Christianity in Orissa blossomed during the British Rule. It is some time around 1850 to 1947 A.D. Christians form only 2.4 percent of Orissa's population. The church in Orissa is a mosaic of places where the church is thriving and places where it is merely surviving. Missionaries came to Orissa in response to famine and poverty. People who came to faith were frequently put out of their own communities with no place to go but to the mission.

Many children were orphaned by famine and they also became dependent on the mission. One mission in the 1930s reported that 80 percent of their converts were financially dependent on the mission. These factors removed the converts from their own culture. These new Christians were perceived as giving allegiance to a foreign land and culture. Most Protestant denominations are represented in Orissa, the result of missionary activities throughout the Orissa, starting with the onset of British rule. The missionaries didn’t only spread Christianity, but they also did humanitarian deeds giving the needy basic necessities of life like food, clothes and shelter. The missionaries also built schools in India and many of them even today have Christian or European originated name.