Pentecostal member appointed as Chairman of Punjab State Minorities Commission

The Punjab government has appointed Jatinder Masih 'Gaurav', a close aide of prominent Pentecostal pastor Ankur Narula, as the chairman of the Punjab State Minorities Commission.

The post is a recognition of the growth of Pentecostal churches in Punjab in recent years. Usually, people from mainstream Protestant or Catholic churches are appointed to this post. The number of Pentecostal churches in Punjab has seen extraordinary growth in the past few years.

Jatinder Randhawa, who hails from a Protestant family in Kalanaur in Gurdaspur district, became a follower of Pastor Narula about a decade ago and took the name Jatinder Masih 'Gaurav'. Having become a close and trusted aide, Ankur Narula was appointed as the President of the Ministries Management Committee. He also serves as the President of the Global Christian Action Committee.

Jalandhar-based Ankur Narula Ministries is one of the largest and fastest growing Pentecostal churches in Punjab.

The appointment was made in recognition of the fact that individual pastors from Pentecostalism already outnumbered the older established Christian institutions of the Catholic, Protestant and Anglican churches that were dominant in Punjab.