Conferencia de las Iglesias Evangélicas Menonitas, Dominican Republic (Evangelical Mennonite Church). The first Mennonite missionary to arrive in the Dominican Republic was Lucille Rupp in 1945. A year later the Omar Sutton family joined her to begin work in the town of El Cercado, located in the south, near the Dominican-Haitian border.

The first Mennonite church was organized with 13 members in El Cercado in 1948. While the work prospered, there was also opposition, but by 1954 six congregations with a membership of 101 had been organized. Other workers joined the group later, but great emphasis was placed upon the involvement of native Dominicans. By 1959 there were 75 preaching locations. Two bookstores and a school were added to the work. By 1973 membership in all the congregations together had grown to 700.

By 1986 the number of members had increased to 1,070. Many church buildings, a retreat camp, and other institutions had been built. The conference is largely autonomous, but receives some support from North America. Other groups, e.g., the West Indies Mission and the Assemblies of God, have also begun work in the country, as have other Mennonite groups, including the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite.

In the early 1990s the name changed to Conferencia Evangélica Menonita Dominicana. In 2003 there were 39 congregations with 2900 members.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 184. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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