Église du Christ au Congo - Communauté des disciples du Christ

The Community of Disciples of Christ is the fruit of the work of the American Disciples Overseas Mission, which began in 1899 in the region of the equator of the then Belgian Congo. The church became autonomous in 1964. It has its headquarters in Mbandaka, in the Province of the Equator. The Disciples of Christ in Congo, like all other Disciples of Christ in the world, confess Jesus Christ as Lord, believe in the Holy Trinity, in the supreme authority of the Bible as the foundation of faith, baptism by immersion, the holy communion, the teaching of Jesus and the apostles. The church makes a serious effort to preserve African culture and arts in the liturgical celebrations. It witnesses to the unity of the church as the body of Christ, or the unity of all Christians irrespective of race, gender and confession, to the task of restoring the unity of the church on the basis of the New Testament, the task of preaching the gospel and of making Disciples all the Congolese provinces and neighbouring countries.

The highest authority of the community is the general assembly. The CDCC has departments for evangelism, education, health care and development. It runs 186 primary and 59 secondary schools, three nursery schools, six hospitals, 28 operational health centres and a centre for the training of nurses. In the area of community development the CDCC has a social centre for women, a school for agriculture, a coffee plantation, a bookshop and printing house, and a religious radio programme. It is a founding member of the Protestant University of Congo in Kinshasa and has its own institute for theological training which is being upgraded to Masters degree level. The church is actively working towards financial self-reliance at the local level. It is involved in the struggle against HIV/AIDS and in promoting peace, democracy and the respect of human rights.