Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas

Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas
Congregations	76 (2006)
Membership	3,500 (2006)
Presiding Officer	Oscar Luis Peralta Agüero, Presidente (2006)
Address	Juan Díaz de Solis 2150 - B° San Antonio Casilla de Correo 1154, Asunción 1209
Phone	(595 - 21) 423 891
E-mail	info@menonitas.org.py
Website	http://www.menonitas.org.py/

Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas (CEIPHM) is the organization of Mennonite Brethren churches rooted in Paraguayan culture, and is one of 20 Mennonite Conferences in Paraguay. The conference began in 1955 from mission work of the Board of Missions and Services (BOMAS), the mission board of Mennonite Brethren in the United States and Canada. BOMAS ministry began in Asunción under the direction of Albert Enns. In 1956 the first baptism took place, and in 1958 the first congregation started. In 1971 leaders of several churches organized the CEIPHM, and in 1986 they officially adopted the name Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas. In 2006 the conference had 76 congregations and 3,500 members. To learn more about the broader Mennonite experience in Paraguay click here, or to learn more about Mennonite Brethren around the world click here.

Electronic Resources

2006 Mennonite World Conference Directory for the Caribbean and Central and South America

Description of several Paraguayan Mennonite Conferences in Preparation for Mennonite World Conference 2009 in Paraguay

Annotated Bibliography

• Comité Femenil," Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas. http://www.menonitas.org.py/femenil/index.html (accessed 23 June 2009).

This is the Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas' Comité Femenil (Women's Committee) website. The site outlines the committee news and activities, describes the committee's connections to other organizations, and provides contact information.

• "Comité Juvenil." Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas. http://www.menonitas.org.py/juvenil/ (accessed 23 June 2009).

This is the Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas' Comité Juvenil (Youth Committee) website. The site describes the committee's activities and its connections to other organizations, as well as providing contact information.

• "Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas." http://www.menonitas.org.py/. (accessed 12 June 2009).

This is the official conference website. On this site there are sections about the conference's history, its member churches, key leaders, projects, and contact information. The site also includes the conferences confession of faith.

• Documento Commemorative 1983, Manual Para la Iglesia Local

Conference publication.

• "La Voz del Rehaño" (The Voice of the Flock).

"La Voz del Rehaño" is the conference's monthly bulletin.

• Plett, Hilde Polnau. Vi Milagros de Dios en La Ventana del Mundo. (? Check this one out in library)

• Plett, Rudolf. Presencia Menonita en el Paraguay. Asunción, 1979.

• Ratzlaff, Gerhard. "The Mennonite Brethren Church in Paraguay and Its Relationship to the Mennonite Brethren in North America." Direction 7, no. 3 (July 1978): 11-19. http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?275 (accessed 24 June 2009).

In this article Ratzlaff gives a brief description of the history of the Mennonite Brethren (MB) church in Paraguay, MB growth trends, and MB relationships between Paraguay and North America. Ratzlaff, outlines the decreasing MB numbers in Mennonite Colonies in the 1970s due to emigration to the United States, Canada, and Europe and the growth of the non-immigrant MB church in Asunción (eventually Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas) the due to MB missionary efforts. Finally, he notes that while in 1978 the non-immigrant MB church in Asunción was not completely autonomous from North American MB churches, it was not "subordinate dependence." Of particular interest in this article are two tables: one giving demographic information about Mennonite Colonies in Paraguay, the other giving demographic information about MB churches in Paraguay.

• Toews, J.J. The Mennonite Brethren Mission in Latin America. Hillsboro, KS: Board of Christian Literature of the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church, 1975.

In this work Toews covers the history of Mennonite Brethren (MB) mission work in Latin America. He discusses Mennonite Brethren immigration to Latin America, and he includes chapters on missions in Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay. In the chapter on Paraguayan missions Toews describes the initial mission efforts that led to the Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas.

Conference publication.

Archives and Libraries

See the list of Paraguayan archives and libraries on the Paraguay Page.

External Links

Centro Evangelico Menonita de Teologia Asuncion (CEMTA)

Comité Femenil

Comité Juvenil

Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas on Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas Official Website