministries of the
Baptists.
Carey's effort~ in establishing Agri-Horticultural Society in
18205 , reflects his vision of cosmos, which is again becoming
concerned with the whole of the earth. He was a uniq ue missionary
of glo bal mission. Over all, the trio recognized and respected each
other's thoughts and deeds. What a model ecumenical trio!
Vernacular schools, female schools, Marshman' Educational
Plan, William Carey's Professorship at Fort William College and
his interaction with other faiths there and the association of
Serampore trio with so many educational programmes in Bengal
speak for the ecumenical consciousness of the three baptist
missionaries.
The linguistic works of the. Trio were so remarkable. The
grammars, dictionaries, translations, journalism, pu blications and
various literary contributions thus enlightened the whole Bengal6
Were all these works necessary for the cause of evangelization?
Yes, the modern mission thought ofCarey and his men was totally
framed on the basis of cultural mission. Unless the culture, the
people and the whole society was transformed into a new mind,
the whole process of modern mission would be in vain. So the
educational missionary efforts oftrio made a tremendous impact
on the life of the Bengali society in the nineteenth century'. .

2. Social Missions

Carey was a social thinker and social ecumenist. He had

undertaken an 'extensive study of Bengali society and found the
social evils prevailed were against the welfare and progress of
the society. When the sick and. dying people were brought by
their relatives to the ghats ofthe holy rivers to die, the missionaries
helped them with medicines. They not only' supplied medicines
but also published in their periodicals from time to time to let
the readers know how to make use of the medicines available.
~l:

Daniel Potts comments:

l'Itwas expected that the medic~ students educated at
32 Indian Journal of Theology

5eranipore would be predominantly, if not exclusively,

Christian. This was not discrimination against Hindus or
Muslims but due largely to the former's objections to the
practice of human dissection. Nevertheless the trio thgught
non-christians would make use of the services of Indian
christian doctors because physicians rise above cast, even
the Hindu shastras declaring that whatever forbidden for
food or liquid be received as medicine, interferes not with
cast in the least degree.,,7 .
Therefore, it was vindicated that the services of the Baptists
influenced WilliamBentinck, British Governor-General, to launch
a medical college at Calcutta in 1835. The primary aim of the
college was to give medical knowledge to the natives.
Another social evil was infanticide i.e. throwing the child into
the river as an offering. This was strongly criticized by Carey when
he heard the report of William Ward on it and he submitted a
report to the government saying:
"Memorial on murders committed under the pretence of
religion in the hope that they would all be decided criminal
acts. ,,8
Furthermore, the SeramporeTriofought severely against 'Sati'
which was an inhuman act in the name of Hindu religion. With
the help of his Pundit Vidyalankar, Carey found no emphasis in
the shastras about Sati (9). So the missionaries published articles
on Sati for public awareness, and through their letters they
appealed their philanthropic European friends to put pressure
on British government. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, an eminent Indian
leader also joined the movement and voiced against the evil
practice of Sati. After long protest by the Serampore Trio and
their supporters, the government abolished Sati in 1829. The
significant features of the social missions of the trio was giving
a new meaning and praxis for modern christian missions. So
Middlebrook describes:
that Carey was a person who sought to change the world
in which he lived for the better. 10

3. Religious Missions

A greater amount of commitment and unity among the

Serampore missionaries made possible their efforts of evangelism
in and. out of Bengal a success.
The socio-economic and socio-religious situation of India
during the end of eighteen ~entury gives the impression that the
country was in dismal condition. Historically, it has been a~cepted
 The Missions of the Serampore Trio 33

that Raja Ram Mohan Roy had transformed this century through
his dynamic social, intellectual and religious acts. But a careful
study of this period reveals that even before him the Serampore
Trio started their crusade against .illiteracy , ignorance and
superstition. Trio established printing presses, started writing and
printing in Indian languages, opened schools and launched
movements against the prevailing social evils; But they differed
from other' evangelicals' in their approach towards Indian religion
and culture. Though they appreciated Indian culture, they
criticized the evils of Hindu society and religion ll . William Ward
wrote a four volume book on Hindus entitled "An Account of
the writings, Religion and Manners of the Hindus, including
translations from their Principal Works"( 1811) in which Hindus,
their religion, . festivals and their gods were degraded.
Situationally, Serampore Trio shifted to exclusivist attitude
towards Hinduism. They recognised the fact of interdependency
of religion and society among BengalHindus. The words ofBishop
V.S. Azariah, an eminent Indian ecumenist states clearly the
traditional situation of Indian religion and society thus:
"Hinduism has never set forth a body of doctrines which every
follower of that religion should more or less accept; it
presents a scheme of life. A Hindu will still be a Hindu if
only he does not transgress the social restricts of that
particular caste in which he was born, to which he belongs
through life, and in which he must die. In this limited sense,
caste is Hinduism and Hinduism is caste. ,,12
In that situation they tried for casteless society by encouraging
inter-caste marriages among the converts and arranged united
communion services. At Serampore College, Pundits refused to
teach the Hindu sacred scriptures to the Sudras. But the Baptists
forced them to teach the sacred laws to Sudras. Furthermore,
they considered the 'Brahminical thread' asa token of social
distinction and so the Brahmins were baptized with their sacred
threads. It is noteworthy here that Carey and his associates learned
Indian languages and published RamayaIia and other Indian
ancient works in view offinding facts and social awakening among
Hindus. Middlebrook adds:
"Careytranslated books in which his intention was to show
the weakness of the shastras. So he declared that he had
never yet met with a Hindu who was proof against the
absurdities of his own shastras." 13 .
. But strong defender of Hinduism from the attack of Christian
missionaries was Ram Mohan Roy. When Serampore trio were
using their journals 'Samachar Darpan' and 'Friend of India', to
34 Indian Journal of Theology

bring out their comments on Hindu society and religion; Ram '
Mohan also published (1821) a bi-lingual magazine in Bengali
and English entitled 'The, Brahminical Magazine' to defend
Hinduism. Roy played a significant role in the process of
interaction between Seramporetrio and the Hilldus through his
free thinking and valuable writings. He decided to draw the
attention of his fellow Hindus to the teachings of Jesus and in
1820, he published the 'Precepts of Jesus'.
Overall, the trio had done their ultimate efforts on the translation
of the Holy Bible into numerous Indian languages which was the
matchless and permanent gift to the Indian Christians. Daniel Potts
remarks:
"The real revolution in nineteenth century Indian society was
the result of both the work of missionaries and Iridian Hindu
reformers. 14.. '

Evaluation

The three type missions of Trio in the Bengal society during

nineteenth century reflects their wider perspective of missions.
Their secular enumenical missionary approach had created a
marvellous influence on the life of Bengal Hindus. The society,
religion and culture were examined ~md encountered by their'
educational, social and religious missions. The outcome of these
missions was an emergence of a new ecumenical awakening in
the Bengal society i.e., Renaissance which produced a lot of
openness and secular ecumenism.
1. M.M. Thomas, "Christian Ecumenism for the renewal of Secularism in India",
Ecumenism.- hope in action, edited by Aruna Gnanadasan, Nagpur: N.C.C.I.',
1990, p.l05.
2. Sunil Kunmar Chaterjee, WiDiam Carey and Serampore, Calcutta: Ghosh
Publishing Concem, 1984, pA.
3. Kanti Prasanna Sen Gupta, The Cluistian Missionaries in Bengal, 1793-1833,
Calcutta: K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1971, p.23.
4. Ibid., p. 26.
5. Sunil Kumar Chatterjee, op. cit.,p. xiv.
6. E. Daniel Pott, British Baptist Missionaries in India, 1793 c 1837, Cambridge:
The University Press, 1967, p. 98. '
7. ibid., p. 67.
8. ibid., p. 140.
9. ibid., p_ 148.
10. J. B. Middlebrook., William Carey, London: The Carey Kingsgate Press
Limited, 1961p. 109.
11. Kanti Prasanna Sen Gupta, Op. cit., p. 65.
12. V.S. Azariah, 'India and Christ In.-/ntemationalReview of"Missions, Vol. XVII,
1928, p. 155. '
13. J.B. Middlebrook, Op. cit., p. 53.
14. DanielPotts, op. cit., p.244. '