Courier: Perspectives
Europe: Portugal
Anabaptist church beginnings: A snapshot
A series of North American missionary couples came and went from the MB mission agency through the 1980s and 1990s but the seeds planted in a house church in the Lourés suburb of Lisbon have persisted in the form of a Mennonite Brethren church.
The first missionaries from Canada arrived in 1985 and began attending a local Bible school to enculturate. Notices were posted in the neighbourhood for English classes to get people in the door of a small house fellowship.
Some of the earliest church members were two Catholic couples who became pillars of the church. They would attend mass in the morning and come to the Mennonite Brethren church in the afternoons.
The fellowship outgrew the apartment and purchased a building. From 10 to 20 to 40, folks worshipped together in the afternoon – as they still do today.
In 1989, Igreja dos Irmãos Menonitas de Portugal was officially established and a building was purchased for the growing gatherings in Lourés.
The association expanded as it became connected with a community of believers from Angola and DR Congo. When the Swiss Mennonites who had been shepherding that community returned home, the African community joined the MBs.
There was also a group organized by the Bund TaufGesinnter in Germany who had planted a church among Slavic-speaking peoples. It also joined the Portuguese MB church.
For a time, Portugal was viewed as a case study of a diverse church in a small country.
There was solid preaching about Jesus, compelling gospel music for worship, teaching on how to pray and activities on Sunday on the weekends for children.
For several years, there was a ministry with children and youth at risk. Youth received basic workforce training alongside mentoring in discipleship.
Two congregations ran a thrift store which provided some income and a point of connection within the community.
There were community meals where everyone could feel welcome and socialize with each other. People who had been rejected in their lives found a home in the collection of Mennonite Brethren churches.
In 2017, the association joined MWC after being introduced to the global Mennonite family through ICOMB.
A series of changes in the relationship and financial support from the North American mission agency and some local leadership challenges reduced the church to one congregation in 2025.
However, the spirit of welcome and inclusiveness from those first two Catholic couples remains and the church believes it will grow again.
How can you pray for Igreja dos Irmãos Menonitas de Portugal
- Pray for new opportunities for new projects to reach into the community with the good news.
- Pray for the bivocational leaders who shepherd the church alongside other jobs.
- Pray for the strength and the unity of Christ in the congregation
José Arrais, long time lay leader of IIMP and MWC regional rep for Europe.