Covenant News
Leaders Discuss Issues in Spanish-Speaking Ministries
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (September 12, 2005) - A special leadership conference this past weekend brought together 36 ministry leaders from Spanish-speaking countries where the Evangelical Covenant Church and many affiliated ministries are working.Purpose of the gathering was to seek ways of better integrating the ministries of a number of groups, including CIPE (Confraternity of Spanish-speaking Covenant Churches); Covenant churches from the United States and Canada (ECC); representatives of ministries in Sweden, Norway and Finland; and the national churches of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, along with representatives of associate churches or ministries in the United States - MHIPE (Hispanic Ministries of the Evangelical Covenant Church), and Spain (Nueva Vida Church of La Coruņa).
ECC representatives included executive ministers Curt Peterson, Covenant World Mission, and Ruth Hill, Women Ministries. ECC President Glenn Palmberg also participated.
Participants also included the church presidents in all of the Spanish-speaking countries where the Covenant is involved: Patricio Valenzuela, Argentina; Marcus Sobarzo, Chile; Jorge Julian Perez, Colombia; Virgilio Delgado, Ecuador; and Alfonso Perez Parra, Mexico, along with Walter Contreras, representing MHIPE, and Robert Reed, representing Spain.
The representatives addressed issues such as mission-sending agencies, communication and financial accountability. The discussion groups and interaction led to the signing of the "Agreement of Medellin," the first of its kind for CIPE.
The representative from Mexico, Francisco Sotelo, invited attendees to participate in CIPE VII, which will be held in Mexico in January 2007 and will address the topic "The Mission of the Church in Today's World." Other upcoming events include Women (CDIPE) and Young Adults, January 18-21, and a church-level consultation, January 21-25.
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