The Baptist Convention of Angola is an organization made up of many Baptist Churches in Angola and has its headquarters in Luanda. It is smaller than the other group of Baptist congregations in the country, the Evangelical Baptist Church of Angola.
History
Founded in 1942 through the work of Portuguese missionaries, the Baptist denomination spread rapidly throughout the country with the support of Angolan evangelists and encouragement from North American missionaries who arrived in the central region of Angola during the same decade. Separate from the Evangelical Baptist Church in Angola, whose association is historically identified with the northern provinces of Angola (particularly the province of Zaire), the Baptist Convention of Angola has maintained a distinctive multi-ethnic character with an active ministry functioning in ten of the eighteen Angolan provinces since the time of Portuguese colonization.
After the war for independence ended in 1975, the Convention had a period of natural stagnation owing to the civil war that dominated the next three decades. In part this stagnation was due to the forced abandonment of the country by the missionary forces from America, Portugal, Denmark and Brazil who, up to that point had led the evangelistic spread of Christianity among the Baptist churches. As a result of the lack of trained nationals (no Angolan Baptist pastor had formal training in theology or as pastors) for the conduct of evangelism, the denomination did not exceed 27 churches between 1970 and the end of 1980. This situation began to change in the mid-1980s with the return to Angola of American and Brazilian missionaries and with the consequent initiation of a Mobile Bible Institute (directed by missionary pastor Curtis Dixon). This Mobile Bible Institute played an important part in the awakening of vocational service among Angolans and the training of leaders that became evangelists and pastors in the years after 1990.
Current situation
The first three Angolan pastors completing Bachelor’s degrees in Theology (Pastor Mário Vontade, Pastor João César and Pastor David Nkosi) returned to the Baptist Convention in 1988 after four years of study at the Baptist Seminary of Zimbabwe. After this, other pastors received Bachelors and Masters in Theology in Brazil and Portugal helping to minimize the shortage of leaders as they returned to Angola.
The Baptist Convention of Angola today has 315 congregations and about 40,000 members spread throughout the country. It maintains two theological seminaries in the provinces of Luanda and Huambo. With the opening of the country, following the peace in 2002, the Baptist Convention of Angola has worked to build its presence in Angola and to stimulate its evangelical impact. Toward this end the Convention launched a project in 2005 called “Movement for the Planting of churches”. This project intends the planting of 1340 new churches before 2017 – an ambitious project whose realization depends on the commitment of the current leadership, on the strengthening of Baptist national identity, and on the development of new leaders which would include the necessary success in terms of theological and pastoral training.
Infrastructure
One of the major deficiencies of the churches associated with the Baptist Convention is the lack of infrastructure. Contrary to what happened in other parts of the third world, where American and English missionaries built and left behind church buildings, schools, hospitals and orphanages only the First Baptist Church of Luanda possesses a building of historic architectural value. Other important churches, pastored by historic leaders, function in small buildings without space to expand. This problem is even worse in villages and smaller towns where the members are forced to meet under the shade of trees or grass roofs. Land for the construction of churches is extremely costly.
The current president is Pastor Mateus Chaves and the secretary general is Pastor Alexandre Melo Chilanda.
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Africa |
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Central and Eastern Africa |
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Burundi |
- Free Baptist Churches of Burundi
- Union of Baptist Churches in Burundi
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Central African Republic | |
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Democratic Republic of the Congo |
- Baptist Community in Central Africa (CBCA)
- Baptist Community of the Congo River (CBCF)
- Baptist Community of Western Congo (CBCO)
- Baptist Evangelical Convention of Congo (CBECO)
- Community of Autonomous Baptist Churches-Wamba-Bakali
- Community of Baptist Churches in Eastern Congo (CEBCE)
- Community of Baptist Churches Union of Congo (CUEBC)
- Community of Baptist Churches in North Congo (CBCN)
- Community of United Baptist Churches (CEBU)
- Union of Baptist Churches in Congo (UEBCO)
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Ethiopia |
- Baptist Evangelical Association of Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church
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Kenya |
- Baptist Convention of Kenya
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Madagascar | |
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Republic of Congo |
- Baptist Community of the Congo River
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Rwanda |
- Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda
- Community of Christian Churches in Africa (CECA)
- Reformed Baptist Convention in Rwanda
- Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda
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South Sudan |
- Baptist Convention of South Sudan
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Sudan | |
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Tanzania | |
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Uganda |
- Baptist Union of Uganda
- Uganda Baptist Convention
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| Southern Africa |
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Angola | |
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Botswana |
- Baptist Convention of Botswana
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Madagascar | |
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Malawi |
- African Baptist Assembly, Malawi, Inc
- Baptist Convention of Malawi
- Evangelical Baptist Church of Malawi
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Mozambique |
- Baptist Convention of Mozambique
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Namibia |
- Baptist Convention of Namibia
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South Africa | |
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Zambia |
- Baptist Convention of Zambia
- Baptist Fellowship of Zambia
- Baptist Union of Zambia
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Zimbabwe |
- Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe
- Baptist Union of Zimbabwe
- National Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe
- United Baptist Church of Zimbabwe
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| Western Africa |
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Benin |
- Union of Protestant Baptist Churches in Benin
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Burkina Faso |
- Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches Burkina Faso
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Cameroon |
- Cameroon Baptist Convention
- Native Baptist Church of Cameroon
- Union of Baptist Churches in Cameroon
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Gambia |
- Baptist Union in the Gambia
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Ghana | |
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Ivory Coast | |
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Liberia |
- Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, Inc.
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Nigeria | |
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Sierra Leone |
- Baptist Convention of Sierra Leone
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Togo | |
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Asia and Pacific |
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North East Asia |
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China - Hong Kong | |
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China - Macau | |
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Japan | |
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South Korea | |
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Taiwan | |
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| West and South Asia |
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Bangladesh | |
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India | |
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Nepal |
- Nepal Baptist Church Council
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Sri Lanka | |
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| South East Asia |
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Australia | |
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Cambodia | |
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Fiji | |
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Indonesia |
- Convention of Indonesian Baptist Churches
- The Fellowship of Baptist Churches of Papua
- Union of Indonesian Baptist Churches
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Malaysia | |
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Myanmar | |
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New Zealand | |
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Papua New Guinea |
- Baptist Union of Papua New Guinea, Inc.
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Philippines |
- Baptist Conference of the Philippines, Inc.
- Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Inc.
- Convention of Visayas and Mindanao of Southern Baptist Churches
- General Baptist Churches of the Philippines, Inc.
- Luzon Convention of Southern Baptist Churches, Inc.
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Singapore | |
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Thailand |
- 12th District of Church of Christ in Thailand
- Thailand Baptist Convention
- Thailand Karen Baptist Convention
- Thailand Lahu Baptist Convention
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Vietnam |
- Baptist Churches in Vietnam (BCV)
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Europe |
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Eastern Europe |
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Armenia |
- Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches of Armenia
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Azerbaijan |
- Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Azerbaijan
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Belarus |
- Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists of Belarus
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Bosnia and Herzegovina |
- Baptist Church in Bosnia/Herzegovina
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Bulgaria |
- Baptist Union of Bulgaria
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Croatia | |
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Czech Republic | |
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Estonia |
- Union of Free Evangelical & Baptist Churches of Estonia
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Georgia |
- Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia
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Hungary | |
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Latvia |
- Union of Baptist Churches in Latvia
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Lithuania |
- Baptist Union of Lithuania
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Moldova |
- Union of Christian Evangelical Baptists of Moldova
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Poland | |
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Romania | |
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Russia |
- Euro-Asiatic Federation of Unions of Evangelical Christians-Baptists
- Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists
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Serbia | |
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Slovakia |
- Baptist Union of Slovakia
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Slovenia |
- Union of Baptist Churches in Slovenia
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Ukraine |
- All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians-Baptists
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Uzbekistan |
- Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists of Uzbekistan
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| Central Western Europe |
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Austria | |
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Belgium | |
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France |
- Federation of Evangelical Baptist Churches
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Germany | |
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Italy | |
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Netherlands | |
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Portugal |
- Portuguese Baptist Convention
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Spain | |
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Switzerland |
- Union of Baptist Churches in Switzerland
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United Kingdom | |
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| Nordic countries |
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Denmark | |
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Finland |
- Finland Swedish Baptist Union
- Finnish Baptist Union
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Norway | |
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Sweden | |
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Latin America and the Caribbean |
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Central America and the Caribbean |
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Antigua and Barbuda |
- Antigua Baptist Association
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Bahamas |
- National Baptist Missionary and Education Convention
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Barbados |
- Barbados Baptist Convention
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Belize |
- Baptist Association of Belize
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Bermuda |
- Bermuda Baptist Fellowship
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Costa Rica |
- Federation of Baptist Associations of Costa Rica
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Cuba | |
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Dominican Republic |
- Dominican Baptist Convention
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El Salvador |
- Baptist Association of El Salvador
- Baptist Federation of El Salvador
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Guatemala |
- Convention of Baptist Churches in Guatemala
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Guyana |
- Baptist Convention of Guyana
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Haiti |
- Baptist Haiti Mission
- Haiti Baptist Convention (ASEBACH)
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Honduras |
- National Convention of Baptist Churches in Honduras
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Jamaica | |
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Mexico | |
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Nicaragua |
- Baptist Convention of Nicaragua
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Panama |
- Baptist Convention of Panama
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Trinidad & Tobago |
- Baptist Union of Trinidad and Tobago
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| South America |
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Argentina |
- Argentine Baptist Association
- Evangelical Baptist Convention of Argentina
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Bolivia |
- Baptist Convention of Bolivia
- Baptist Union of Bolivia
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Brazil | |
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Chile |
- National Baptist Convention of Chile
- Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Chile
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Colombia |
- Colombian Baptist Denomination
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Ecuador |
- Baptist Convention of Ecuador
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Peru |
- Baptist Evangelical Convention of Peru
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Uruguay |
- Baptist Evangelical Convention of Uruguay
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Venezuela |
- National Baptist Convention of Venezuela
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