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Architect:
Unknown
Style:
Roman-Gothic
Date of construction:
Construction completed in 1902
Location:
4632 Luna St.
Building materials:
masonry and wood
General information:
The change of sovereignty in Puerto Rico in 1898 established the
separation of Church and State and religious liberty, and gave way
o the establishment on the island of other religious groups other
than Catholic.
The 28 th of July of 1899 the missionary Reverend Dr. Hatham
H. Huffman of the Brothers United in Christ congregation and
Reverend D. P. Barret of the Christian Mission Church arrive in
Puerto Rico and on May 31 st,1900 established the First
Evangelical Church in Ponce at Marina Street.
The construction of the church we have come to know today
ended in 1902, with a floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross
and medieval details manifest themselves in the pointed arched
windows. Clay tiles were the original floor finish of the church,
substituted for terrazzo in 1957.
This temple is distinguishable by the octagonal copula located at
the transept with clerestories that let natural light in. The
octagon shape has special symbolic and spiritual value for the
United Evangelical Church, representing harmony, security,
universal balance and balance between the material world and the
invisible.
The altar is located at the apse, were 5 stained glass windows that
portray important symbols of the Evangelical faith are located:
omega –
grapes –
cross-
lily-
dove-
It was in 1900 that Evangelical congregational churches began
their missionary work in the Southern part of Puerto Rico form the
very beginning they established school programs aimed at
addressing the high incidence of illiteracy on the island, working
arduously to eradicate it.
representing God;
representing the Holy Communion;
representing the Crucifixion;
representing the Resurrection &
representing the Holy Spirit