List of parachurch organizations

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Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that usually carry out their mission independent of church oversight.

Contents

Most parachurch organizations, at least those normally called parachurch, are Protestant and Evangelical. Some of these organizations cater to a defined spectrum among evangelical beliefs, but most are self-consciously interdenominational and many are ecumenical.

Roles that parachurch organizations undertake include larger more national or international movements:

And smaller, more localized movements:

Evangelical

International

Some international parachurch ministries include:

United States and Canada

Some parachurch ministries in the United States and Canada include:

Non-Evangelical specific

United Kingdom

International

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelism</span> Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ

In Christianity, evangelism or witnessing is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is sometimes associated with Christian missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Bright</span> American evangelist

William R. Bright was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles, he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. In 1952 he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws. In 1979 he produced the film Jesus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cru (Christian organization)</span> Interdenominational Christian parachurch organization for college and university students

Cru is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright. Since then, Cru has expanded its focus to include adult professionals, athletes, and high school students. In 2020, Cru had 19,000 staff members in 190 countries.

Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenagers. Rallies were held in other U.S. cities during World War II, attracting particularly large crowds in Chicago led by Torrey Johnson, who became YFC’s first president in 1944. Johnson hired Billy Graham as YFC’s first employee. Former YFC staff have launched over 100 related Christian organizations, including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and World Vision.

The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) is an interdenominational association of 180 evangelical Christian student movements worldwide, encouraging evangelism, discipleship and mission among students. The headquarters is in Oxford, England.

A Protestant/Evangelical Youth Ministry is a Christian Ministry intended to instruct and disciple youths in what it means to be a Christian, how to mature as a Christian, and how to encourage others to claim Jesus as their Saviour through Evangelism and apologetics. This is accomplished through teaching, relationship building and/or mentoring. Youth ministries may vary widely depending on their denomination, size, liberal or conservative outlook and geographic location. The ministries themselves are almost always built on relationships between the youth minister and the student and their shared perception of their relationship to God. Youth have become an integral part of nearly every church’s ministry programming, and youth ministries continue to have a profound impact on the societies in which they exist.

Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that work outside and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism. Parachurch organizations seek to come alongside the church and specialize in things that individual churches may not be able to specialize in by themselves. They often cross denominational and national boundaries providing specialized services and training.

Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada, or InterVarsity, is a Christian organization which ministers to youth and university students. It has a variety of ministries, including Pioneer Camps of Canada, high school, college and university ministries. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is the American branch of InterVarsity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth With A Mission</span> Christian missions training organisation

Youth With A Mission is an interdenominational Christian training organization.

Bible Study Fellowship is an international Christian interdenominational or parachurch fellowship of lay people offering a system of structured bible study. It was founded in 1959 by Audrey Wetherell Johnson, a British evangelist to China.

The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an evangelical Christian parachurch organisation that aims to encourage university students to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. It is affiliated with, and in 1947 was a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.

Awana is an international evangelical Christian nonprofit organization in child and youth discipleship. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Illinois, United States. Its mission is to equip children's and youth ministry leaders throughout the world to reach kids with the Gospel and engage them in lifelong discipleship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protestantism in Thailand</span>

Protestants in Thailand constitute about 0.77% of the population of Thailand. Protestant work among the Thai people was begun by Ann Judson in Burma, who evangelized Thai war captives who were relocated to Burma. Protestantism was introduced to the country of Thailand in 1828 through the work of Karl Gutzlaff and Jacob Tomlin, the first two resident Protestant missionaries in Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Church of Christ in the Philippines</span> Christian denomination

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines is a Christian denomination in the Philippines. Established in its present form in Malate, Manila, it resulted from the merger of the Evangelical Church of the Philippines, the Philippine Methodist Church, the Disciples of Christ, the United Evangelical Church and several independent congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre for Missional Leadership</span>

The Centre for Missional Leadership(CML) was a theological centre specialising in applied theology. It was based in Watford, 20 miles northwest of central London, England.

Isaac Ababio was a Ghanaian evangelist. He pioneered radio evangelism in Ghana and founded and served as Director of the Hour of Visitation Choir and Evangelism Association Ministries (H.V.C.E.A), the first evangelistic association in Ghana from 1968 to 2018. He was also one of the founding members of the Scripture Union in Ghana.

References

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