The Evangelical Congregational Church in Argentina ( es, Iglesia Evangélica Congregacional Argentina) is a Reformed and

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

denomination in

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, established by European immigrants in the early 1900s.

History

The Evangelical Congregational Church in Argentina was founded in 1922 in Concordia and San Antonio village in the Province of Entre Rios. After the Russian revolution in 1917,

German people , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

from

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

region immigrated to

. The Germans begun to gather in the school hall in San Antonio village, under the leadership of Jorge Geier. These families' religious background was mostly pietistic Reformed, therefore they wanted to establish a new denomination. The first name of this nascent congregation was Evangelical Free Congregation in San Antonio, later it was renamed the German Evangelical Religious Society. They couldn't adjust themselves to the government of the

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 ...

churches, they asked the Congregationalist churches in the USA to help them. First ordained pastor was Carlos Holzer was sent by the congregational church in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. On June 24, 1924 the congregation adopted the name Evangelical Congregational Church in Argentina. This church expanded and congregations in Irazusta, Urdinarrain, Villa Mantero,

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population in 2011 was 174,030, in ...

and Costa San Antonio was launched. There are the following provinces that the congregational church are present: Entre Rios, Misiones, Chaco, Formosa, Cordoba, Buenos Aires, and Santa Fe. The Evangelical Congregational Church is rich in history and is quickly growing.

Statistics

In 2004, the denomination had 20,000 members in 130 congregations and 30 house fellowships, and adheres to the

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg ...

along with Luthers Small Catechism. It is a member of the

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 ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Congregational denominations in Latin America Calvinist and Reformed denominations