The World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship (WECF) is a global association of evangelical Christian

Congregational Churches 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 it ...

, from various national associations around the world, which is united by a common belief in the lordship of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

and the

authority of the Bible In Christianity, the term biblical authority refers to two complementary ideas: * the extent to which one can regard the commandments and doctrines within the Old and New Testament scriptures as authoritative over humans' belief and conduct; * the ...

, as well as by its common desire for evangelism.

Origins

The idea for the WECF began at a series of annual meetings of the

Conservative Congregational Christian Conference The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC or 4Cs) is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. It is a member of ...

in 1983, when a number of international delegates at the American meetings expressed an interest in solidifying relationships with other evangelical congregationalists across the globe. A constitutional framework for the Fellowship was ultimately agreed upon, and the WECF held its inaugural assembly in October 1986, in

Sussex, England Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English C ...

Statistics

According to a denomination census released in 2020, it has 18 denominations members in 17 countries.

Organization

The WECF is overseen by a number of executive officers from different nations: including a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and several members-at-large. It presently meets triennially, with a smaller-scale mid-term meeting, every year and a half.

Members

List of WECF Members * Evangelical Congregational Churches, Argentina * Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Australia * Alliance of Evangelical Congregational Churches, Brazil * Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches, Brazil * Union of Congregational Churches, Bulgaria * Congregational Christian Churches, Canada * Evangelical Churches Association (Congregational), Manipur, India * Evangelsko-Kongresanska Crkva Skopje, Republic of Macedonia * Chuuk Congregational Church of Christ, Federated States of Micronesia * Evangelical Churches Association, Myanmar * Evangelical Congregational Churches, Nepal *

Congregational Union of New Zealand The first Congregational Church in New Zealand was formed in 1840 by Rev. Barzillai Quaife, who was a missionary to the Maori. This cause did not give rise to any lasting church, neither did one formed in New Plymouth in February 1842. Mr. Jonas Woo ...

* Congregational Union of Northern Ireland * National Association of Congregational Churches, Philippines * Union of Congregational Churches, Portugal * Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Republic of South Africa * Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, United Kingdom * Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, United States of America Associate Member * UCC (Pohnpei) Congregational Churches on Guam and Saipan

References

External links

* {{official website, https://cong-wecf.org/ Evangelical organizations established in the 20th century Christian organizations established in 1986 International Christian organizations