Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches
Logo of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Evangelical
Theology	Reformed
Polity	Independent
Leader	John Stevens is the FIEC Director (wef 1 September 2010)
Associations	FIEC is linked to Affinity, which was previously called the British Evangelical Council.
Region	mainly United Kingdom
Founder	Rev Edward Joshua Poole-Connor
Origin	FIEC was formed in 1922 under the name A Fellowship of Undenominational and Unattached Churches and Missions, but was later renamed The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.
Congregations	545
Members	39,000
Official website	http://www.fiec.org.uk

The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) is a growing network of over 500 independent, evangelical churches mainly in the United Kingdom that preach an evangelical faith.

The FIEC was formed in 1922 under the name A Fellowship of Undenominational and Unattached Churches and Missions, but was later renamed The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. The Fellowship brought together many independent churches and mission halls, which had been somewhat isolated.

The FIEC is in the Independent tradition. According to the National Director of FIEC, "An ‘Independent’ church is self-governing. Each individual local church has ultimate control over its own affairs. It does not belong to any external body or institution which has control over it." Some trace the routes of Independency to separatists, such as Robert Browne in the time of Elizabeth I and James I of England, but "separatism" may be an unhelpful term to use in the present day to describe FIEC, because although a church has to be autonomous and self-governing to affiliate to the FIEC, one of the main purposes of the FIEC is that local churches should work together to share resources as they seek to advance the Christian Faith. However, it is correct to note that a number of churches joined FIEC when they separated from a denomination that moved away from what they considered to be historic orthodox biblical Christianity. For example, Westminster Chapel, a leading church in the Independent tradition, joined the FIEC when the Congregational Union merged with the English Presbyterian Church to form the United Reformed Church denomination (URC). Many Independent churches within the FIEC are Baptist churches but the FIEC is open both to churches that only baptise adults and also to churches that baptise the children of believers.

Former Presidents include Rev. Theodore Harold Bendor-Samuel (1967, 1978).

FIEC Limited is a registered charity and trust corporation working under the title FIEC Practical Services. It holds church property in trust for many churches and also provides legal advice to churches and other charities. In most cases where it holds property in trust for churches, its role is limited to acting in accordance with the lawful instructions of the church for which it holds the property, although in some cases, it does also have decision making powers concerning the use of the property.