In Summer 2008 I discovered a protestant church in Ronda. 

After a summer of travelling around, during which time I attended evangelical churches in Luxembourg, South Wales, Cheshire and the West Country, I found the little Asambleas de Dios (Assemblies of God) church in the centre of Ronda very welcoming and friendly.  Compared to some of the huge congregations I experienced in Luxembourg, Newport and Yate, this was small-scale  indeed (Spain remains a predominantly Roman Catholic country) and on my occasional visits, as I popped back and forth between Warrington and Ronda, the total numbers struggled to reach double figures.

Now that I live here full-time and am able to attend on a regular basis, I am struck that the numbers have increased significantly, with a healthy group of youngsters, to add to the handful of older folk.

I’m the only non-native Spanish speaker at the moment, although an English friend who was on holiday here came with me last week and survived!  The Sunday morning service, 11.00 am – 12.15-ish, is conducted in Spanish, but the song lyrics are projected onto a screen, which helps non-Spanish speakers to join in.  The “sermon” is always interesting, inter-active and not too long. Although it’s a Pentecostal church, it’s by no means “happy-clappy”, and I feel very comfortable there. They make a bit of a fuss of me too, which is nice, and regularly invite me to participate.

If anyone is interested in coming along, send me an email through the website, and I’ll be happy to meet you and we can go together.  The church is located on Calle Infantes, near the Land Registry, and on Sundays parking is not a problem!

©  Paul Whitelock

Note: The Assemblies of God (AG) is a group of national Christian denominations which together form the world's largest Pentecostal body. With over 300,000 ministers and outstations in over 212 countries and territories serving approximately 57 to 60 million adherents worldwide, it is the sixth largest international Christian group of denominations.
As an international fellowship, the member denominations are entirely independent and autonomous; however, they are united by shared beliefs and history. The Assemblies originated from the Pentecostal revival of the early 20th century. This revival led to the founding of the Assemblies of God in the United States in 1914. Through foreign missionary work and establishing relationships with other Pentecostal churches, the Assemblies of God expanded into a worldwide movement. It was not until 1988, however, that the world fellowship was formed. As a Pentecostal fellowship, the Assemblies of God believes in the Pentecostal distinctive of baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
The history of the Assemblies of God in Spain dates from 1963, when groups of evangelical church groups came together to form the national association. The Ronda branch was the second to be established after La Coruña, although the origins of evangelical worship in this area can be traced back to 1885.

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