The Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa (CCCAS) or the "Ekalesia Faapotopotoga Kerisiano i Amerika Samoa" (EFKAS) is a theologically

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

and

congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

denomination in

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

. It was established in 1980 with

Galea'i Peni Poumele Galea'i Peni Poumele (December 18, 1926 – July 27, 1992) was a Republican American Samoan politician and traditional leader. Poumele served as the fourth lieutenant governor of American Samoa from 1989 to 1992. He was the first Chairman of th ...

as its first Chairman. Poumele was instrumental in the establishment of the church in the early 1980s.

Background and history

The church was established by the missionaries of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

in the 1830s.

had been a naval dependency of the United States, in 1950 it became an American dependent civil territory. The way opened for a gradual emergence of the American Samoan Church from the Congregational Christian Churches in the USA. Later when the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

was formed the United Church Board of Foreign Missions supported the churches in Samoa. Now Samoan Congregational Christian congregations were established in the United States and in New Zealand, Australia,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

besides American Samoa. In 1980 the Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa was established. The church maintains the Kanana Fou Theological Seminary, the Kanana Fou High School, and the Kanana Fou Elementary School.

Statistics

In 2004 the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa had 90,000 members, 120 congregations and 380 house fellowships in the world. The official languages are English and Samoan. Today there are more than 60 congregation of the Samoan Congregational Church in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and

many of them are related to the

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

through Conferences and regional Associations.

Interchurch organisations

A member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches 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 Chris ...

, the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

Pacific Conference of Churches The 'Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC)'' is an ecumenical organization representing Christian churches in the Pacific region. It seeks the visible unity of the church on issues of justice, peace and integrity of creation, initiatives on capac ...

and maintains partnership with the

and the Congregational Christian Church in Samoa. The denominational headquarters located in

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

References

External links

Official website of the Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa
{{Authority control Christianity in American Samoa Congregational denominations established in the 20th century Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Reformed denominations in Oceania Christian organizations established in 1980 Religious organizations based in American Samoa