Church of Bangladesh
চার্চ অব বাংলাদেশ
St. Thomas Cathedral of theMetropolitan Diocese of Dhaka
Abbreviation	C of B
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Anglican Presbyterian
Scripture	Holy Bible
Theology	Reformed
Polity	Mixed polity withepiscopal andpresbyterian elements[1]
Governance	Episcopal
Structure	Synod
Moderator	Samuel Sunil Mankhin
Cathedral	3
Associations	Anglican Communion,World Communion of Reformed Churches[2]
Region	Bangladesh
Headquarters	Moderator & Dhaka Diocesan Bishop's Office 54 Johnson Road, Sadarghat Dhaka 1100 Bangladesh
Territory	Bangladesh
Origin	30 April 1974; 50 years ago (1974-04-30) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Separated from	Church of Pakistan
Parishes	151
Members	30000+ (as of September, 2024)
Priests	31
Missionaries	Brotherhood of the Epiphany Sisterhood of the Epiphany Christa Sevika Sangha St. Mary’s Sisterhood St. Paul’s Brother Hood
Hospitals	2
Nursing homes	1
Primary schools	44
Tertiary institutions	1 (St. Andrew's Theology College, Bangladesh)
Other name(s)	CoB
Publications	Kapot (কপোত)
Official website	churchofbangladesh.org

TheChurch of Bangladesh (Bengali:চার্চ অব বাংলাদেশ) is aunited Protestant church formed by the union of variousProtestant churches inBangladesh, principally theAnglican andPresbyterian denominations. The Church of Bangladesh is a member of theAnglican Communion and theWorld Communion of Reformed Churches.

The history of the plantation of this united Protestant church is quite old. Presbyterianism and Anglicanism in Bengal became established from the time of British rule incolonial India; since the Anglican Church in England is called theChurch of England, the Anglican Church in undivided India was known as theChurch of India, Burma and Ceylon, which eventually became theChurch of North India,Church of South India andChurch of Pakistan; after the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan, the Church of Bangladesh emerged from the Church of Pakistan.

The Church of Bangladesh currently has three dioceses – Dhaka Diocese (ArchbishopSamuel Sunil Mankhin), Kushtia Diocese (Bishop Hemen Halder), and Barisal Diocese (BishopShourabh Pholia). There are a total of 8 deaneries and 115 parishes under the three dioceses. The population is about 22,000. Membership is diverse, including many different cultures. About half of the total members are from the Garo, Santal, Marma and Chakma ethnic groups of Bangladesh.

The Church of Bangladesh came into being as the outcome of the separation ofEast Bengal province fromPakistan. This started as a movement which focused on language and took shape through the liberation war in 1971, which created an independentBangladesh. The Synod of theChurch of Pakistan on 30 April 1974 declared and endorsed a free and independent status for the Church of Bangladesh. The Church of Bangladesh brings together the Anglican and English Presbyterian Churches.

Following the creation of the Church of Bangladesh, efforts were made to increase local leadership. B. D. Mondal was consecrated as the first national bishop of Dhaka Diocese in 1975. He tried to follow the path of Bishop Blair, by encouraging the active participation of lay leaders from all sections of the church congregations. After the creation of the synod, B. D. Mondal became the first moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and Michael S. Baroi the deputy moderator. At the time of B. D. Mondal's retirement, a new bishop was elected, andPaul Sarker, in January 2003, became the third national bishop of the Church of Bangladesh. Although the title is not employed in this United Protestant denomination, since the acknowledgement of the bishop of Dhaka as aprimate within the Anglican Communion, he has been entitled to the usual archepiscopal prefix "the Most Reverend".^[3] The currentPrimate and Archbishop of Church of Bangladesh isSamuel Mankhin, enthroned on 5 December 2018.

TheEcclesiastical Synod of Church of Bangladesh, commonly known as COB Bishops Conference, inSavar, theepiscopal commission of the Church of Bangladesh. It was made through the partition fromChurch of Pakistan synod, after Bangladesh's Independence. ThenArchbishopBarnabas Dejen Mondal, built this episcopal commission known as "Synod", in 1974.

TheBook of Common Prayer produced by the Church of Bangladesh, translated literally as "prayer book" (Bengali:প্রার্থনা বই) was approved by synod in 1997.^[4] The book contains prayers translated from the traditional Book of Common Prayer as well as those from theChurch of North India and the CWM's Prayer Letter, along with original compositions by the Church of Bangladesh.

There are three dioceses in the Church of Bangladesh:

Erected in 1956 by dividing theDiocese of Calcutta, the diocese (originally called "East Bengal")^[5] covered allEast Pakistan. It was in theChurch of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon until the 1970 union of theChurch of Pakistan. It became the sole diocese of the Church of Bangladesh upon the church's 30 April 1974 independence. Since it was split to create Kushtia diocese, theModerator of the Synod has usually also beenArchbishop of Dhaka of Church of Bangladesh.^[6]

• 1956–1975: James D. Blair (assistant bishop of Calcutta (for East Bengal), 1951–1956)^[7]
• 1975–2003:Barnabas Dejen Mondal (consecrated 16 February 1975,Oxford Mission Church)
• 2003–2009: Michael S. Baroi (installed 24 January 2003)
• 2009 – 18 February 2019 (ret.):Paul Shishir Sarker (Moderator 2009^[8] – 19 November 2018)^[9]
• 2019–present:Samuel Sunil Mankhin (Moderator 2018 – present)

Founded from Dhaka diocese in 1990; the Bishop in Kushtia wasex officio deputy moderator until 2018,^[6] when the new bishop in Barisal became deputy moderator (as the second most senior bishop by consecration).

• Michael S. Baroi (consecrated 30 November 1990, St Peter'sRatanpur)
• Paul Shishir Sarkar (consecrated 5 January 2003, Oxford Mission Church)
• ?–2019: Samuel Sunil Mankhin (consecrated 8 November 2009, St Mary'sHaluaghat; Moderator since 19 November 2018)^[9]
• 2019–present: Hemen Halder (consecrated 27 January 2019)^[10]

Formed in 2017^[11] from Dhaka diocese.^[12]

• 2017–present:Shourabh Pholia (elected 24 February;^[13] consecrated 30 April, at Christ the KingKhalishpur;^[14] installed 18 June;^[15] Deputy Moderator since 19 November 2018)^[9]

The Church of Bangladesh is a member of theGlobal South. Former ModeratorPaul Sarker attended anAnglican Church in North America meeting on 13–15 May 2017, atHoly Cross Cathedral, inLoganville,Georgia. He and ArchbishopFoley Beach, of the ACNA, signed "A Joint Statement on Communion from the Primate of Bangladesh and the Primate of the Anglican Church", to affirm and celebrate the communion between both churches. It was also discussed how both provinces could work together with mission partnerships. The Church of Bangladesh was the first united province of theAnglican Communion to declare full communion with the ACNA.^[16][17]

The Church of Bangladesh was not represented atGAFCON III, on 17–22 June 2018, because it took place inJerusalem, butSamuel Sunil Mankhin attended G19, the additional conference that took place inDubai, on 25 February – 1 March 2019.^[18][19]

• Church of Bangladesh Official Website

• Church of Bangladesh
• Anglican Communion church bodies
• Anglican realignment denominations
• Christian organizations established in 1974
• National churches
• Members of the World Council of Churches
• Christian denominations established in the 20th century
• Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches

• CS1 Bengali-language sources (bn)
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Bengali-language text
• Infoboxes without native name language parameter