United Reformed Church in Congo was formerly the Confessing Reformed Church in Congo, and belongs to the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and Reformed family of churches.

History

The Church was formed thanks to a broadcasting program by Rev. Aron R. Kayayan in the late 1970s supported by the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

in South Africa and the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He was the director of a reformed radio broadcasting program. This was the Perspectives Reformees a French language radio broadcast, assuming the organisation of Back to God Hour of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The French language radio programs was listened to by many people in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, in Haiti and in many Caribbean Islands. In Africa much Bible study started under the influence of the program. Kayayan preaching initiated the formation of a new denomination. The Eglise Reformee Confessante au Congo - the Confessional Reformed Church in Congo in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

- was formed in 1983. The church changed its name to United Reformed Church, and adopted the

Three Forms of Unity The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many Ca ...

as their standard, and a Presbyterian-Synodal church government form. It was registered by the government on February 17, 2010. Exact number of membership was unknown it had 150 congregations and 10–12,000 members in the early 2000s.
The church order is a French adaptation of the Christian Reformed Church in North America's Book of Church Order. The church is growing easterward, up to

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...

and

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

, where a couple of church plants started. Evangelists are present in

Ubundu Ubundu, formerly known as Ponthierville or Ponthierstad, is a town located in the Tshopo Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the administrative center of the territory of the same name. It is on the Lualaba River, or Upper Congo ...

and Waligale. As of 2010, there were 200 congregations served by 26 ministers.

Doctrine

Canons of Dort The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618� ...

* Heidelberg Catechism * Belgic Confession * La Rochelle Confession of Faith

Interchurch relations

* member of the

International Conference of Reformed Churches The International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) is a federation of Reformed or Calvinist churches around the world. The ICRC was founded in 1981. The ICRC convenes international meetings every four years. Its theology is more conservative ...

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) are an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed ...

United Reformed Churches in North America The United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) is a theologically conservative federation of Reformed churches founded in 1996. Many churches joined the URCNA after splitting from the Christian Reformed Church in North America denomination. ...

Reformed Church in the United States The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The present RCUS is a conservative, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation: ''Sola scriptura'' (Scriptur ...

Reformed Churches in South Africa The Reformed Churches in South Africa () is a Christian denomination in South Africa that was formed in 1859 in Rustenburg. Members of the church are sometimes referred to as ''Doppers''. History of the Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa In ...

It does not belong to the

Church of Christ in Congo The Church of Christ in the Congo or CCC (in French, or ECC), is a union of 62 Protestant denominations, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is often simply referred to as the Protestant Chu ...

Demographics

In 2012 the church had 43 parishes, 177 congregations, and 14,657 members served by 26 pastors and had 33 evangelists. It was represented in 10 provinces. The Church has 200 - 250 congregations in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

with approximately 25,000 members.
The church operates in several Congolese Provinces like Katanga Province, Kasai Oriental, Kasai Occidental,

Orientale Province Orientale Province ( French: ''Province orientale'', "Eastern province") is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary ...

, South and North

Kivu Kivu was the name for a large "region" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" ("Sous-Régions" in French): Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, correspondi ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

*Official website
United Reformed Church in Congo
Reformed denominations in Africa Protestantism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1983 establishments in Zaire