ECS Church History
History of the Episcopal Church of Sudan goes back to the arrival of CMS (Church Mission Society) in Omdurman in 1899 with its activities being under the Diocese of Jerusalem
It became part of Diocese of Egypt in 1920 and was known as the Diocese of Egypt and the Sudan. In 1945, a separate diocese of Sudan was established with its own bishop as a result of the rapid growth of the church in Sudan under responsibility of archbishop of Canterbury. This responsibility, however, was allotted to the Province of Jerusalem in 1957. With notable growth of the church in Sudan, in terms of spiritual work and administration, Sudan was declared an independence Province in 1976, with four Dioceses, namely, Juba, Yambio and Rumbek in Southern Sudan and Omdurman, later, Khartoum in North of Sudan.
In the midst of this spiritual and population development, Episcopal Church of the Sudan witnessed the longest civil war tragedy in the African continent, which started in 1958 and continue up to 1972 and then from 1983 of the last century to 2005 of this very current century, with the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement endorsing what came to be known as “Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement” (CPA). In the intervening time, the Diocese of ECS in the Northern part of the country grew from one Diocese to five Dioceses: Khartoum, Kadugli, El-Obeid, Port Sudan and Wad Medani
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement granted the right to self-determination for Southern Sudan through a referendum, which was conducted in 2011 and South Sudan was confirmed an independent nation. The declaration affected the Episcopal Church of Sudan that led to the need to create an Anglican Province in the Republic of Sudan. So in a Provincial Synod, held in November 2013, the meeting resolved to create an internal province in Sudan, comprising of the five Dioceses, with intention to promote it into a full autonomous Province. On 4th of April 2014, the first Archbishop was elected to lead this created new Internal Province. A team, led by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and members of Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), made an official trip to Sudan to assess Sudan internal Province with anticipation to become a full and an autonomous Province. After the visit, members of ACC unanimously accepted the report of the visit that Sudan becomes new Province number 39 in the Anglican Communion.
Episcopal Church of Sudan was inaugurated by the Archbishop of Canterbury as the 39th Province in the Anglican Communion on 30th July 2017
