Puerta De Tierra

Primera Iglesia Bautista - Puerta de Tierra

 

First Baptist Church of Puerta de Tierra (1910)
Avenida de la Constitución 158
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Originally the Church was established in San Francisco Street in old San Juan, the facilities were located opposite the plaza de La Barandilla. In the 1910 and the Church had moved to San Agustin street in Puerta de Tierra. In 1919, the American Baptist Society bought the land located in the Constitution avenue (formerly Juan Ponce de León) No. 158 and the same year began the construction of the temple. Industrial courses were offered in the Baptist building in Puerta de Tierra.

The Baptist Church was founded in Puerto Rico by the Reverend Hugh P. McCormick. Upon arrival he began to preach to U.S. soldiers on the street and used to do it in Spanish for the curious to approach. On May 1899 he organized the first Bible School and baptized the first candidates in June. On July 9 of that year, organized the first Church in Rio Piedras, where he established their operations center. That year came the missionaries Haynes and Duggan and the Rev. Rudd. At the end of the year the first disciple of McCormick, Don Manuel Lebrón, began to preach and the next year was named pastor- evangelist. That was the first "worker" native Baptist.

The Rev. McCormick was a missionary with grand vision and strategy. He used to appoint one of the members of each young congregation as "lay pastor" responsible for its development, which greatly advanced the native staff development and accelerated growth of the membership of congregations. He established the monthly magazine the Evangelist, published by José Sánchez Sotomayor, to maintain communication with all the Baptists and promote the evangelization of the unconverted and educate "newly converted".

The founder of the Baptists was John Smith in 1605 in England. In United States the church Baptist was founded by Roger Williams in Providence in 1639.

Each Baptist Church is autonomous and free to cooperate with other churches in the formation of associations or Convention of churches. Historically, Baptists have greatly contributed to the idea of separation of Church and State. The majority of Baptists around the world live in the United States.

Baptists emphasize the need for a genuine and personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, put special emphasis on the Lutheran’s principle of salvation by faith alone (although considered genuine belief entails an inherent commitment to good works) and divine grace for salvation. In addition, they stressed the personal delivery of the faithful to Christ and his acceptance as individual Savior of the believer.

With these requirements, it is considered necessary to enter the Church (as a step of obedience and not as a requirement for salvation) the baptism of adult believers by immersion complete in water. This ritual is preceded by a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The current denominations, Baptists are the largest Protestant group in the world, with more than 37 million members.

Baptist Church 1920

The system of church organization and Government of all Baptists is Congregational and this gives autonomy to individual Baptist churches, led by pastors trained in seminaries. The churches are often associated in organizations such as unions, associations and conventions. At the same time, many national organizations are part of the Baptist World Alliance. There are tiny groups of Baptist fundamentalists not joining with other churches.

Sources:
www.puertadetierra.info
www.rootsweb.com/~prsanjua

El Libro de Puerto Rico, tomo III, religión.

Protestantismo y política en Puerto Rico, 1898-1930 Samuel Silva Gotay