Spanish Baptist Union celebrated its centenary with a renewed commitment to mission

Under the theme “One hundred years following Jesus”, more than 1,200 Baptists from all over Spain took part in the special convention organised by the Evangelical Baptist Union of Spain (UEBE) between 26-28 August to mark the centenary of its foundation.

The event lived up to expectations in terms of participation and attendance, with a programme including Bible expositions, a worship band set up for the occasion, remembrance and thanksgiving, and the presentation of a present and future perspective for the country’s Baptist churches.

This vision began to be outlined on the first day with a strategic mission consultation that proposes establishing new churches in 15 cities where there is still no UEBE work before the year 2030, a vision that was underpinned on the last day with the symbolic signing of the “Baptist Covenant”, a document that commits Baptist churches to the spread of the gospel in Spain.

The event also had an institutional presence. The director of Spain’s Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation, Inés Mazarrasa, congratulated the UEBE for its historic contribution to the conquest of religious freedom. She was followed by Ricardo García and José María Contreras, former deputy director and former director of Relations with Religions of the Spanish Government, respectively.

Carolina Bueno and Manel Rodríguez, executive secretary and president of the Evangelical Federation FEREDE, encouraging the attendees to continue with the evangelical work, highlighting the participation of historic Baptist figures such as José Cardona and Juan Luis Rodrigo in achieving important milestones for religious freedom in Spain.

There were also greetings - in person and virtually - from representatives from various countries in Latin America and Europe, who wanted to show their closeness and congratulations to the Baptist Union.

During the meeting, tribute was paid to historical Baptist figures, and there was a special remembrance of the 100 years of the movement’s trajectory in a Spain that went through Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975) found the way from repression to the democracy it enjoys today.

The three main speeches were given by the President of the Baptist World Alliance, Tomás Mackey, followed by those of pastors Emmanuel Buch and Esther Martínez. The convention also included the concerts of well-known composer Marcos Vidal and the Dallas Gospel Choir.

The entire convention was broadcast live on social media and video platforms. Speeches, concerts, the united worship times, and the awards are available on the UEBE YouTube channel (in Spanish).