The Maohi Protestant Church or Māòhi Protestant Church is a Reformed church in French Polynesia. It is 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 first missionaries arrived in 1797. After 1815 the majority of the population identified themselves with

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, and formed this national Protestant church which spread from

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

to the four archipelagos. The official founding date of the church is 1815. Following developments in 1863 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 ...

handed its control over the church to the

Paris Evangelical Missionary Society The Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (in French, ''Société des missions évangéliques de Paris''), also known as the ''SMEP'' or ''Mission de Paris'', was a Protestant missionary association created in 1822. As with other Christian societie ...

. In 1962 the church become autonomous under the name of Eglise évangélique de Polynésie francaise. Except for the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

and

Îles Tuamotu-Gambier The Îles Tuamotu-Gambier (french: Îles Tuamotu-Gambier or ''Archipels des Tuamotu et des Gambier'' or ''Archipel des Tuamotu-Gambier'' or ''Tuamotu-Gambier'' or officially ''subdivision administrative des (Îles) Tuamotu-Gambier'') is an administ ...

, the Maóhi Protestant Church is the leading, predominant church in French Polynesia. It has parishes and thousands of members in New Caledonia. The church has 130,000 members and 96 congregations and 81 house fellowships. It has districts and a

General assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

References

Religion in French Polynesia Tahitian culture Religion in New Caledonia Christian organizations established in 1962 Reformed denominations in Oceania Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches {{FrenchPolynesia-stub