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News, May 2009News from the ChurchesMay 31st Global Day of prayer - prayer encounter on 30th in Zaragoza. May 21st: 450th anniversary of the first Auto de Fe by Philip II burning 89 protestants. May 16th Spain, we're praying for you event in Madrid. Protestante Digital reaches 1.5 million page views in April. Michael W. Smith coming to Spain. This and more... Read on! On 21st May the Anglican (IERE) church in Madrid commemorated the 450th anniversary of the burning of 89 protestant believers in the first of Philip II's Autos de Fe, in Valladolid in 1569. They were condemned purely for having embraced Christ by faith alone, according to the Biblical teaching of the Reformers. The IERE is also holding its 50th Synod. On 18th May Juan José Cortés, father of Mari-Luz (see separate article), announced he is considering entering politics. At present he is an evangelical pastor in the Filadelfia church (principally attended by gypsies). Pray for Spain! On 16th May over 3000 believers from all over Spain gathered on the esplanade outside Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu football stadium (home of Real Madrid FC) to pray for our country. This is the second year that this event takes place. Web (Spanish) Another day to gather to pray for Spain.. and the rest of the world... is May 30th, Saturday of Pentecost weekend. On this occasion prayer warriors are gathering in the 'Place of the Pillar'(not celebrating the postal system, but a particular appearance of 'the virgin'- on a column, and the city's main square) in Zaragoza. On 20th May government agency Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia called a special day conference on the press and minority religions in Spain. Speakers included Pedro Tarquís, director of the evangelical agency Protestante Digital, as the only representative of the minority groups, plus several religious affairs correspondents of the major media, etc.. Among other things, the new Protestant Style Book, produced by Protestante Digital and financed by the Foundation, was presented (after an official presentation to the press on the 18th). This style book aims to help the Media to understand Protestantism and avoid the pitfalls of language inherited from the intolerant Franco era, when Spain and Roman Catholicism were closely linked in the mindset. The Media often refer to evangelical churches (even Baptists and Anglicans) as 'Sects' and refer to their services as 'Masses'. Michael W. Smith will perform in Spain in June in support of the NGO Compassion. 1.5 million page clicks! During April Protestante Digital, the Spanish Evangelical Alliance's news agency had that many pages opened online. This brings its impact up to -and beyond- that of several daily papers like the Diario de Sevilla, which serves a province with almost a million inhabitants. The PD team is now over 100, with editors, columnists and technicians working as volunteers to make it happen. It is certainly well worth a visit to keep up to date with happenings in the Spanish evangelical world, plus opinion on the world around us. Email subscriptions to AC Press are around 16,000. Pro Life march. On 17th May 3000 marched through Córdoba, amongst them a good number of evangelicals, to protest against the new freer abortion bill now facing the Congress. Between 5th and 7th May the Evangelical Federation FEREDE met in Valencia to work of streamlining some of the way it works in relation to the autonomous bodies which depend on it. It also presented a declaration on the subject of abortion, as a contribution to the current debate in political circles, aimed at reforming the current abortion law. The Spanish evangelical Alliance made its own statement at the end of March. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has announced the free, over-the-counter sale of 'Day After' abortion pills - with immediate effect. President Zapatero has also made clear that no religious group will get a hearing in the discussions - in particular reference to Roman Catholic pressure. FEREDE pdf here (Spanish). Hope for Europe has awarded the Evangelical Hospital in Barcelona its annual Hope prize. HfE is a project of the European Evangelical Alliance and the Lausanne Movement. The European EA was holding their 2009 assembly in Spain, south of Barcelona, between the 21st and 24th, with the title "Are Evangelicals 'Good News' people?" The Hope Award was officially handed over in a ceremony on St George's Day, 23rd April, which is the 'Saint's Day' for Catalonia, when local people buy and give each other books and roses. Also on 23rd April, a baptist pastor and several believers in Huesca were miraculously saved from falling debris, as a flat above their church building exploded, probably due to a gas leak. The pastor had just said goodbye to a church member, went inside again to close up with another, as the entrance was almost blocked by the falling masonry. Three Romanians in the flat were injured. Questions now arise concerning the church building, which was still being prepared for inauguration this summer. Hopefully, there are no structural problems in the building and it will be possible to repair the defects. On 17th April the president of Catalonia, José Montilla met with Guillem Correa, president of the Catalan Evangelical Council. It is now 10 years since the CEC signed an agreement of cooperation with the Generalitat, the Catalan regional government. This says something about the difference in the way protestants are viewed in Catalonia and how the institutions respect the size and contribution of the community. Catalonia is the region with the largest proportion of evangelicals and evangelical churches. Indeed, there are almost as many evangelical churches in greater Barcelona as Catholic parishes. The meeting was cordial, covered all the issues brought up the the CEC and included an invitation for Montilla to attend a special Reformation Day service next October. Carlos Martínez, one of Europe's top mime artists, performed at Easter's European missions congress Mission-Net. Carlos performed several times on the main stage and also gave a workshop for those eager to mimic him. While Mission-net was on in Germany, 1,400 more young Spaniards (and some foreigners among them) also gathered to learn more about missions, at Mission Possible. Under the motto Emerge!, this 5th Mission Possible conference again raised awareness of the need for mission, both at home and abroad. On this occasion music was a major element, as a group of young Spaniards had been working together for 18 months to produce new worship songs. Established youth bands were also on stage. Meahwhile, in Vigo, Galicia, 300 young people gathered on April 25th for Contracorriente another commitment event. In this case it was one of 3 day events. The others are 16th May in Valencia and 20th June in Madrid. Just before Easter the First International Congress on the Protestant Reformation was held in Seville and would have been opened by Princes Felipe and Letizia. In the end they were unable to make the ceremony, but welcomed the organisers the next week at the Zarzuela palace in Madrid. This was not only the first congress held in Spain on the matter, but the first ever protestant event in Spain planned to be attended by members of the Spanish Royal family - descendants of the rulers who instigated the persecution of protestants by the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century. We look forward -still- to the day when a Royal finally makes it to such an event! At least ground has been broken. At the congress the speakers were professors from numerous Spanish and European universities. For earlier news from the churches, click here! Finally, more news from the churches is always available at the Protestante Digital site.You can also listen to some reports and comment. This week on Protestante Digital: (29th May)Seminal book on Protestantism published for Spanish media (22nd) (15th) (8th) (1st May) Comic Bible version published in Spain |