The Presbyterian Church of Colombia (in Spanish ''Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia'' or IPCol) - is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

denomination, founded on the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

in 1855, from the missionary work of Rev. Ramón Montsalvatge, sent by the American Bible Society and Rev. Henry Barrington Pratt, sent by

Presbyterian Church in the United States of America The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North Americ ...

. The denomination is known for its activism in defense of

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

in Colombia.

History

In 1855, Rev. Ramón Montsalvatge (sent by the American Bible Society), arrived in Colombia. Subsequently, Rev. Henry Barrington Pratt (sent by

) also settled in the country. Both missionaries began to serve the foreigners present and originally the services were held in English. In 1859, the services began to be celebrated in Spanish. However, the denomination grew slowly and faced religious persecution. It was only in 1959 that IPCol acquired complete autonomy from the American denominations. In 1982, the denomination created the Presbyterian Seminary of Greater Colombia to train its pastors. And in 1993 IPCol suffered a split. Some of the members separated and formed the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (Reformed Synod).

Doctrine

The denomination ordained women as pastors, elders and deaconesses.

Inter-church relations

The denomination is a member of

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

and Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches of Latin America.

References

{{Reflist Presbyterian denominations in South America Protestantism in Colombia Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches