New Delhi, May 8 (CITHARA PAUL, The Telegraph): About half of Indian Christians, except Catholics and Syrian Christians, will become “globalised Christians'' next month when the various Protestant and other Churches merge in a 10-day event in the US.

All non-Catholic, non-Orthodox Churches across the world will merge into a single body, the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), which will be a unifying force for them as the Vatican and the Pope are for Roman Catholics.

“Of late, a number of new sects had appeared under various guises and this had been creating confusion within and outside the community. The merger is expected to redeem all this,'' said an official of the Church of North India, one of the largest among the bodies that will become part of the WCRC.

The “historic” unification will happen at a General Council in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from June 18 to 27, drawing at least 2,000 priests from 214 Churches in 107 countries. Instead of a Pope-like figure, the gathering will constitute an apex council.

The WCRC will have 80 million adherents across the world. The major Indian Churches that will be part of the alliance include the Church of North India, Church of South India, Presbyterian Church of India, Evangelical Church of Maraland, Church of Christ and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Northeast India.

In real terms, the merger means more funds for Indian Churches from the West, especially the US. The Church of North India official said the unification would showcase global Christian unity.

“It will strengthen the unity of Churches in India, who are facing attacks from various quarters as we have seen in Orissa,'' he said. “The merger will be a confidence booster for all Christians in India as it would mean that we are not alone. We will feel that we have brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.”

Technically, the event will be a merger between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches a Protestant body and the Reformed Ecumenical Council.

The WARC is a fellowship of 75 million Reformed Christians, its member churches being Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed and United churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation. The Reformed Ecumenical Council is a body of Reformed and Presbyterian denominations.