FEDERATION OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD OF SPAIN (FADE)
History:
The Assemblies of God of Spain were officially constituted in 1963, when six churches signed the constitution. However, our history has it´s roots years before when through the evangelistic efforts during the thirties of English missionaries in Ronda , and more precisely with the first church planted in 1946 in the Coruña by Cuban brothers of the Assemblies of God. The arrival of different missionaries during the following decades who worked in collaboration with the national ministries already present helped to strengthen the growth of the movement up till the end of the twentieth century. It was in the year 2002 that the Assemblies of God made the decision to change the structure into a Federation for practical reasons and because of the growth of the Spanish church. This legal and institutional structure is what has lasted and continues to develop with a strong national implantation and with a prestigious recognition both within our country and abroad. Presently, FADE is in practically all of Spain, counting with more than 320 places of worship and a strong growth in the last decade. The national territory is divided into twelve Fellowships (groups of Churches and Ministers in a determined area), who with the help of Departments and National Committees promote the movement throughout the country. All this work is coordinated by the Executive Council of FADE, which manages and develops the agreements of our General Assembly.
Our Decaration of Purpose:
We declare that we are a united body of Churches and Ministries dedicated to form the character of Christ in men and women, and, in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God, commited to evangelize Spain and the world developing strategies that allow us to establish churches, send missionaries, generously invest in resources that contribute to our mission of evangelism and promote ethical, moral and spiritual values in our society.
Our Vision
At the end of the last decade our churches and ministers of FADE had a great expectancy concerning their responsability to reach our country for Christ, uniting our strengths and resources with the rest of the Spanish Evangelical Movement. In the year 2009 at our National Congress the majority expressed a in a spontaneous way the desire to reach one thousand places of worship and prepare one thousand church workers for this during the next decade. This is how Vision Outreach 2020 was born, FADE´s strategy up till 2020, which would involve all the curches, ministries, structures and resources that FADE has to reach this dream. Presently there are almost 500 places where the Gospel is being preached and hundreds of church workers are preparing to sow in what we understand to be an move of God in our nation that will not be detained.
The Superior Center of Theology of the Assemblies of God of Spain (CSTAD):
The roots of the actual Superior Center of Theology of the Assemblies of God of Spain remount to the year 1963, and the foundation of the Assemblies. Formation of ministers is therefore part of the identity of our movement. Our Seminary has grown since the first classes of our Bible Intsitute of Spain, held in the installations of our church in Ronda, and later in the town of Azuqueca by the name of the Spanish Evangelical Seminary (Seminario Evangélico Español), up till our present installations and Project that have developed in La Carlota (Cordoba). The American Mission has had a great influence in the beginnings and progress of our Seminary, working together with the National Church to whom the installations were passed onto in the year 2000. In 2006 the Spanish Evangelical Seminary named the first Spanish director, Jesús Caramés. From this year onwards the Seminary initiates a process of transformation to comply to the obligatory requirements of the Spainsh Government to obtain a University title in Theology with a civil approval, something that was acheived on the 14th of November of 2011. Presently the Seminary is a Faculty under the coverage of the Foundation CSTAD. Counting on multiple possibilities of studies through the diverse programs, and with around 70 students in the residential program. CSTAD has agreements with different European and American educational Institutions, this way expanding the formative offers for the students of CSTAD.
Missions:
In 1991 national ministries, together with an experienced American Missionary, made their first missionary trip with a sanitary campaign in Equatorial Guinea. This was the beginning of what was to be the missionary work of the Assemblies of God of Spain through it´s Department of Missions. The following year a missionary trip to Rumania was planned and one year later the first missionary sent by the Assemblies of God of Spain, Marga Cabot set out to work in this same country. After these first steps, others, full of courage and determination would follow. The churches became aware of the missionary work, more people were called and rose up to go out as missionaries and new mission fields are discovered and reached. Presently, we have missionary projects in three continents (Europe, Africa and America), including seven countries (Denmark, Holland, Burkina Fasso, Sierra Leona, Cuba, Bolivia, Peru and Honduras), and fourteen brothers and sisters serving in the mission field and acknowledged as FADE missionaries.
Social Work:
FADE is involved in different national and international projects through it´s NGOs and Associations. For more tan 11 years, the National Department of Missions of the Assemblies of God (DEMADE) have organized and collaborated with many proojects and has been working in all kinds of humanitarian initiatives. However our Entity, concerned about the social needs, constituted DAS (Department of Social Action) that includes, motivates and coordinates the actions of all the NGOs and Associations, as well as promoting initiatives and offer orientation for the creation of new Associations that contribute to Social Work. From 25 years ago we can mention some examples of Associations such as Aperfosa, Teen Challenge, Foundation Christian Vision, Association New Image, that have been working intensely in the prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration of those with drug addictions. There are centers of rehabilitation that have programs for youth in different phases, and among there resources are apartments for reintegration and work shops for social skills. Also in the area of Programs for Children: Aperfosa has a service called “Children´s Home – Peniel” subsidized and approved by the Government of Andalucia. In this same line, the Association Share in the Coruña has a Children´s Home that collaaborates with the Council of Social Welfare of the Regional Government of Galicia. In the area of violence against women, the NGO Fiet Gratia, affiliated with Project Rescue, have a home for women, victims of Human Trafficking, women in situations of risk of social exclusion and vulnerability. Finally as far as Social Work is concerned, we would need to add the work of many congregations that offer help to immigrants, offer clothing, feeding programs, family orientation, and, in the international realm, projects of sponsorship of hundreds of children, programs of help in emergencies, medical campaigns and dozens of support projects in under developed countries.
Our Publications:
Since it´s beginnings the Assemblies of God of Spain has always printed on paper the most relevant facts. To start with this was through the magazine Faithful, a true method of communication in our Assemblies. Presently our official magazine is called Kerigma, a digital informative publication of the movement of the Assemblies of God of Spain. The web is www.kerigmaonline.com FADE also has an oficial web page, www.adenet.org where all the Departments and Committees that are part of the movement of the Assemblies of God of Spain are present. All this is accompanied by diverse initiatives of local churches in areas such as Media, Radio, Publications and Television. FADE has just had it´s 50th Anniversary of History in 2013. In our Congress where we could see our movement as a true dynamic motor, we celebrated a magno event with the expectancy that the best is still to come.