A CHRONOLOGY OF
PROTESTANT BEGINNINGS:
FRENCH GUIANA
by Dr. Clifton L. Holland
(last revised on June 12, 2003)
Historical Overview:
Discovered by the Spanish: 1544
Under Spanish and French control: 1604
Territory disputed by the Dutch,
French and Portuguese until: 1676
Under French control: 1676
Number of North American Protestant Agencies in
1997: 5
Indicates European society*
Significant Protestant Beginnings or Other Key Events
1624 - First French Protestants arrive; this is
considered to be the origin of the Evangelical Church of French Guiana, which
was officially established in 1997.
1636 - *Roman Catholicism established by the
Spanish and French; the Diocese of Cayenne was established in 1956.
1900s - *Early 20th century arrival of
the Christian Brethren (the Open Plymouth Brethren)
1940 - Seventh-day Adventists
1982 - Southern Baptist Convention
1986 - The Evangelical Church of the West Indies
(West Indies Mission, now World Team)
1988 - The Church of the Nazarene
1991 - Church of God of Prophecy
Date
of Origin Unknown:
NOTES:
(1)
Dates listed indicate the
earliest recorded ministry or in case of discrepancies, the date most
frequently indicated.
(2) North
American Agencies include U.S. and Canadian.
SOURCES:
(1) Daryl L. Platt, "Who Represents the Evangelical Churches in
Latin America? A Study of the Evangelical Fellowship Organizations."
Pasadena, CA: an unpublished Doctor of Missiology Dissertation, School of World
Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, June 1991. Used by permission of the
author.
(2) PROLADES (Latin American Socio-religious Studies Program),
international headquarters in San José, Costa Rica: www.prolades.com, prolades@racsa.co.cr
(3) John A. Siewert and Edna G. Valdez, editors: Mission
Handbook of U.S. and Canadian Christian Ministries Overseas (MARC
1997).
(4) Jean-Jacques Bauswein and
Lukas Vischer, The Reformed Family Worldwide (Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1999).