Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar

For other uses, see Church of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (Malagasy: Fiangonan'i Jesoa Kristy eto Madagasikara) (FJKM) is the second-largest Christian denomination in Madagascar. The FJKM is the national church of Madagascar, but it is not the established church of the state.

Founded in 1968 as a Reformed Protestant denomination, the FJKM today has 2.5 million adherents in approximately 5800 congregations nationwide.^[1]

The fact that former Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana is a member of the church and concurrently served as an elected lay vice-president of the church during his presidential term has led to concerns of church and state interests being "not kept entirely separate" in Madagascar.^[2]

In 2002, a schism in the church occurred, and the New Protestant Church in Madagascar was formed with 300,000 former members of the FJKM.^[2]

Following the 2009 Malagasy protests, the leader of the FJKM, Pastor Lala Rasendrahasina, was taken into custody by army soldiers along with five generals who were selected by Ravalomanana as members of a proposed military directorate that would have run the executive branch after his resignation but instead had transferred power over to the opposition leader, Andry Rajoelina, (a Roman Catholic); Rasendrahasina, a cousin of Ravalomanana's wife and supporter of Ravalomanana, was seen as being too close to the former president.^[3]

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Madagascar

Notes

1. ^ Council for World Mission: The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar.
2. ^ ^{a b} U.S. Department of State, "International Religious Freedom Report 2006: Madagascar".
3. ^ Five army generals, one church leader arrested by soldiers