Our Heritage
A Christian, evangelical, Protestant church located in the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo), based on the sufficiency of the Scriptures.
We are known for holding a conservative Christian doctrine, for sharing it through practical teaching and for gathering with a simple liturgy. The members of our church can find their recent history in the twentieth century missionary movements —heirs of the Protestant Reformation of the XVI Century— that undertook the evangelical task of sharing the good news of Christ in our lands. Especially the Evangelical Mission of the Antilles1, who founded the Evangelical Temples in the Dominican Republic. Although we have communion with many other churches inside and outside the Dominican Republic and recognize the Evangelical Temples as part of our heritage, since the beginning we have been developing as an indigenous, non-denominational and independent church. We constantly seek new opportunities for fellowship and unity with other congregations, as the Scriptures teaches: a faith, a Lord and a baptism.
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.Ephesians 4:3-6
Indigenous Church Being an indigenous church means that we develop our resources mainly locally: leadership, sustainability, infrastructure and programs..
How we started
In April 20082 we undertook the task of giving continuity to the work begun by the missionary movements of the last century with a small Bible study -and a conversation time at the end to apply the theme- in the waiting room of a Automotive mechanic workshop that was provided to us. To that first meeting attended the family of our pastor, some guests and brothers who formed the initiating team. Since then we have congregated in different places, but always maintaining the same essence. To this day, one of the most distinctive features of our liturgy is that we are a church where people not only listen, but also participate.
Our mission
To form Disciples of Christ who live in the world in a totally different way.
At PezMundial we work to fulfill the Great Commission3 by developing a community of disciples who walk together in the world reflecting the character of Christ in the midst of people. Instead of isolating our church or pretending to take it away from the world, we prefer to prepare it so that it will live there in a way that is pleasing to God: by being a positive influence and bearing witness to its faith before others. As Jesus prayed for his disciples:
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify[a] them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.John 17:15-18
We seek with all patience and doctrine4 to move our congregation to an ever greater level of identification and commitment to Christ: from Believers to Followers, from Followers to Disciples and from Disciples to Masters. The congregation of our church (who attend our activities) is composed of people with different levels of commitment and they are welcome, but formally, the church of Christ is composed solely of committed disciples and it is our goal to help them grow.
Name and Logo
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The mission of our church —to form Disciples of Christ who live in the midst of the world in a totally different way— is reflected in our logo: A Fish forming the silhouette of the world. The fish was one of the first symbols with which the church of Christ was identified with. In Greek, Fish is written Ichthys, and its acronym forms the following sentence: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter. Translated: Jesus, Christ, Son of God, Savior. This acronym was a declaration of faith, because it contained those deep convictions of the first Christians about the person, deity and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, convictions for which many of them gave their lives leaving us with this precious legacy. It is for us a reason of pride and at the same time a great commitment to carry the fish.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15
Statement of Faith
A summary of our fundamental beliefs.
- 1 THE BIBLE We believe that the Sacred Scriptures are the inspired and sufficient Word of God5. We affirm that the Bible (Canon of 66 Books: 39 in the Old Testament 27 in the New Testament) is our sufficient rule of faith and conduct. That being the case, it is in it – and not in the tradition or in the opinion of men – that we base our convictions and in it we learn how to act. We understand that the Bible contains everything necessary to achieve salvation and live in this world in a way that is pleasing to God6.
- 2 GOD We believe that there is only one God7, creator of heaven and earth, who has eternally existed in three persons (God the Father8, God the Son9 and God the Holy Spirit10) and He has revealed Himself to man in different ways throughout history. Thus, God has the authority to rule the world, we will be accountable to Him and we have no excuse to ignore Him.
- 3 MAN We believe that man was created by God11, in his image and resemblance, but that as a result of sin he has lost communion with him and his soul has deteriorated, so he needs forgiveness and regeneration. We believe that God has endowed man with free will, so that by being convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment by the Holy Spirit12he can voluntarily13 choose between doing God’s will or disobeying it.
- 4 SIN AND THE GOSPEL We believe that everything that God created was very good initially14, however, as a consequence of sin, creation has entered into a process of deterioration15: we spiritually die16, we change our freedom for slavery17 and were condemned to eternal damnation18. We believe in the good news of the gospel: that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day; all this, according to what had been prophesied about Him in the Scriptures19. Therefore, by putting our faith in Chris (repenting and turning20) in Him we have forgiveness and hope.
- The Evangelical Mission of the Antilles was an outreach initiative through the planting of local churches undertaken from Cuba by a group of North American Baptist missionaries in the first half of the 20th century [↩]
- Thursday, April 10, 2008 [↩]
- Matthew 28: 18-20 [↩]
- 2 Timothy 4:2 [↩]
- John 17:17 [↩]
- 2 Timothy 3:16 [↩]
- Deuteronomy 6:4 [↩]
- Philippians 2: 2, Isaiah 64: 8, Isaiah 44:24, 1 Thessalonians 1:10 [↩]
- John 1: 1, Colossians 2: 9, John 1: 3, Colossians 1: 16-17, John 2:19, John 10:17 [↩]
- Acts 5: 3-4, Job 33: 4, Job 26:13, Romans 8:11 [↩]
- Genesis 1:22 [↩]
- John 16:8 [↩]
- Joshua 24:15, Revelation 3:20 [↩]
- Genesis 1:31 [↩]
- Romans 8:21-22 [↩]
- Ephesians 2:1 [↩]
- John 8:34 [↩]
- 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11 [↩]
- Luke 24: 44-47 [↩]
- Acts 3:19 [↩]