Reformed Christianity in South America is mushrooming thanks to great Bible resources, a leading evangelical worker there says.
Alberto Puente, who leads the Spanish Initiatives for the Charles Simeon Trust, which carries out workshops across the continent in South America, says that: ‘Reformed Christianity is growing thanks to the resources that are being produced by ministries like the Gospel Coalition, Ligonier and 9Marks. Several Christian Reformed associations have been formed and there are a few seminaries that have been founded in the past couple of decades.’
While the church in Europe was changed in the 16th century by the Reformation, Catholicism continued to have a firm hold over the South American church. However, Protestantism has gradually grown throughout the continent in recent times.
In the 1970s, only 4% of Latin Americans identified as evangelical Christians. That number had increased to 20% by 2021.
Brazil has undergone some of the greatest change; in 1970, 90% of its 200 million population identified as Catholic. That number has now dropped to about 50%, while around 30% now identify as evangelicals.
Puente adds: ‘I think Reformed Christianity is growing largely due to younger pastors being persuaded by these ministries that are doing a good job of getting resources into their hands and providing on-going training and support.’
Like everywhere else where Protestantism exists, some branches of it are better – more clearly Biblical than others. Large swathes of South Americans who identify as evangelicals have a largely Pentecostal, prosperity-based outlook on the faith. However, the Reformed Bible-believing church in South America is enjoying healthy growth across the continent.
While, at times, it feels as if evangelical Christianity is in decline in the West, the opposite is the case in South America today.
