Salisbury Spanish Church Organization

The progression from group to company and eventually becoming a church is not as simple as it seems. It takes dedication, work and complete member involvement.

Gary Moyer and Ricardo Palacios were happy to officially transition the Hispanic company in Salisbury into Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día de Salisbury.

The dream of having a Hispanic church in Salisbury began with pastor Samuel Romero back in 2009. At that time, some of the members of the Charlotte Hispanic church were driving almost an hour every Sabbath from the Salisbury area in order to attend church in Charlotte. A small group was formed, but it faced some problems and they had to close it not even a year later.

A few years later, pastor Julio Flores, who was the pastor of the Hispanic church in Charlotte, spoke with the church members about reopening the small group in the Salisbury area. The first step was to get more members of the church involved, and avoid the same mistakes that led the group to close the first time.

On July 6, 2013, the group met for the first time in a room at the Salisbury Adventist Church, the English speaking Adventist church who opened their church to host the small group. Sixteen people attended that first meeting. In the afternoon, they went to around the neighborhood offering literature, bible studies, or a simple prayer.

The group started to grow, and in 2016, three years after the beginning of the group, they officially became a company.

The next step was to find their own place to worship, and in 2018, they found a suitable place and bought the church. On December 8, 2018, they celebrated their first Sabbath in the new church.

With Covid 19, they faced challenges and difficulties. They had close the church and started to worship via Zoom, but the church did not lose its fire and passion to do God’s work and the church grew even in times of difficulty.

On April 16, 2022, the church gathered to celebrate their transition to became an organized church. The church was full and there was an air of festivity in the air. A big white tent stood outside the church to provide food for the ones who came to celebrate.

Gary Moyer, vice president of Administration at the Carolina Conference preached in Spanish to an attentive audience. He spoke on the mission the church has to preach the Gospel, and he challenged the church to keep going, making disciples, and getting ready for Jesus’ second coming. He said that “we were not called to build buildings, [but instead,] we were called to share the Gospel with the world.

The story of the Hispanic Church of Salisbury reminds us of 1 Corinthians 3:6 where it says that, “[Paul] planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” (NIV)

The dream that started in the heart of pastor Samuel Romero and a handful of members of the Charlotte Spanish church, is a reality today in the lives of those who live in that community. The organization of that church is much more than just formality, it is a reflection of the work that they are doing in and around Salisbury, preaching the Gospel, baptizing, and making disciples for Jesus.

— by Henrique Gomes