United Church of Christ in Mozambique

Last updated

The United Church of Christ in Mozambique was founded by American missionaries in the 1970s. In 1905, an American missionary with the help of Zulu workers from South Africa started mission work in Manica and Sofala. This suffered hardship because of the Portuguese authorities. In 1931, Gulhierme Tapera Nkomo was the first national pastor. Later the Basel Mission supported the work. Today the church works in Manica, Sofala, Tete, Imhambane, Maputo Provinces. [1] The headquarters located in Beira. It has 15,000 members and 22 congregations. Member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. [2] The President is Rev. Lucas M Amosse, the moderator is Rev Dandoga Chivaca. [3]

Related Research Articles

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Mainline Protestant (religious) denomination

The Christian Church is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th century as a loose association of churches working towards Christian unity, then slowly forming quasi-denominational structures through missionary societies, regional associations, and an international convention. In 1968, the Disciples of Christ officially adopted a denominational structure at which time a group of churches left to remain nondenominational.

American Baptist Association

The American Baptist Association (ABA), formed by a merger of two related groups in 1924, is an association of Baptist churches. The principal founder was Ben M. Bogard, a pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. ABA headquarters, including its bookstore and publishing house, Bogard Press, is based in Texarkana, Texas.

Manica Province Province of Mozambique

Manica is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 62,272 km² and a population of 1,945,994. The province is surrounded by Zimbabwe in the west, Tete Province in the northwest, Sofala Province in the east, Save River in the south, and Zambezi river in the northeast. Chimoio is the capital of the province. The highest mountain in Mozambique, Mount Binga, lies in this province near the border with Zimbabwe. The Manica province is divided into nine districts and 34 administrative regions.

Beira, Mozambique Place in Sofala Province, Mozambique

Beira is the capital and largest city of Sofala Province, where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean, in the central region of Mozambique. It is the fourth-largest city by population in Mozambique, after Maputo, Matola and Nampula. Beira had a population of 397,368 in 1997, which grew to 530,604 in 2019. A coastal city, it holds the regionally significant Port of Beira, which acts as a gateway for both the central interior portion of the country as well as the land-locked nations of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

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.

Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia. It is the largest individual member church of the Lutheran World Federation. It is a Lutheran denomination with some Pentecostal influence and one Presbyterian-leaning synod, with a large Pietistic following.

The United Congregational Church in Southern Africa began with the work of the London Missionary Society, who sent missionaries like Dr. Theodorus van der Kemp to the Cape colony in 1799. He was established the first Congregational church in Cape Town in 1801. LMS missionaries like David Livingstone spread the Gospel among the Batswana and Amandbele peoples. After 1820 English and Welsh settlers established their own congregational congregations. Congregationalist missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions began work in KwaZulu-Natal in 1830, and several congregations of white settlers formed the Congregational Union of South Africa. These three bodies united to form the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa in 1967.

World Communion of Reformed Churches Christian organization

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).

Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana Religious denomination

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.

Presbyterian Church of Brazil Evangelical Protestant Christian denomination in Brazil

The Presbyterian Church of Brazil is an Evangelical Protestant Christian denomination in Brazil. Oldest of the Reformed family of Protestantism in Brazil. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country, having an estimate 702,949 members, 4,915 ordained ministers and 5,420 churches and parishes. It is also the only Presbyterian denomination in Brazil present in all 26 States and the Federal District. It was founded by the American missionary Rev. Ashbel Green Simonton, who also oversaw the formal organization of the first congregation and the first Presbytery. Although the Presbyterian Church of Rio de Janeiro was only formally organized in January 1863, and the Brazilian church only left the jurisdiction of the joint missions board of the American churches in 1888, when the Synod was formed, the denomination considers the date of Simonton's arrival in Brazil, August 12, 1859, as its foundation date.

National Presbyterian Church in Mexico

The National Presbyterian Church in Mexico is the second-largest Protestant church, and the largest Reformed denomination in Mexico. It is present throughout the country, and is particularly strong in the states of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, Nuevo León, Aguascalientes and Mexico City.

The Reformed Church of East Africa was founded in 1944 when the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa started mission work in Eldoret Kenya. This work was overtaken by the missionaries came from the Netherlands Reformed Church. The church accepted the Three Forms of Unity. When the Dutch missionaries left, they left behind a Kenyan Reformed church. At the time it has more than 600 congregations and 110,000 members. The denomination has a theological seminary in Eldoret, The Reformed Institute For Theological Training (RITT). RITT offers courses in Theology. The church become autonomous in 1963. There are more than 110,000 adherents. The Christian Reformed Church in Eastern Africa separated in 1992. It is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. It has official relationship with the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

The Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Bulgaria is a Calvinist Congregational denomination in Bulgaria. A member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship.

The Presbyterian Church of the Philippines (PCP), officially The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the Philippines, is a growing evangelical, Bible-based Reformed church in the Philippines. It was officially founded in 1987 and the General Assembly was organized in September 1996.

The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola is a Reformed Christian denomination in Angola.

Presbyterian Church in Singapore

The Presbyterian Church in Singapore is a Presbyterian Reformed church. The current moderator is the Rt Rev Keith Lai.

The Volkskerk van Afrika or the People's Church of Africa is a Reformed denomination in South Africa, it is member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

The Evangelical Church of Christ in Mozambique was a result of Presbyterian missionaries from Scotland. James Reid started working in the Zambesi region in 1910. In 1912 a mission station was opened in Alto Molocue. In 1913 the Scottish Presbyterian Church was founded, and was later renamed to Evangelical Mission of Nauela. The missionaries left Mozambique in 1933, the work was transferred to the Church of Brethren, 5 years later it was handed over by the South African General Mission. The Portuguese government closed the mission in 1959. Trouble period came. But the church survived. Several congregations remained faithful to their origin. The church governance is congregational. In 2004 it had 40,000 members and 500 congregations and 10 prayer stations.

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.

References

  1. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  2. "Member Churches :: World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)". Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  3. "Home - United Church of Christ in Mozambique (UCCM-ICUM)". Uccm-icum.webs.com. Retrieved 2013-09-07.