Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola
Portuguese: Igreja Evangélica Congregacional em Angola
Congregants in their Sunday best outside of a yellow building bearing the church's name
AbbreviationIECA
ClassificationReformed Protestantism
HeadquartersHuambo, Angola
FounderMissionaries associated with the United Church of Christ (USA) and the Congregational Church in Canada and their students
Branched fromCouncil of Evangelical Churches in Angola
Congregations2,800
Members1,000,000+

The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (Portuguese: Igreja Evangélica Congregacional em Angola) is a Reformed Christian denomination in Angola.

History

On November 11, 1880, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (now the United Church of Christ in the USA) and the Congregational Church in Canada sent missionaries and began to evangelize in the highlands of Angola. The leaders of this mission were the Rev. William W. Bagster, the Rev. William Henry Sanders and the Rev. Samuel Taylor Miller (the first Black African missionary in Angola).

In 1940, a theological school was established to train pastors and ministers. This resulted in significant growth and development in the church. In 1957, the work of the North American Congregational Churches was united and the Council of Evangelical Churches in Angola was founded.[1]

In 1975, after the country had gained independence, the Angolan Civil War broke out. The war devastated Angola's infrastructure and severely damaged the nation's public administration, economic enterprises and religious institutions. The war forced foreign missionaries to leave the country. The church was divided into two parts; rural and urban. During and after the war, the church remained divided into the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola and the Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola.[2]

The Church Today

The headquarters of the church is in Huambo. The fast-growing denomination is present in 16 of the 18 Angolan provinces. It has 60 primary and secondary schools and a medical program. The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola is the second oldest Protestant denomination in Angola. It trains ministers in the Interdenominational Seminary in Huambo. The church has approximately 1,000,000 members in 2,800 congregations across the country.

Theology

  • Apostles' Creed
  • Heidelberg Catechism
  • Nicene Creed

Interchurch relations

Member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the World Council of Churches and partner church relationship with the United Church of Canada was established.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". www.reformiert-online.net. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  2. ↑ "Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola — World Council of Churches". www.oikoumene.org. January 1985. Archived from the original on 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  3. ↑ "Angola". United Church of Canada. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-24.
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