Iglesia Cristiana Menonita de Ecuador (ICME-Ecuador Mennonite Christian Church) is a primarily indigenous multicultural conference formed by leaders who have received Anabaptist theological education for many years through Ecuador ministries.
Indigenous leaders of ICME date their Anabaptist theological roots to early Gospel Missionary Union missionaries recruited from Mennonite churches in the 1950s, noting that while they didn’t identify their teaching as Mennonite or Anabaptist, this was the theological perspective from which they taught in the Chimborazo region of Ecuador. Some of the ICME indigenous leaders were part of the initial 1990 invitation from FEINE Consejo de Pueblos y Organizaciones Indigenas Evangelicas del Ecuador (Council of Indigenous Evangelical Peoples & Organizations) to one of Mennonite Mission Network’s predecessor agencies to serve in Ecuador in the area of theological education with indigenous churches. The teaching ministry of Ecuador Partnership workers further solidified the theological perspectives of the church leaders. In 2018 ICME formed by bringing together nine independent churches with theological and relational affinity.
The conference is multicultural, including a non-indigenous Spanish-speaking congregation. In 2018 ICME participated with two other Anabaptist conferences in Ecuador in a workshop on support for pastors and leaders, including self-care, and also the gathering of Anabaptist conferences in the Andean region. In 2020, ICME was one of the two conferences hosting the anniversary celebrations for Mennonite involvement in Ecuador and the formation of the partnership.