| Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation | |
|---|---|
Former Imani Temple in D.C.
| |
| Abbreviation | IT |
| Classification | Western Christian |
| Orientation | Independent Catholic |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Archbishop | George Augustus Stallings, Jr. |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Hillcrest Heights, Maryland |
| Founder | George Augustus Stallings, Jr. |
| Origin | 1990 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Official website | https://imaniaacc.wixsite.com/imaniaacc |
The African-American Catholic Congregation and its Imani Temples are an Independent Catholic church founded by Archbishop George Augustus Stallings, Jr., an Afrocentrist and former Roman Catholic priest, in Washington, D.C. Stallings left the Roman Catholic Church in 1989 and was excommunicated in 1990.[1] In 2014, the church decided to relocate to nearby Prince George's County, Maryland; their current headquarters are located in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland.[2][3]
George Augustus Stallings, Jr., then a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington,[4] founded the Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation as a single congregation in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1989. He named it "Imani" for the Swahili word imani, meaning "faith".[5]
In 1994, the Imani Temple African American Catholic Congregation, purchased the former Eastern Presbyterian Church,[6] designed by noted Washington architect Appleton P. Clark Jr. and opened in 1893.[7]
In 2006, the excommunicated Roman Catholic archbishop Emmanuel Milingo (who married a woman from South Korea in 2001 at the same ceremony as Stallings)[8] performed a conditional consecration for Stallings and three other married Independent Catholic bishops at the Imani Temple church in Washington.[9]
In 2014, the denomination decided to relocate to Prince George's County, Maryland, and hence sold the Imani Temple in Washington to property developers.[10] It was renovated and adapted for sale as six luxury condominiums.[7]
Imani Temple teaching, in contrast to Roman Catholic teaching, allows women to be ordained. Unlike the Latin Catholic Church, it does not as a rule, require celibacy of its priests. In 1991, their first female priest was ordained.[11]
