The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) supports the Christian witness in Argentina through our partner churches and through mission co-workers who work alongside our partners. Considering the great diversity among Christians in this large country, finding ways to work cooperatively is both a challenge and a rewarding success. Our partners in Argentina place a high priority on theological education for both pastors and lay leaders, urban ministry, evangelism, and advocacy for human rights.
Argentina
The Evangelical Church of Río de la Plata and Reformed Churches in Argentina
German-speaking Protestant immigrants – some Lutheran, some Reformed – arrived in the Plata River region starting in the mid-19th century. The local churches they organized joined together to create Evangelical Church of Rio de la Plata, with congregations in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The church’s offices are in Buenos Aires. Reformed Churches of Argentina pulls together the descendants of Dutch, Afrikaner, French and Swiss Reformed immigrants. In recent decades both churches, despite their immigrant origin, have become fully Latin American in identity. Both actively promote the care of Creation, education, justice ministries and urban ministries.
The Evangelical Waldensian Church of Río de la Plata
This organization has congregations in Uruguay and Argentina. For more information, see the Uruguay page.
Association of the Church of God
As an independent Pentecostal denomination, the Association of the Church of God is one of a number of Latin American Pentecostal churches that are deeply committed to ecumenism. The church is a founding member of the Latin American Council of Churches and is active in Argentina’s Federation of Evangelical Churches. In addition to their strong evangelistic emphasis, the Association of the Church of God is deeply committed to combating violence against women and children and promoting social justice. Theological education for lay leaders and work with at-risk children and families are ministries of the Association in which the PC(USA) has collaborated.
Regional Ecumenical Center for Consultation and Services
The Center is an interdisciplinary organization of Christian professionals seeking to strengthen the capacity of churches, church-related institutions and the ecumenical movement to promote human rights and the integrity of Creation through advocacy, capacity building and communication. With offices in Buenos Aires, the Center provides consulting services throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. On numerous occasions, the PC(USA) has recommended the services of the Center to churches and institutions that needed to create or evaluate a strategic plan or train their leaders.
Evangelism: The Chaco region, covering parts of Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, is home to many indigenous peoples. Our ecumenical partners have worked for years to provide basic education for community leaders of the Toba nation, as well as pastoral and theological training.
Alleviating Poverty: Ecumenical partners in Argentina work together to provide social services to at-risk women and children, especially in urban areas.
Reconciliation: The Argentine Commission for Refugees and Migrants was created by our ecumenical partners to serve and protect refugees fleeing political repression in the 1970s. More recently, the group has worked on human trafficking. The group works with local churches helping them to become communities of healing for the victims of human trafficking.