An ecumenical prayer meeting in Bhopal on Saturday arrived at a unique ?no-poaching? pact to check the spurt in interdenominational conversions in Madhya Pradesh.
The meeting discussed the mushrooming of small, unregulated churches in the state which, it said, were poaching on members of bigger churches, and not only affecting their credibility but also causing confusion among followers.
About 100 representatives of Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal churches, among others, attended the meeting convened by the Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue,
Madhya Pradesh, Regional Bishops Council of India.
Pamphlets making an appeal to refrain from such conversions will be distributed among various churches in January. A four-member committee has been set up to formulate the appeal that will also ask Christians to stick to their own church.
To begin with, it was decided that a ?no objection certificate? from the parent church would be insisted upon should one seek to change denomination.
Addressing the meeting, Archbishop Leo Cornelio said, ?Sheep stealing (a term used for interdenominational conversion) is a major hurdle in Church unity.?
Sources said the meeting was critical of fly-by-night churches that collect donations and disappear, as well as of denominations whose pastors use the title ?Father?. Catholics bestow the title on priests after elaborate religious training in seminaries.
Incidentally, the Catholic Church and Protestant churches in the state had failed to forge a common stand when the BJP government had proposed a Wakf Board-like body to regulate and monitor Christian properties across the state. The Catholics run scores of educational and other institutions and are opposed to the very idea, unlike some of the Protestant churches who seemed to side with the government.