| Evangelical Church of the River Plate | |
|---|---|
| Iglesia Evangélica del Río de la Plata | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | IERP |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | United church |
| President | Leonardo Schindler |
| Associations | Community of Protestant Churches in Europe,Latin American Council of Churches,Lutheran World Federation (1991),World Communion of Reformed Churches,World Council of Churches (1956) |
| Region | Argentina,Paraguay, andUruguay |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires |
| Branched from | Evangelical Church in Germany |
| Congregations | 45 |
| Members | 27,500 |
| Official website | http://ierp.org.ar/ |
TheEvangelical Church of the River Plate (Spanish:Iglesia Evangélica del Río de la Plata, orIERP) is aUnited,Protestantdenomination with congregations inArgentina,Paraguay, andUruguay. It is named after theRío de la Plata Basin, where the majority of its congregations are located. The IERP was affiliated with theEvangelical Church in Germany from 1934–1965, when it became independent. The church ordains women as ministers and supported civil unions and same-sex marriage.[1][2] It has approximately 27,500 members.[3] The denomination is a member of theWorld Council of Churches and theLutheran World Federation.[3]
The Evangelical Church of the River Plate was known as the German Evangelical La Plata Synod (Deutsche Evangelische La Plata Synode) since 1899, with the most of its membership coming from German-speaking countries. Its origins go back to the union of reformed andLutheran Christians in Germany, occurred in Germany during the 19th century.Today has a number of 45 congregations and more than 240 points of predication, counting around 25,000 people in its membership. In 1995 the Swiss Evangelical Church in Argentina - with 600 members, 1 congregation and several house fellowships - become affiliated with the denomination.[4] In 2010 the denomination united with theReformed Churches in Argentina.[5]
It is aProtestant church, and the basis of its faith are theHoly Scriptures, with the message ofGod and its live in Earth in the person ofJesus Christ.As confessional ground it includes theApostles' Creed, theNicene Creed, theAthanasian Creed the ReformedHeidelberg Catechism,Luther's Small Catechism, and theAugsburg Confession. It also accepts theBarmen Declaration and theLeuenberg Agreement.[6][7]
The IERP is involved in several ecumenical bodies such as the Ecumenical Human Rights Movement, Uprooted People and Refugee Ecumenical Service and ISEDET (Ecumenical Theological University) in Argentina, emergency aid in Paraguay, human rights in Uruguay. The signing of theLeuenberg Agreement has helped the IERP to improve its relations with other churches, e.g. theUnited Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELU), the Waldensian Evangelical Church of the River Plate and the Reformed Churches in Argentina. The IERP has mutual recognition of ministries with theMethodist Church, theDisciples of Christ and thePresbyterian Church and theFederation of Swiss Protestant Churches. The church is a member of theWorld Communion of Reformed Churches.[8][9][10]
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