The Episcopal Church of South Sudan is one of the 42 provinces of the Anglican Communion, its name changed after the inception of the province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan as an independent province paving the birth of two different provinces of Sudan and South Sudan.
The first Anglican mission in Sudan was founded by the Church Mission Society (CMS), under the leadership of Bishop Llewellyn Gwynne as Bishop of Egypt and Sudan, however, his work led to widespread conversion to Christianity across Sudan and southern Sudan, and the activities of CMS paved the way to the creation of the diocese of Sudan with Bishop Morris Gelsthorpe as its first Bishop in 1945.
The church kept growing despite the civil war in Sudan and Archbishop Elinana Ngalamu was enthroned as the first Primate and Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan by the Most Reverend and right honorable Donald Coggan, the Archbishop of Canterbury on October 11th, 1976 at the All Saints Cathedral in Juba.
Archbishop Benjamin Wani Yugusuk became the second Archbishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and he was succeeded by Archbishop Joseph Marona as the third Archbishop in 2000, sadly he died in 2007 before finishing his tenure of office. Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul was the last Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and he ushered the new Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, he retired in 2018 and was succeded by the present Archbishop and Primate the Most Revd. Dr. Justin Badi Arama who became the First Archbishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.
In November 2013 at a meeting held in Bor, the ECSS was organized in Ecclesiastical Provinces and created 9 Internal Provinces including the Episcopal Diocese of Juba, Western Equatoria Internal Province, Eastern Bahr el Ghazal Internal Province, Jonglei Internal Province, Upper Nile Internal Province, Northern Bahr el Ghazal Internal Province, Eastern Equatoria Internal Province, Central Equatoria Internal Province, and Amadi Internal Province. With an overall number of 64 Dioceses spread across the country.