Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council

The Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council (DECC), also named the Disciples of Christ World Communion, is a worldwide council of member churches associated with the Disciples of Christ, including United and Uniting Churches which Disciples churches have joined. It is an associate member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The headquarters is in Indianapolis.

Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council Disciples World Communion
Type	Communion
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Restoration Movement (Disciples), Reformed
Polity	Congregational
General Secretary	Paul S. Tché
Moderator	Shernett Smith
Headquarters	Indianapolis
Origin	1979; 46 years ago (1979)
Congregations	15,079
Members	3,926,272
Official website	disciplesworldcommunion.org

History

The Council has its origins in a meeting organized by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Nairobi during the World Council of Churches conference in 1975.^[1] The Council was officially founded in 1979 in Kingston, Jamaica by 12 denominations.^[2] According to a denomination census released in 2020, it claimed 19 member denominations and 4.5 million members.^[3]

Member list

In 2024, the DECC had 18 members:^[4]

Country	denominational subfamily	Denomination	Number of congregations	Number of members	Year
Argentina	Disciples of Christ	Evangelical Church of the Disciples of Christ	7	700	2006[5]
Australia	Churches of Christ	Churches of Christ in Australia	430	40,000	2006[6]
Canada	Disciples of Christ	Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Canada	25	2,606	2006[7]
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Disciples of Christ	Church of Christ in Congo - Community of Disciples of Christ	193	650,000	2006[8]
Ghana	Churches of Christ	United Churches of Christ of Christ (Ghana)	-	-	-
India	United Churches (Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists and Disciples of Christ)	Church of North India	4,000	1,250,000	2018[9][10]
Jamaica	United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Disciples of Christ)	United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands	204	60,000	2006[11]
Malawi	Churches of Christ	Church of Christ in Malawi	4,000	75,000	1991[12][13]
Mexico	Disciples of Christ	Association of Evangelical Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ)	-	-	-
New Zealand	Churches of Christ	Association of Churches of Christ in New Zealand	33	2,000	2006[14]
Paraguay	Disciples of Christ	Disciples of Christ Church in Paraguay	12	-	2020[15]
Puerto Rico	Disciples of Christ	Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Puerto Rico	105	19,000	2024[16]
South Africa	Congregational	United Congregational Church of Southern Africa	1,000	1,500,000	2024[17][18]
United Kingdom	United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Disciples of Christ)	United Reformed Church	1,383	46,481	2018[19]
United Kingdom	Churches of Christ	Fellowship of the Churches of Christ in England	63	2,621	2020[20]
United States	Disciples of Christ	Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)	3,624	277,864	2022[21]
Vanuatu	Churches of Christ	Churches of Christ - Vanuatu	-	-	-
Zimbabwe	Churches of Christ	Association of Churches of Christ in Zimbabwe	-	-	-
Global	Total	Ecumenical Disciples Advisory Council	15,079	3,926,272	2004-2024

Beliefs

The Council is an associate member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.^[22]