Investigative report by news channel makes Christians see red

A CNN–IBN–Cobrapost special investigation expose that corruption has crept into religious institutions and some unscrupulous members of the Church are making money by selling Baptism certificates has flustered the Christian community in India.

According to an undercover investigation team, Paharganj's Idgaah Baptist Church pastor, Father Benjamin Das and Father Henrich James, of the Holy Gospel Baptist Church in Delhi University's Christian colony sell baptism certificates for anywhere between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 15,000.

Not just them, but many other priests from the Baptist Union of India and the Evangelical Church of India in Delhi also sell fake baptism certificates in lieu of money, the team said.

"We received prior information about the malpractice and so we decided to conduct this investigation to see the dimensions of this malpractise," Aniruddha Bahal, editor–in–chief, Cobrapost.com, said.

The Baptist Union of North India has reacted strongly to the CNN–IBN and Cobra Post's expose that found some unscrupulous members of the church selling baptism certificates.

President of the Baptist Union North India, Reverand Walter David has said that the erring authorities are going to be removed from their posts.

"These people will be removed from the position of the pastor. We are going to suspend both Kirpal Masih and Pastor Henrich James," he said.

"We condemn this action. It wasn't expected and we have, for the first time, come to know about something like this. The guilty are going to be punished strongly. We have removed their names from the created listed of ministers," Rev. David added.

"We, as a Christian community, denounce accepting of money by some pastors for issuing baptism and church membership certificates, as revealed by the channel," said Rev. Richard Howell, general secretary, Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI).

"Though the events have brought to light misdeeds of certain Christians, this is an opportunity for us to uphold each other, especially our leaders, in prayer as we strive towards walking in integrity and righteousness in a fallen world," he said. "As we are a minority community in India, it is all the more important for us to support, pray and encourage one another. Being a minority, we also have to ensure that we lead lives of integrity as the world is watching us closely and especially as India continues to become hostile towards Christians."

"[We have asked] the appropriate church authorities to take necessary action against the defaulting pastors and for the Christian community to stand together during this time," said Rev. Atul Aghamkar, chairman, EFI.

"We pray for the grace of God in our ongoing journey of faith. We pray for courage to stand for truth with humility. We pray that God will pardon us our failures to be transformed so as to transform the world," said Bishop D.K. Sahu, general secretary, National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).

"Any commercialization of religion needs to be condemned no matter who does it. It seems to be the result of self–appointed pastors accountable to nobody and appropriating for themselves designations that do not belong to them. This is very unchristian and cannot go along with Christian life, much less that of Christian leaders. We, therefore, condemn the actions of some pastors as reported in IBN 7 and some papers to the extent that they are true," said Archbishop Vincent M. Concessao of Delhi Archdiocese who is also the president of the National United Christian Forum (NUCF).

"We pray for the different churches in Delhi – that the sad and unfortunate events that occurred in Delhi may not tarnish our image, rather we take it as a challenge to continue our service to society in honesty, sincerity and above all, the love of God and the love of human beings," said Fr. Babu Joseph, spokesperson, Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI).

Baptism certificates are needed to prove that a person is a Christian.

Baptism certificates are also sometimes necessary to get admitted in a Christian school.