With approximately 40,000 members, the UCCCMI is the largest religious group in the Marshall Islands,[1] accounting for about 55 percent of the population.
[2] The UCCCMI has its roots in the Christian missionary activity begun in the Marshall Islands in 1857 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which established Congregationalist churches across the islands.
An association of atoll churches was established in about 1931 by Australian missionary Carl Heine, and revived in 1946 after being suppressed by the Japanese during World War II.
[1] The UCCCMI has 32 congregations in the Marshall Islands and employs 52 pastors.
It also has congregations in Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Eugene, Oregon.