Presbyterian Church in Paraguay

Presbyterian Church in Paraguay
ClassificationProtestant
Orientationconservative Calvinist
TheologyReformed, Evangelical
GovernancePresbyterian
FounderEvandro Louis da Silva
Origin1969
Paraguay
Branched fromPresbyterian Church of Brazil
Congregations6
Membersfew hundreds
Ministers6

The Presbyterian Church in Paraguay is an independent confessional Reformed Calvinist denomination in Paraguay, it was founded by Brazilian missionaries.

History

The Presbyterian Church in Paraguay (In Spanish: Iglesia Presbiteriana en el Paraguay or IPP) was started as a mission work of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPB) in the country of Paraguay. The first missionary was Evandro Luis da Silva, who arrived in Paraguay in the end of the 1960s. He performed the first Presbyterian worship in Concepcion that was then the second largest city in Paraguay. New members were converted and the work begun to develop steadily.[1][2] The founding date of the church is 1969. The responsibility for the church was with Brazilians till the mid-1980s. In 1984 two national pastors (Silas Augusto Tscherne and Sebastiao Silvestre) were trained in Campinas and they were able to take over this work. The denomination is fully independent from the Brazilian Presbyterians, sister church relations was established between the PCP and the IPB. Official worship language are Spanish and Guarani. The Presbyterian Church in Paraguay had 200 members in 5 congregation and 5 house fellowships in 2004.[3]

Statistics

The church has currently 6 congregations and several house fellowships, and 6 ordained pastors, namely Rev. Marcos Vieira, Rev. Francisco Villalba, Rev. Buena Ventura Giménez, Rev. Flavio Sousa, Rev. Eologio Giménez and Rev. Marcos Machado. It has no women ministers, ordained clergy are men only.[4][5]

The church maintains the Presbyterian Institute of Paraguay - Brazil. It has several mission efforts in Paraguay, the latest outreach is in the Presbyterian Church in Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay.[6] It has congregations in Santa Rita, Concepcion, San Lorenzo, Belén and Asuncion.[2][7][8] In late 2013 a new church plant was launched in Asconcion.[9]

Theology

The church is part of the Reformed Church family, based on the teaching of John Calvin and the Scottish Reformator John Knox. Presbyterianism had great influence of the development of democracy. The IPP has representative church government.[4]

The Iglesia Presbiteriana en el Paraguay adopted the :

Creeds

Confessions

The Presbyterian Church in San Lorenzo celebrates the 25th anniversary of Presbyterianism in San Lorenzo, Paraguay.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Principal". Archived from the original on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  2. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-07-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ a b "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions".
  4. ^ a b https://www.facebook.com/iglesiapresbiterianaparaguay/info [user-generated source]
  5. ^ "Iglesia Presbiteriana en el Paraguay on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.[user-generated source]
  6. ^ "Rev. Eulogio e Maristela Giménez (Paraguai) - 31/12/2012". Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  7. ^ "Rev. Flávio e Jurema (Paraguai) - 19/05/2011". Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  8. ^ "Rev. Flávio e Jurema (Paraguai) - 12/2009". Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  9. ^ https://www.facebook.com/presbiterianaasuncion/info [user-generated source]
  10. ^ "Rev. Eulogio Giménez (Paraguai) - 11/04/2012". Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.