The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (, IELA) is a conservative, confessional

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

synod that holds to the

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since t ...

. It has about 27.890 members. The IELA is a member of the

International Lutheran Council The International Lutheran Council (ILC) is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran denominations. Member bodies of the ILC hold "an unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and infallible Word of God and to the Lu ...

History

The IELA had its beginnings in November 1905 in Aldea San Juan,

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ( ...

in northeastern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, when missionaries from the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

(LCMS) began mission work among the Russian-German immigrants there. In the 1920s, additional work was undertaken in

Chaco Province Chaco (; Wichi: ''To-kós-wet''), officially the Province of Chaco ( es, provincia del Chaco ), is one of the 23 provinces in Argentina. Its capital and largest city, is Resistencia. It is located in the north-east of the country. It is borde ...

among Russian-German immigrants from the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

region of Russia. The work in Argentina was originally part of the Brazilian District of the LCMS, which later became the independent

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (, IELB) is a Lutheran church, which was founded in 1904 in Rio Grande do Sul, a southern state in Brazil. The IELB is a conservative, confessional Lutheran synod that holds to the Book of Concord. It sta ...

. The congregations in Argentina,

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

were placed in a new Argentine District in 1926/1927. The IELA became an independent church body in 1986.

Educational institutions

Seminary training was conducted at

Porto Alegre, Brazil Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fift ...

, until 1942, when what is now known as Seminario Concordia was established in

Villa Ballester Villa Ballester is a city located in the northern Greater Buenos Aires urban area and it is part of the General San Martín Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is served by the Línea Mitre commuter railway with its station also nam ...

. The seminary moved to the José León Suárez suburb of Buenos Aires in 1948. Pre-seminary training was originally given at Colegio Concordia, which was established in 1926 in

Crespo, Entre Ríos Crespo is a city in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, some 40 km from the provincial capital Paraná. It has around 19,500 inhabitants (as per the ), most of whom are descendants of Volga Germans who migrated from Russia to Argentina f ...

. That training was incorporated into the Seminario Concordia in 1950. A preparatory school named Colegio Concordia was opened in 1956 at Obera, Misiones.

References

External links

* {{International Lutheran Council Churches International Lutheran Council members Protestantism in Argentina Lutheranism in South America Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod