{"id":58,"date":"2018-05-31T16:29:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T16:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cedepca.org\/?page_id=58"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:56:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:56:03","slug":"our-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cedepca.org\/en\/our-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Our history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During the 1960s, several sectors of the evangelical churches in Latin America began to be concerned about the deep social crisis the continent was experiencing. They asked themselves how they could be faithful to Jesus Christ in a continent where the majority of the population suffered impoverishment and social exclusion. At the same time, several efforts toward interdenominational collaboration were underway. Evangelism in Depth, one of these interdenominational movements, sought to carry out forms of evangelization relevant to the context by mobilizing the entire membership of the churches.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the 1970s, some leaders of Evangelism in Depth, together with some students from the Latin American Biblical Seminary, reflected on the achievements and weaknesses of the movement. The evangelical churches had grown, but there were no visible improvements in the living conditions of the communities. These leaders recognized the need to reflect theologically in the search for a new model of church capable of promoting a transformative missional practice. Thus was born the Latin American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies (CELEP) under the initial leadership of Orlando Costas.<\/p>\n

CELEP took part of its inspiration from the pastoral renewal movement in the Roman Catholic Church. This movement defined pastoral action as the organized actions undertaken by the church in carrying out the mission of God. This missional action is the task of the entire church. Pastoral agents such as pastors and other leaders should serve as facilitators of the pastoral actions of the church.<\/p>\n

CELEP, through training and research focused on men and women in the churches, offered a contextualized missional vision that was:<\/p>\n