Pray For
- development of healthy leaders, multiplication of committed disciples and continued
empowerment of transformational churches - vision and wisdom for Superintendent Patricio Alvial as he balances pastoral, familial and conference responsibilities
- God’s intervention in the pandemic and the country’s political situation
PRESENT MINISTRIES
The Free Methodist Church in Chile serves 18 cities within the country and has launched the denomination into other countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Bolivia. They are participating in transformational ministry by providing housing for immigrants, assistance for pregnant youth, ministry and a school for the indigenous people, as well as a center for Community Church Planting.
OUTREACH TO THE WORLD
The conference has successfully launched church-planting efforts in the capital city of Santiago and churches that minister to the indigenous Mapuche people in southern Chile. They have also sent missionaries to begin the Free Methodist Church in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Uruguay.
ORIGINS
In February 1985 Sergio Loyola, pastor of an independent holiness Methodist church in Chillan, Chile, wrote to the Latin America Area Director about the possibility of joining the Free Methodist Church. Personal contact followed. Groups of believers in three other cities also inquired. In February 1986, the Free Methodist Church of Chile was officially organized.
Country Leader
Superintendent Patricio Alvial
Chile Annual Conference
Missionaries
Rich & Laurie Sheriff
Rich and Laurie serve in San Pedro de la Paz, on the edge of Concepción, Chile. Rich is an elder in the Keystone Conference. After years of pastoring in the U.S. and leading short-term mission teams to various parts of the world, the Chilean Conference of the FMC...
Prayercast | Chile
COUNTRY STATISTICS
Annual Conference
- Population: 17,363,894 (88% urban)
- Evangelical Christians: 18.4%
- FM Work Opened: 1986
- FM Churches: 26
- FM Membership: 1,864
- Ordained Ministers: 17
- Ministerial Candidates: 7
- Superintendent: Patricio Alvial
- Ecclesiastical Accountability: FMWM through Latin America Area Director, Dr. Ricardo Gómez
Major Cities:
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- Santiago (5.6 million)
- Concepción (1 million)
Photo Credit: TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Join the ministry in Chile
Church Planting & Development
Funding the Chile Church Planting and Development (CPD) will help resource church planting, leadership development and community development
Extra Mile Projects
Chile Ministry Support
The Chile Ministry Support Extra Mile Project provides funds for needs beyond the annual budget.
New Home for ICFA Church
The ICFA Church of Lota, Chile, is bursting at the seams and urgently needs more space to empower its growing ministry footprint! In 2009, there were only 15 members. Today, the congregation is the strongest Free Methodist church in Chile, with 400 members and an incredible array of transformative ministries. However, their church building was built for a fraction of the people they serve. The church has been forced to rent additional building space where they routinely gather 600 or 700 people for special events. They boldly envision building a new church for the growing congregation and serving as a regional ministry hub to develop healthy leaders, multiply disciples, groups, and churches, and empower transformational ministry in their communities. The ICFA church has already made a down payment on a strategically located piece of land and engaged in a local fundraising campaign. Still, the church will require outside support to complete the courageous building plan they have envisioned – a plan where state-of-the-art children’s ministry, worship arts, ministry development and community impact can all be carried out for years to come.
Goal: $315,000