Evangelical Church of India was founded by the Oriental Missionary Society, newly called One Mission Society, whose founders Mrs. & Mr. Charles E. Cowman and Mr. E. Kilbourne commenced OMS ministry in the year 1901 in Japan.
From the beginning One Mission Society was an undenominational Society with a three-fold emphasis upon 1) the establishing of Bible Seminaries and training institutions 2) Intensive and extensive evangelism 3) the planting of indigenous national churches in the various countries in which it operates. The Society conducted the first nation wide house-to-house Scripture distribution campaign between 1912 and 1917 in Japan, and since that time similar systematic campaigns have been conducted in a number of countries. By the time the Japanese Government forced the amalgamation of all Protestant Churches in Japan in World War II, the church established by One Mission Society in Japan was the fourth largest Protestant Body with some 400 Churches. Korea was entered by OMS in 1907 where there are now nearly 2,000 congregations with about 500,000 memberships. The church there is known as Korea Evangelical Holiness Church, the third largest protestant denomination in South Korea. China was next entered where three Seminaries were opened and indigenous churches established. Contact with those Seminaries and the Church had been lost owing to change of policy of the Government there. OMS is now actively working in the following countries : Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Greece, Spain, Columbia, Ecuador, Brazil, Haiti, Philippines, France, China and Russia.
In 1941 OMS began its work in India. The Evangelical Church of India founded by OMS operates three Bible Seminaries, namely Allahabad Bible Seminary, Madras Theological Seminary & College and Calcutta Bible Seminary. It also runs Bombay Bible School in Mumbai, Vijayawada Bible School in Vijayawada, Lalitpur Bible School in Lalitpur, Orissa Bible School in Koraput, Sadhu Sundar Singh Bible School in Solan, Karnataka Bible School in Gangavathi, ECI Theological Seminary in Kozhivilai, Gujarat Bible School in Unchamala, ECI Jisupita Bible School in Jisupita and ECI Bishop Azariah Bible School in Arumuganeri.
