AETAL is an
association of schools of theological education committed to the
improvement of leadership training for the church in Latin America. AETAL has a membership of 144 members, from Mexico in the north to Argentina and Chile in the south.
AETAL is a member of
the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE), a
network sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance. AETAL provides the
evangelical theological institutions of Latin America with cooperative relationships of hemispheral and international dimensions.
The continental
association was inaugurated at an historic assembly in São Paulo, Brazil, in July 1992, with 80 founding members. AETAL
was established in direct succession to the former Evangelical Association
for Theological Training (AETTE) that had functioned in Brazil since 1968.
Evangelical
Protestantism has grown dramatically in Latin America in recent years, in some countries making up
more than one-fifth of the population. But this has often been a fragile growth, that could wither and die as fast as it has
sprung up. A major reason for this would be the weakness of leadership
training programs. AETAL exists to help address this need on a continental
basis.
AETAL's Services
AETAL offers the
following services for evangelical theological schools in Latin America:
§ an accreditation program based on
standards developed in and for Latin America, to prepare
servant leaders in cooperation with local churches.
§ courses
and seminars on curriculum, teaching, and theological issues
§ program
for assistance to libraries and librarians
§ scholarships
for faculty members
§ cooperative
graduate programs
§ publications
in support of evangelical theological education in Latin America
§ congresses at all levels (continental, regional
and national), with timely topics and speakers of international stature.
AETAL Regions
To facilitate its
growth and its accreditation and educational services, AETAL is subdivided
into five regions:
Region 1 - Mexico and Central America
(Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama)
Region 2 - Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador
Region 3 - Brazil
Region 4 - Southern Cone (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile)
Region 5 - Peru and Bolivia
AETAL's Goals
1. Provide
interchange between centers of theological education in Latin America.
2.
Support the development of member
institutions and promote excellence in these programs of theological
education in order to offer an integral and committed education with the
church.
3.
Through a permanent commission of
accreditation, to offer recognition for biblical and theological
institutions in Latin America, according to
the standards established by the AETAL Accrediting Commission.
AETAL Declaration of
Faith
We believe in:
1. The
inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures as the only rule of faith
and of practice.
2. The
existence of God, one and subsistent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
3. The
eternal existence and deity of Jesus Christ, His human incarnation, His
virgin birth, His expiatory death pn the cross,
His intercession as sole mediator and His return in glory.
4. The
creation by God of the universe and of human beings in His own image and
the subsequent fall of humankind and the universe because of sin.
5. The
justification of the sinner only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
6. The
Church as the community of the saved in Christ Jesus.
7. The
work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification.
8. Life
eternal in Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of the body, the judgment of
the world by Jesus Christ, the eternal blessing of the just and eternal
judgment of the unjust.
AETAL Board
(2004-2007)
President: Dionisio Oliveira da
Silva (Brazil)
Treasurer: Márcio Matta
da Silva (Brazil)
Secretary: S. Eduardo Pellissier (Brazil)
Vice-President, Region 1: Ferdinand van den Bosch (Costa Rica)
Vice-President, Region 2: vacant
Vice-President,
Region 3: José Nilton Lima Fernandes
(Brazil)
Vice-President, Region 4: Roberto Maureira
(Paraguay)
Vice-President, Region 5: Daniel Ortiz (Bolivia)
At-large: Esteban Alejandro Laureano P. ( Peru),
At-large: José Antonio Moreno Gonzalez (Guatemala)
General Secretary Vera Brock (Brazil)
Accreditation Coordinator Johannes Bergmann (Brazil)
AETAL Contact
information:
post:
Rua Vergueiro, 3051
CEP 04101-300-São Paulo SP
Brazil
email:
[email protected]
fax :
55-11-5084-4099