In what must be a first for any church in Northern Ireland Fitzroy Presbyterian on Belfast's University Avenue is to hold a service conducted in Spanish for people from the Latin American community living here.
The service will be held on Sunday 17 October at 3.00pm and is the idea of Fitzroy member and student for the Presbyterian ministry, Dario Leal who comes originally from Chile but is now living in Belfast with his English born wife.
"October 12 is a major holiday right across Latin America when we remember the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus," explains Dario. "Consequently we thought it would be a good idea to celebrate this with a special service as close to the date as possible for the Latin American community in Belfast which numbers about 200 people."
Fitzroy has been a welcoming church to the minority communities found particularly around the university area and earlier this year ran an Alpha Bible study course specifically for the Spanish community in the area.
And it was in Fitzroy that Dario found a welcome some years ago when he arrived in Belfast to study theology. He had first visited the city as part of the crew of Logos II, a Christian missionary ship which sails around the world visiting ports to spread the good news of Jesus, and liked Belfast so much he decided to live and work here. After studying at Belfast Bible College he is now completing a doctorate in Theology at Union College before completing his training for the Presbyterian ministry.
Helping Dario conduct the Fitzroy service will be Rev Onesimo Coa, a minister from the Spanish Evangelical Church in Madrid.
"This promises to be a very special occasion," thinks Dario, "not only for the local Latin Americans but also for the many others who I hope will join us in celebrating this special day in our year."
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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