About
Our History
Learn how God has guided the history of the Presbyterian Church in Chile-America from its beginnings as a mission to its consolidation as a national denomination.
1940 - 1982
Missionary Roots
The plantation project of the Presbyterian Church in America-Chile, originated within Mission to the World (MTW), whose presence in Chile dates back to the 1940s, when the World Presbyterian Mission (WPM), through its missionaries, it supported the planting and emergence of Iglesia Presbiteriana Nacional (the National Presbyterian Church - IPNA).
1980’s
New Vision
In the mid-1980s, MAM reformulated its approach in Chile, forming a team with missionary families who withdrew from IPNA, along with new envoys. Their mission was to plant churches in affluent sectors not reached by the gospel: Las Condes in Santiago and Reñaca in Viña del Mar. They also sought to impact the country’s influential groups with the gospel message.
1990’s
Expansion and formation
Missionaries Gerardo Gutierrez and Verne Marshall started Cristo Rey Church in Las Condes, while Richard Ramsay and Gary Waldecker started Iglesia Presbiteriana de Reñaca (IPR), which was joined by Roger and Laura Dye in 1998. In Santiago, Jerry Cross and Ricardo Crane were also integrated, along with other missionaries such as Sam Mateer and Ken Crabb, who founded San Marcos Church for the English-speaking community in the early 1990s. By the end of that decade, John Rug and his family began serving at IPR.
2000 - 2004
Origins and Establishment
From the beginning, the project sought to form a national presbytery. Therefore, pastors and priests from the three planting teams created a provisional presbytery under the umbrella of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), with the goal of establishing a Chilean denomination. In the mid-1990s, members of Cristo Rey launched a new congregation in Lonquén. At the same time, a church in Osorno was integrated into the presbytery, thus beginning the formation of national leaders and the ordination of pastors since 2004.
2004 - 2011
Strengthening, expansion and formalization
To strengthen the structure, MAM teams managed support from Presbyterian churches in the U.S., building temples in Cristo Rey and Reñaca. In 2006 the congregations El Encuentro (Santiago Centro) and Iglesia de Maipú (today Pacto de Cristo) were added. In 2007 was founded the church Grace and Peace in Viña del Mar, which operated until 2014. Finally, in April 2011, the Provisional Presbytery was formally constituted as the Presbyterian Church in America-Chile (Iglesia Presbiteriana en América-Chile, IPACH), with five particularized churches and three additional congregations.
2011 - 2020
New additions and challenges
In 2013, Cristo Rey Church started a mission in Chillán, but in 2018 it withdrew from the Presbytery along with its missions due to differences with some pastors and brothers. In 2019, the church El Encuentro also came out for similar reasons. That same year, the church of San Marcos incorporated members of the church of La Trinidad de Reñaca (ITR) and, by common agreement, changed the name of Iglesia Presbiteriana de Reñaca (IPR) to ITR. At the end of 2019, ITR was particularized and continued its work by planting a mission in Concón (ITC) and laying the foundations for a new church in Viña del Mar (ITV).
2020 -2022
Gratitude and expansion of the kingdom of God
In 2020, the Presbyterian Church Cristo Mi Pastor (CMP), mother of the missions in Curicó and Valdivia, and the Presbyterian Church of Puerto Montt were integrated into the Presbytery. We give thanks and praise to our sovereign God for the formation of this Presbytery, which, though it has faced trials and been struck by sin, has been and will continue to be sustained and blessed by the promises and faithfulness of our Lord, who guides with hope our present and future.