Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Menonita Guatemalteca
Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Menonita Guatemateca (Guatemalan National Evangelical Mennonite Church) is the name of one of the church conferences which emerged from the joint effort in Guatemala of Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (Mennonite Church) and the Mission Board of the Washington-Franklin Mennonite Conference (later known as Franklin Mennonite Conference). The mission to Kekchi-speaking people began in 1968. The first three members were baptized in 1972. The conference was formally organized in 1980 with offices in San Pedro Carcha, Alta Verapaz.
Conference membership is made up primarily of Kekchi living in two northern departments of Guatemala—Alta Verapaz and Peten. The total Kekchi population, which extends into Southern Belize, numbered about 400,000 in 1987. At that time there were 51 congregations in the Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Menonita Guatemalteca, with a Christian community of about 5,000.
Each congregation had a pastor and several deacons. Leaders were usually chosen from within the congregation. The conference was divided into five districts. Each district was represented on an executive committee which was responsible for the overall work of the conference. Other major committees included (1) the education committee responsible for the Bible institute, adult literacy, women's training, Sunday school and pastoral education programs; (2) the evangelism committee responsible for outreach to communities at a distance from existing churches; and (3) the service committee which gave leadership to the programs of health, agriculture, appropriate technology, and adult education.
The conference had close fraternal ties to the Iglesia Evangélica Menonita de Guatemala, the conference of Spanish-speaking Mennonites in Guatemala. Representatives of the conference participated in the annual sessions of the Consulta Anabautista Menonita Centroamericana (CAMCA). The church was a member of Mennonite World Conference. It had international partnership relationships with Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities, the Franklin Mennonite Conference mission board, and Mennonite Central Committee.
Bibliography
Mennonite World Handbook Supplement. Strasbourg, France, and Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1984: 75.
Mennonite World Conference. "MWC - 2003 Caribbean, Central & South America Mennonite & Brethren in Christ Churches." Accessed 21 February 2006. <http://www.mwc-cmm.org/Directory/carcsam.html>.
| Author(s) | Millard Garrett |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1987 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Garrett, Millard. "Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Menonita Guatemalteca." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1987. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Iglesia_Nacional_Evang%C3%A9lica_Menonita_Guatemalteca&oldid=57090.
APA style
Garrett, Millard. (1987). Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Menonita Guatemalteca. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Iglesia_Nacional_Evang%C3%A9lica_Menonita_Guatemalteca&oldid=57090.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 419-420. All rights reserved.
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