The global church

Christianity in Africa

Africa carries some of the oldest Christianity on earth and, today, some of the fastest growth anywhere. The faith is ancient in Egypt and Ethiopia, reaching back to the first centuries, and in the last hundred years it has grown across the continent so dramatically that Africa is now home to hundreds of millions of Christians. African Christianity is not imported and uniform: it is Coptic and Ethiopian and Pentecostal and Catholic and independent all at once, deeply African in every expression.

An ancient African faith

Christianity in Africa is not new, and it did not begin with European missions. Egypt sheltered the child Jesus, and by tradition the evangelist Mark founded the church of Alexandria in the first century. In the Egyptian desert, Anthony and Pachomius shaped Christian monasticism, which then spread to the whole world. Ethiopia embraced the faith in the fourth century and has kept it, unbroken, ever since.

North Africa also gave the early church some of its greatest minds, among them Augustine of Hippo and Tertullian and Cyprian. This is a continent that has shaped Christian thought from the beginning.

A century of extraordinary growth

Across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa grew from a small minority to the faith of a great many Africans, in one of the largest religious shifts in history. Historians such as the late Lamin Sanneh stressed that this growth was carried above all by Africans themselves, and shaped by the translation of the Bible into hundreds of local languages, so that the faith took root in the heart of each culture rather than as a foreign import.

The traditions here

African Christianity holds the whole family of the church, and gives each part its own African voice. None is ranked here above another.

The Catholic Church

The largest single communion, led by the Bishop of Rome, present on every continent and expressed through both the Latin rite and many Eastern Catholic churches.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The ancient churches of the Greek, Slavic, and other Eastern traditions, such as the Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, and Antiochian Orthodox, keeping the liturgy and the councils of the first millennium.

Oriental Orthodoxy

The oldest churches of the East, including the Coptic (Egypt), Ethiopian and Eritrean, Armenian Apostolic, and Syriac Orthodox, each with its own ancient language, calendar, and rite.

Anglican and Episcopal churches

A worldwide communion born in England and now strongest in Africa, holding together sacramental worship and the open Bible.

Lutheran churches

Rooted in the Reformation of Martin Luther, strong in Germany and Scandinavia and, today, very numerous in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and across Africa and Asia.

Reformed and Presbyterian churches

The tradition of Calvin and the Reformation, from the Church of Scotland to large churches in Korea, Africa, and the Americas.

Baptist churches

Congregations gathered around believer's baptism and the local church, widespread across the Americas, Africa, and beyond.

Methodist and Wesleyan churches

Born in the revival of John Wesley, marked by warm-hearted faith and works of mercy, and now global.

Pentecostal and Charismatic churches

The fastest-growing stream, emphasizing the Holy Spirit, prayer, and healing, immense across Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Evangelical and nondenominational churches

A wide family centered on the Gospel, the Bible, and personal faith in Christ, crossing many denominations.

African Independent (Initiated) Churches

Thousands of churches founded and led by Africans, such as the Aladura and Zion and Kimbanguist churches, giving African expression to the faith in Christ.

Countless local expressions

House churches, village congregations, minority communities, and new movements, in every language under heaven, each a real part of the one Body.

This is not a ladder to be climbed but a family to be loved. The apostle prayed that all who follow Jesus would be one, as he and the Father are one, so that the world might believe.

Find community

Reading about the church is good. Belonging to it is better. Here are honest doors into the living communities behind these words, and into a church near you.

Meet Jesus in your language

The Gospel has never belonged to one nation or one tongue. From the first day the Spirit came, people heard the wonderful works of God each in their own language, and that is still the heart of the church. Wherever you are, and whatever words you pray in, Jesus draws near.

More languages are opening over time. If your language is not here yet, the Gospel of John and an honest prayer in your own words are a good place to begin.

Frequently asked questions

Is Christianity ancient in Africa?

Yes. Egypt's church traces to the first century and the evangelist Mark, and Ethiopia embraced the faith in the fourth century and has kept it unbroken since. African monks and thinkers shaped early Christianity worldwide.

Why is Christianity growing so fast in Africa?

Across the last century the faith grew dramatically in sub-Saharan Africa, carried largely by Africans themselves and rooted through Bible translation into hundreds of local languages, so it took hold within each culture.

What kinds of churches are in Africa?

All of them: ancient Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, a vast Pentecostal movement, and thousands of African Independent Churches, each in African expression.