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The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 152,317 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church.
The Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) was an international organization of Calvinism churches. It had 39 member denominations from 25 countries in its membership, and those churches have about 12 million people together. It was founded August 14, 1946 in Grand Rapids, Michigan as the Reformed Ecumenical Synod. The Reformed Ecumenical Council was the second largest international Calvinist alliance and the more conservative of the two largest. In 1953, The Reformed Ecumenical Synod meeting in Edinburgh decided to advise its member churches not to join the World Council of Churches as currently constituted because it “permits essentially different interpretations of its doctrinal basis, and thus the nature of the Christian faith” and “represents itself as a Community of faith, but is actually not this” due to member churches holding “basically divergent positions.” About two-thirds of REC member churches also belonged to the larger World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). The seat of the Reformed Ecumenical Council was Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are located in South Africa, and one each in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Saint Helena. In South Africa, there are between 3 and 4 million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 45 million.
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) was a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin. Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland. They are now merged into the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
The Protestant Reformed Churches in America is a Protestant denomination of 33 churches and over 8,000 members.
The Dutch Reformed Church is a Reformed Christian denomination in South Africa. It also has a presence in neighbouring countries, such as Namibia, Eswatini, and parts of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. In 2013 it claimed 1.1 million members and 1,602 ordained ministers in 1,158 congregations.
The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Christian communion in the world after the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. This ecumenical Christian body was formed in June 2010 by the union of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC).
The Virginia Synod is one of the 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, consisting of the entire state of Virginia except for several counties and cities in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed in 1988 and currently has over 9300 congregations and 3.6 million members in all 50 states. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.
Nkhoma is a hill in the Lilongwe District of Malawi. South African missionaries established a mission in 1889 and named the mission after the hill.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in Ghana. It is popularly referred to as the "EP Church". It has strong roots in the Evangelical and Reformed traditions. The denomination's Presbyterian sister church is the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
Evangelical Church of Maraland is a church in southern Mizoram in northeast India. It was founded by English missionary Reverend and Mrs Reginald Arthur Lorrain in 1907. It is the largest church among the Mara people. It is one of the three Mizoram churches pioneered by English missionaries in the 19th century; others are Mizoram Presbyterian Church and Baptist Church of Mizoram.
The Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) is a mainline Protestant church based in India, with over one million adherents, mostly in Northeast India. It is one of the largest Christian denominations in that region.
The Reformed Churches in South Africa is a Christian denomination in South Africa that was formed in 1859 in Rustenburg. Members of the church are sometimes referred to as Doppers.
The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) is a Presbyterian denomination. It consists of five synods: one in Zambia, one in Zimbabwe and three in Malawi – Livingstonia Synod in the north of the country, Nkhoma Synod in the centre, and Blantyre Synod in the south.
According to 2012 statistics about 85% of Malawi's 11 million people are Christian, with over half of the population Protestant and another 20% Roman Catholic. Of the Protestant churches the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian is one of the largest Christian groups, but here are also smaller numbers of Anglicans, Baptists, evangelicals, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and African independent churches.
The Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk launched mission work amongst Portuguese speaking refugees from Angola and Mozambique from South Africa. The work was led by Reverend Arnoldus Petrus Pienaar, Rev. Mario Alves, Rev. Pietar Botha, Rev. Eber Cezar, Rev. Samuel Coelho, Rev. Kruger du Perez, and Rev. Hermanus Taute. They established 5 Portuguese speaking congregations. A number of members begun returning to Portugal, to the former land of origin of some, or the mother colony. However there was no Reformed Church established in Portugal as yet. Reverend Petrus Pienaar and later Reverend Mario Alves began visiting Portugal annually. In 1983 Reverend Pienaar settled in Portugal. These endeavors resulted in two autonomous congregations, the Reformed Church in Portugal. The first congregation was founded in Porto with 50 members in October 16, 1985 serving the northern part of the country, and the second was founded in October 26, 1985 in Lisbon to serve the centre of the country. These churches formed a Synod. In 2005 Pastor Hermanus Taute arrived to lead the Reformed Movement in Portugal.
The Reformed Church in Mozambique is a confessional Reformed denomination in Mozambique. It was founded by Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, started Mphatso mission in 1909. This was in the Northwest part of the country, near Malawi. The work expanded rapidly. By 1919, 5 missions were opened in Tete Province. The Portuguese government inspired by the Roman Catholic Church closed the mission in 1922, and forced the missionaries to leave. Between 1922 and 1971 the church member had to meet secretly under trees and crossing the border to Malawi to attend Reformed worship. In 1972 the first black missionary called Rev Pedro Tempe started mission in South Mozambique, in Gaza Province.
The National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), also known as Synod SL, is a Reformed denomination in the Middle East. It is a federation of Arabic-speaking congregations, that trace back their origin to the evangelical revival in the 19th century. These churches adopted Reformed theology and Presbyterian church government. This Reformed revival was supported by many Reformed churches in the United States. The Ottoman authorities recognised the Protestant faith in 1848, the first congregations were founded in Beirut, Hasbaya. Later congregations were established in the major cities. The Synod was organised in 1920 with several Presbyteries. There has been a steady growth in new members in recent years.
The Kosin Presbyterian Church in Korea, also called Korea-pa, is an Evangelical Reformed and Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of South Korea. Although, congregations have spread all over North America and in many other countries.
References
- ↑ Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". www.reformiert-online.net.
- ↑ "Henry Institute". Calvin College.
- ↑ "International Youth Internships - Christian Reformed Church". www2.crcna.org. Archived from the original on 2013-06-08.
- ↑ "WebHost4Life". www.hefsiba.org.
Brown, Walter Lawrence. The development in self-understanding of the CCAP Nkhoma Synod as church during the first forty years of autonomy: An ecclesiological study. Diss. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, 2005.