October 3, 1967, Southern African Congregational Churches gathered in Durban and merged into the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). The churches coming into the union had previously existed under the ambit of three separate Christian mission bodies- the London Missionary Society (LMS), the American Board, and the Congregational Union of South Africa (CUSA).
Guided by a belief in spreading the gospel to the ends of the world, that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and with ties to the anti-slavery and temperance movements, the LMS began Southern African Christian mission work in the Cape in 1799, preaching to freed Coloured slaves at Bethelsdorp and Pniel Congregational Church.
Across Southern Africa, the LMS, American Board, and CUSA had operated separately, but they shared the common denominational heritage, Congregationalism, with its roots in the English Reformation era Puritans of the UK and American Pilgrims who set sail upon the Mayflower in 1620 to establish the New England states in the US.