Since 1849 there has been a church in Apia providing services in the English language. The congregation was first created largely to meet the needs of the many seamen who visited Apia in the middle of the 19th century. The local LMS missionary conducted worship over decades in the tin chapel, “Apia Seamen’s Church,” erected in 1849. Over the years the whaling fleets moved northward, and fewer seamen came to Apia. Since 1860 the group which evolved first as the “English Church,” then as the Apia Protestant (1895) Church, has met the needs of expatriates in western Samoa. The present church, built in 1895, functions as a transdenominational center of worship and affiliation, largely for expatriates whose mother tongue is other than Samoan. During the German period (1900-1917) German residents availed themselves of its ministries. The ministers used to come from the LMS. The link continued after 1962, although, more recently, the CCCS has provided a minister. Worship, preaching services, and pastoral care are along lines familiar in the CCCS. Transients, tourists, and residents of other Prot church background usually choose the Apia church.
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