Consejo de las Congregaciónes de los Hermanos Menonitas, Uruguay

The Consejo de las Congregaciónes de los Hermanos Menonitas, Uruguay (Council of Mennonite Brethren Congregations, Uruguay) consisted in 1986 of seven established congregations with a combined membership of 180 persons. In 2003 there were nine congregations with a membership of 258. With the exception of several families, the previously numerous German Mennonite Brethren community had immigrated to Germany and Canada. Mennonite Brethren missionary endeavors among Spanish-speaking Uruguayans began in 1966.

Overall leadership within the conference is pro vided by an executive council, while each individual church is pastored by a trained couple or committee. A Bible institute was established in 1978. Fifteen students had graduated from the three-year program by 1986.

Periodic rallies bringing the congregations together for celebration and instruction are highlights in the church calendar. A major contribution to the church's life is made by Camp Maranatha, a lovely beach property with room for 60 persons. The facility is also rented to other evangelical groups. The conference's publication is Faro del Sur (Southern Beacon).

The Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services works in partnership with the national conference in the areas of evangelism, church planting, and Christian education. In 1986, four missionary couples were serving. New church planting efforts were being made in a suburb of Montevideo and in Paysandu, Uruguay's second largest city.

Church growth has been slow and characterized by reversals. A strong economic and leadership base has been slow in forming and evangelism has often been perceived as the task of the foreign missionary instead of the function and result of a vital church community life. In the 1980s, interest in home Bible study groups and discipleship ministry began to grow, and renewed awareness of the church as the people of God gifted for ministry to one another and to the world, began to revitalize existing congregations. These developments generated new hope for growth in the future.

Bibliography

Kraybill, Paul N., ed. Mennonite World Handbook. Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1978: 267-269

Mennonite World Handbook Supplement. Strasbourg, France, and Lombard, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1984: 105.

Mennonite World Conference website.

Author(s)	Frank Martens
Date Published	1986

Cite This Article

MLA style

Martens, Frank. "Consejo de las Congregaciónes de los Hermanos Menonitas, Uruguay." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1986. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Consejo_de_las_Congregaci%C3%B3nes_de_los_Hermanos_Menonitas,_Uruguay&oldid=141075.

APA style

Martens, Frank. (1986). Consejo de las Congregaciónes de los Hermanos Menonitas, Uruguay. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Consejo_de_las_Congregaci%C3%B3nes_de_los_Hermanos_Menonitas,_Uruguay&oldid=141075.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 191. All rights reserved.

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