Historical & Modern Religious Contexts of Spain

Here is a brief summary on the religious historical and modern contexts of Spain and CRM's current work there.

[written by Randy Gonzales, CRM Ethne Spain Team Leader]

Spain is a country with a rich spiritual heritage yet the culture bears the distinct scars of both the ancient and modern history marked by the abuse of authority under the pretense of religion. As a result, there is disillusionment and suspicion among the people of Spain concerning the Church and an overall feeling of apathy towards God, especially among those in their 20s-40s.

In a terrain notably affected by spiritual abuse of authority, collusion between the church and political structures, and most recently haughty secularism, it is no wonder that the Spanish population’s posture to religious overtures is indifferent at best and contemptuous at worst. After the Franco regime (1935-1975), Spanish evangelical leaders hopefully assumed that since the oppression was now lifted and new freedoms were instituted that their countrymen would come flocking in droves to the Protestant churches. They miscalculated the whims of the human heart significantly.

No one could have estimated how the long years of political and church oppression, the seething emotions and scarred psyche of the Spanish populace would catalyze a sizeable societal shift towards unabated personal freedom and the disintegration of religious/moral underpinnings. The secularism that has supplanted the mistrusted church and State in Spain runs rampant in a majority of the systems that orbit the lives of the Spanish people.

Within this milieu the Spanish Protestant church has gained ground, though it has been little and hard-fought, and not without personal sacrifice. Because of the significant difficulties inherent in building the church, over the past 50 years the natural result has been that the church became territorial, divisive, and slow to shift. To some degree there is a sense that we're living the ecclesiastic realities that the developed Western nations lived in the 1970s.

In Spain, you note a Catholic Church that is shrinking in many respects. Among the Protestants you hear of an Evangelical Church that has experienced a high percentage of division. There is a spirit of Kingship in the land where everybody wants to be a king. You notice the independent spirit in things like national incohesiveness; Spain is more a collection of independent regions than a unified nation. Because there has been a history of imposing authority, imposition is something people still fight but at the same time religious people still embrace it as a mode of operation.

Though the Protestant Church in Andalusia is sometimes characterized by outmoded systems and rudimentary features, there is a fresh and growing "movement" among the emerging leaders that is catalyzing a passionate encounter with and service to God. This generation is longing to palpably be a light among society's dark places, that wants to reclaim territory from the enemy.

As unbridled and committed as these emerging leaders are, they are also marked by challenges which need healing:

• Character Formation - knowing themselves in a genuine way and opening up to inner transformation. Understanding their own Achilles Heels.
• Spiritual Formation - Having a genuine understanding of who God is and an authentic image of the Father; Understanding their gifting and how it connects with the advancing of the Kingdom.
• Understanding Healthy Leadership and what it take to both develop and grow as a healthy leader and as a follower; Understanding healthy authority and followership dynamics.
• Battling with understanding healthy sexuality and godly boundaries.

• We've been surprised at how wounded this generation is and how they have suffered much in their relatively short lives. Here there is a great need for mentors, coaches, and counseling.

• Among this generation there is a push for social justice and a holistic gospel. They are looking to be a force in this world for the Gospel in Power and Deed. Some areas they are involved in, and we to through our coaching and engagement with them are:
• Human trafficking and Prostitution - Málaga is a major European hub for the human sex trafficking trade.
• The poor and oppressed Gypsy populations
• Among this population we also see a lack of connectivity with their past experiences (family of origin) and their current struggles; those major shaping events in their lives which God wants to redeem and transform for His purposes. We work to help them make that connection for healthier life experiences and more effective and balanced ministry involvement.
• Marriage counseling is a significant need. Both in marital issues of existing marriages and pre-matrimonial orientation.

Presently our work flows into the lives of emerging 20-30 something leaders. Using the Clinton principles of Leadership Emergence Theory, Spiritual Accompaniment, Coaching, Mentoring, and Personal care we take people through personal discovery processes in order to:

1. Awaken them to THEMSELVES (Self-Awareness & Development
2. Awaken them to GOD (embracing a healthier image of the Father)
3. Awaken them to their CALLING in the Kingdom (their contribution)

[Read more from Randy Gonzales about what's stirring in Spain]