Iglesia Apostolico

This Sunday (March 20), I visited Iglesia Apostolico, which meets at the facility of Open Door Christian Church at 16 Fifth Street (corner of 5th & B) at 2 p.m. It's a Latin Pentecostal church with between 60 - 80 in attendance. I have been interested in visiting it for sometime, since Pentecostal churches in Latin America have been reported as the fastest growing segment of Christianity for sometime now. (However, 2 p.m. is not my normal church time - and they told me it went till 5 p.m. - a 3 hour church service is not exactly my cup of tea, though some church services go about this long with Sunday School, fellowship time, and the service.)

I got there a bit early, as is my practice. Everyone was deep in prayer - many on their knees up front. Soon the worship service began - and it quickly progressed to exuberant music - with lots of clapping, enthusiatic singing, shouts of joy, dancing in the ailes, with pauses of more meditative music. While I have experienced this in other Pentecostal churches, it had a unique flavor in a Latin church, which almost had the feeling of a fiesta and a bala at times. While I know Spanish (not fluently), I couldn't tell if they were speaking in tonges, but it sounded good anyway - they were wholeheartedly in love with the Lord.

The visiting pastor (Jorge) gave a passionate sermon based on the Parables of the Talents. They had to finish a tad early (about 4:15) because another church needed the facility later, but they first hosted a fundraiser dinner, which I joined and got to meet some of the congregants, who usually described their past life of excessive sin before being saved. I briefly spoke with the pastor, Jesus Mendoza. He informed me they are a member of the Apostlic Church, an international Pentecostal denomination based in Los Angeles. He spent more time proudly telling me about his son, Jesus, who is leading a team of humanitarian effort to Japan, where most Americans are now tyring to get out.