....Tamil Nadu has attracted most of the independent churches, thanks to foreign contributions, which stood at Rs.775 crore during 2002-03 and went up to Rs.2,244 crore during 2006-07. Chennai tops the list of cities receiving foreign contributions: Rs.363 crore in 2002-03 to Rs.929 crore in 2006-07.
......The number of churches attached to the Kerala-based Pentecostal Council of India (PCI), has gone from 700 in 1996 to nearly 3,000 and is still growing. According to PCI, more than 1,000 applications for affiliation are pending. The membership strength of these churches has increased to one million from 25,000."The rise in wealth and hierarchy of thetraditional churches have distancedtraditional churches from ordinary believers who are attracted by the personal,emotional and evangelist appeals of the new groups that offer instant wealth and health through prayers," said Father John Isaac, a Catholic priest. A new church, Divine Feast, in Kottayam, Kerala, hasattracted more than 8,000 members within three years of its formation.
The continuing exodus from their flock has shocked the state's traditional churches, which have a total membership of more than six million, or 19 per cent of Kerala's population. The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC)-the apex organisation of bishops from the Catholic church, the largest traditional Christian church-has made a fervent appeal to its flock to distance themselves from the "new generation churches" and prayer groups.
...It is difficult to count the number of independent churches in India. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), an umbrella group of evangelical organisations in India, has around 35,000 independent churches under its wing.
