Scope and Contents
These records are the result of a project to photocopy and scan documents held by the Anglican Church in Congo and send them to the Yale Divinity School Library for safekeeping. Due to political upheaval in Congo in the 2000s, it was felt with some urgency that church records should be copied and sent elsewhere. Emma Wild-Wood, who had done her doctoral work on the Anglican Church in Congo, made arrangements for materials to be photocopied and mailed to the Yale Divinity Library, as well as donating scanned files that she had gathered in her research. The records that arrived from the Congo had little organization or information about provenance, and most were in French or in African languages. The Yale Divinity Library staff has done its best to organize these records based on notes received with the material, letterhead information, and dates, but we are cognizant of the fragmentary and uneven nature of the files and their organization and description. Many of the files seem to document the work of Patrice Njojo Byankya, who was Bishop of Boga-Zaire and first Archbishop of the Province of he Anglican Church of Congo. We welcome any information that researchers may be able to provide to improve the description and organization of the files.
Series I, Prior to Formation, contains documentation from before 1972. These records document the formation of the Mboga Mission by the Church Missionary Society working from Uganda.
Series II, Diocesan Records, picks up from 1972 when the Diocese of Boga-Zaire was formed as part of the Province of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Boga-Zaïre. Njojo Byankya was consecrated as second bishop of the Diocese of Boga-Zaire in 1980 but also served as Legal Representative of the Province and as of 1992 as the Archbishop of the Province of the Anglican Church of Zaire, so there is overlap between these "Diocesan Records" and the Provincial-level records of Series III. The dioceses of Boga-Zaire, Bukavu, Kisangani, and Nord Kivu are fairly well documented but there is little material from the other dioceses.
Series III, Provincial / National Records, covers the period 1972 through 2001. The first section relates to the Province of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Boga-Zaïre and the Francophone Province of Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire. The second section documents the inauguration and early years of the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo. The third section relates to the Eglise du Christ au Congo / Communaute Anglicane. The Church of Christ in Congo or CCC (in French, Église du Christ au Congo or ECC), is a union of 62 Protestant denominations, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Anglican Church of Congo is called the Anglican Community within the Church of Christ in Congo. Much of the material in this section has to do with educational work.
Series IV, Programs, gathers together material related to educational, medical, and other types of work, which was not organized in the diocesan or national church files. Of most interest in this series may be documentation of The Mothers' Union program.
Series V, Related Organizations, contains primarily correspondence with various organizations with which the Church in Congo had relationships for financial support or other programs.
Series VI, Collected Material, includes published and unpublished works related to the history of the Church as well as a Mashi-French vocabulary.
Dates
- 1923-2002
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has not been transferred to Yale University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Photocopied and scanned records of the Anglican Church of Congo were sent to the Yale Divinity School Library in the mid 2000s because the original records were in danger of destruction due to war and other preservation difficulties. Emma Wild-Wood, who had done dissertation research on the Anglican Church of Congo donated some of the files and arranged for others to be photocopied and sent to the Divinity Library.
Arrangement
- Series I, Prior to Formation, 1923-191
- Series II, Diocesan Records, 1966-2002
- Series III, Provincial / National Records, 1972-2001
- Series IV, Programs, 1968-2002
- Series V, Related Organizations, 1978-1999
- Series VI, Collected Material, 1974-2001
Extent
8 Linear Feet (19 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Correspondence, reports, and other collected material document the development of the Anglican Church of Congo, or Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo, which grew out of the Church Missionary Society work in Uganda, was part of the Province of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire, and then was established as a separate entity in 1992. These records were photocopied or scanned in the Congo or Uganda and sent to the Yale Divinity Library for safekeeping,.
Biographical / Historical
The first missionary work of the Anglican Church in Congo started with Ugandan evangelist Apolo Kivebulaya who settled in Boga in 1896, in the sub-region of Ituri. After his death in 1933 the church spread through the sub-region of North Kivu. After the independence of Congo in 1960 the Anglican Church experienced a time of great expansion.
The first diocese, Boga-Zaire, was created in 1972, as part of the Province of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Boga-Zaïre, with Philip Risdale as Bishop. A second diocese, Bukavu, was created in 1976 with Ndahura Bezaleri as Bishop. In 1980 the Province Francophone d'Afrique, Eglise de la Province de Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire was inaugurated with Nhadura Bezaleri as first Archbishop. The first Provincial Synod took place at Bukavu. Njojo Byankya was consecrated as second bishop of the Diocese of Boga-Zaire in 1980 when Philip Risdale retired. The Diocese of Kisangani was created in 1980 with Tibafa Mugera as Bishop.
In 1981 the Institut Supérior Théologique Anglican (ISThA) was established in Bukavu. Following the death of Ndahura Bezaleri in 1981 Njojo Byankya was elected Legal Representative of the Anglican Church and the administrative offices were transferred from Bukavu to Boga. Dirokpa Balufuga was consecrated as the second Bishop of Bukavu in 1982. and Ndandali Justin became the second Archbishop of the Province of Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire.
In 1984 a fourth diocese was created, Shaba, with Mbona Kolini as Bishop. In 1987 ISThA transferred from Bukavu to Bunia. Samuel Sindamuka becamse the third Archbishop of the Province of Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire. In 1992 the Diocese of Nord Kivu was created wih Methusela Musubaho Munzenda as Bishop. On May 5, 1992, the Province of the Anglican Church of Congo was created with Njojo Byankya as Archbishop. It now has seven dioceses. As a member of the Church of Christ in Congo (Eglise du Christ) it is known as the Anglican Community.
- Title
- Guide to Anglican Church of Congo Records
- Author
- Martha Lund Smalley
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Yale Divinity Library Repository