The Community Church of Madrid celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2021. Our church was founded in 1971 by our first pastor, the Rev. Thomas Goslin, at the request of a group of English-speaking residents of Madrid. From the beginning, the congregation chose to be a “Church without Walls” based on three principles: to not own a building, to support the benevolence of our ecumenical partners, and to have dialogue after our Sunday sermons.
Today our congregation is composed of people of many countries— the United States of America, England, Spain, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Ecuador, Mexico, Hungary, Guatemala, and others. We come from many branches of Christianity—Reformed, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Baptist, to name a few—and we also have seekers in our midst. We are affiliated with the Presbytery of Madrid-Extremadura of the Iglesia Evangélica Española y members of the Association of International Churches of Europe and the Middle East.
We are an inclusive, affirming congregation, and welcome any person independently of his or her race, sexual orientation, national origin, or creed, who wants to learn more about the way that Jesus teaches us in the Bible and who is willing to live and love and care for our sisters and brothers in this challenging journey on earth and towards eternity.
Miriam Troutman, Church Council Chair
January 2021
Our Pastors
Rev. Ramiro Arroyo and Rev. Melanie Mitchell
Rev. Melanie Mitchell
Ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Iglesia Evangélica Española
Professor of Theology at Saint Louis University—Madrid Campus
Education:
Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina
Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies
Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia
Master of Divinity
Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid, Spain
Licenciatura en teología dogmática y fundamental
Rev. Ramiro Arroyo
Ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador
Education:
Catholic University of Ecuador
Law Studies
Ibarra Major Seminary of Ecuador
Studies in Philosophy and Theology
Catholic University of Ecuador
Sociology and Political Science
Catholic Technical University of Loja, Ecuador
Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Sciences
Specialization in Human and Religious Sciences
Reina Valera Seminary, Texas U.S.A.
Diploma in Pastoral Ministry
Diploma in Christian Counseling