UNITED CHURCH OF ZAMBIA

This church is the result of a union of four churches effected in 1965, less than three months after Independence: (1) the Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia (itself a union of the Church of Scotland and the LMS Churches with the Union Church of the Copperbelt), (2) the congregations of the Copperbelt Free Church Council, (3) the Church of Barotseland, and (4) the Methodist Church. It is the largest Protestant Church in Zambia.

The components of the United Church of Zambia are the following. In the plains of the Zambesi, in the west of the country, the Paris Mission, with the active participation of people from Lesotho, had started work in 1885. The beginnings were rough.

The first group of missionaries, under the leadership of François Coillard, was arrested and mistreated. This mission worked among the Lozi. In 1964, under the name Evangelical Church of Barotseland, the church became independent. In the North the LMS and later the Presbyterians started missionary work. The first LMS station was established in Niamkolo among the Lungu. In 1894 a Scottish missionary, Alexander Dewar, and a Tonga Christian, John Banda, came over from Malawi and began work at Mwenzo near the Tanzanian border.

In the early years of the 20th century teams of students from Malawi were making evangelistic journeys into Zambia, among them David Julizya Kaunda, the father of Kenneth Kaunda; he founded the Lubwa mission station. Since 1894 the Methodists have been active in the center of the country among the Ila. In 1920, when copper began to be mined, a mission church was formed among the workers in the Copperbelt. In the ’30s the United Missions in the Copperbelt (UMCB) was formed in which both the Presbyterians and the LMS were involved. For a long time Presbyterians and LMS had been in close contact. In 1945 they formed, together with the union churches on the Copperbelt, the Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia (CCAR).

In 1958 the Central Free Church Council, which coordinated seven European congregations in the Copperbelt, merged with the CCAR and its name was changed to United Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia. In the following years negotiations began with the Methodists and the Church of Barotseland.

In 1965 the United Church of Zambia was inaugurated. The church comprises several tribes - from the Bemba in the northeast to the Lozi in the west.

To learn more about the United Church of Zambia, visit the following websites:
http://www.reformiert-online.net:8080/t/de/adr_statisch/112173.htm

Statistic:

Total members:	1,000,000
Congregations:	1,200
Ordained ministers:	148
Preaching stations:	0
Organizational structure:	Sections, Congregations, Consistories, 9 Presbyteries, 1 Synod
Languages in use:	English, Zambian languages like Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi
Doctrinal basis:	Apostles´ Creed, Nicene Creed
National relationships:	Christian Council of Zambia – CCZ
International relationships:	World Council of Churches - WCC, Council for World Mission - CWM, World Alliance of Reformed Churches - WARC, CEEVA
Baptism:	Infant and believer’s baptism
Frequency of the Lord's supper per year:	12
Theological schools:	0

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