Archdeaconries 4 Rite Anglican Number of members 58,000 | Parishes 63 Bishop André Soares | |
Ecclesiastical province Anglican Church of Southern Africa | ||
The Diocese of Angola (Portuguese: Diocese Anglicana de Angola) is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, encompassing the entire country of Angola. It is divided in four archdeaconries, Luanda, Lukunga Lozi (Songo), Nzadi a Lukiki and Uíge, with a total of 63 parishes.
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History
Anglicanism reached the Portuguese colony of Angola in 1923, due to the English missionary Archibald Patterson. The current diocese has been formed from the Igreja Evangélica Unida de Angola, which shared a common history with the Igreja Evangélica Reformada de Angola from 1922 to 1975.
It was constituted as the Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola in 1975. Angola was an archdeaconry of the Mozambican Anglican Diocese of Lebombo until 2003. It became a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 2003, with André Soares as the first bishop. The Angolan bishop had already shown his support for women ordination, adding that he doesn't believe it is an obstacle to ecumenism.
Membership
The current membership is around 58,000.