M a d r i d – Madrid’s First Baptist Church intends to use a magazine to awaken the interest of the city’s six million, mostly Catholic residents in faith in Jesus Christ. The new magazine is called „Puerta Abierta“ (Open Door) and will be launched as a 16-page quarterly with an initial run of 20.000 copies. Chief Editor is Manuel López, a nationally known evangelical journalist and member of this congregation. López told European Baptist Press Service (EBPS): “We want to evangelise using the means we know best: a newspaper.” Lopez also developed the magazine’s layout. López sees the paper as the result of a very simple equation: “Madrid needs God, and the First Baptist Church has been meeting here for 140 years with the express purpose of making the Gospel known. Our pastor thinks one needs the press to help acquaint large segments of society with the message of Jesus Christ.” Consequently, Pastor Felix Gonzalez is serving as the paper’s publisher. The magazine wants “to show the other side of Madrid – the evangelical one. That face as too often been ignored, slapped around or distorted.” All costs of an edition – around 10 euro cents per copy - will be covered by the congregation.

The first issue goes beyond strictly Baptist topics: It includes a report on the reformer Martin Luther and his US American namesake: the Baptist civil rights leader Martin Luther King, and the Oscar-winning film “Avatar”. There is also a story on breast cancer and the struggle against human trafficking as well as a series on Madrid’s gates.

Lopez hopes circulation will climb quickly. He believes that as many as 100.000 copies could be printed; they will be passed out without charge. He assumes that others among Madrid’s 24 Baptist congregations will join in. No effort should be spared to help others become acquainted with Christ - the one who said about himself: “I am the door.”

The Spanish Baptist Union consists of 93 congregations with more than 10.000 members. Madrid’s congregations alone have a membership of 1.800.