News, February 2005

News from the Churches

Religious minorities Trust set up by government The government on 25th January established a Trust for pluralism and co-existence between the state and religious minorities, made up Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim representatives.The object of the Trust will be to channel state aid to the three recognised religious groups for cultural, educational and social projects. It has a budget of 3 million euros for 2005 It remains to be seen how projects will be classified, as some of the definitions are rather vague. It is not always easy to distinguish between, say, an educational activity and an act of worship.
This is the first time Spain has designated state funds to religious minorities, and comes 12 years after signing an Accord with Jews, Muslims and Protestants. It is another step towards the implantation of religious freedom in accordance with a democratic and pluralist Constitution. The government hopes the private sector will also participate with the Trust through donations and the support of specific projects. AC Press, ed P4S

Buenas Noticias TV, the weekly evangelical programme on the national station TVE, has now double the air time, with 15 minutes each week. It can also be seen on the international satellite channel TVE Internacional on Sundays at 06.30 GMT in Europe, Africa and Asia and 10.10 GMT in the Americas. More info at http://www.rtve.es/tve/programo/index.html Note that the timing on the programme is Madrid time (GMT +1), final programme, still subject to change, published 24 hours ahead.

The 6th Conference for the Evangelisation of Spain, which took place over the weekend of 6th to 9th January, drew some 220 participants to discuss the state of the evangelical community, its growth and the society in which we live. Keynote speaker Bill Connard of BGEA was unable to attend due to ill health, but Samuel Escobar of IFES fame stood in at the last minute to bring excellent studies to back up local plenary speakers. A variety of workshops, as well as the plenary speakers, challenged participants to consider the rapidly changing face of Spain and the development of new methods and opportunities to reach the nation. Overseas missions were also highlighted.

Tsunami Aid The Spanish Evangelical aid service PESE has an account for sending aid from Spain to the Tsunami affected regions. 90% will be spent on immediate aid needs, while the remaining 10% will go to spiritual counsel with Bibles and similar literature the main item. Aid will be channelled via Tear Fund, the Salvation Army and Every Home Crusade.

The proportion of evangelical to Catholic churches in Catalonia is now 1:7, making Catalonia Spain's top evangelical region and giving evangelicals a far greater presence than other religious groups, such as the numerically larger moslem community. There are some 2400 Catholic church buildings and 341 evangelical.

Voting intention swing a recent survey shows that 9 months on, Spanish evangelicals have become so upset by the ethical issues on the ploitical agenda that over half would now do the previously unthinkable, vote for the party which most closely represents the Roman Catholic church, the Partido Popular. Now only a quarter would vote for the Socialists, curently in government, the remainder voting for regional and other parties.

Sources El Mundo, TVE, EP, ProtestanteDigital, Ferede