Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola is a Reformed denomination in the country of Angola established by the missionaries of the Swiss Reformed church.

History

The Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola (Igreja Evangelica Reformada de Angola in Portuguese) was established in 1925 in Kikaya, Uige Province in the North by Swiss and English missionaries, especially Archibald Patterson from Liverpool and Ernest Nickleus of the Swiss Reformed Church. The Mission of Northern Angola covered the Northern part of Angola, included the cities of Kikuya, Kinkuni, and Kimbela. During the Portuguese rule, catechists and evangelist were often arrested. During the war the church suffered persecution, and properties were destroyed. Later the mission was divided into 3 parts, one part fled to Zaire during the war, the other in the woods to the guerillas, the third remained the towns and cities.[1] After war parishes were reconstructed. A fifth of the members could not be destroyed. The church reopened in 1973. Headquarters were removed from Uige to Luanda. It is primarily strong in the Eastern part of the country though it is present in 11 Provinces out of the 18 in Angola. In 1978 adopted the current name.[2]

The Presbyterian Church of Angola separated from the denomination in 1986 under the leadership of Neves Massaqui.

Doctrine

The church affirms the historic confessions of:

Member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.[3]

Statistics

The church has 300,000 members in 450 congregations served by 370 pastors.[4][5]

gollark: That government would be a monopoly with basically the same problems.
gollark: No, that would be really bad.
gollark: (I know exactly 1.6km right now)
gollark: Not as far as I know.
gollark: No.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2013-04-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "NOSSA HISTÓRIA". ierasg.blogspot.hu. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  3. Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". www.reformiert-online.net. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  4. "Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola — World Council of Churches". www.oikoumene.org. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  5. "NOSSA HISTÓRIA". ierasg.blogspot.hu. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
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