February 16, 2012 – Mayaguez, Puerto Rico…Luis Rivera/IAD Staff
Seventh-day Adventists in Puerto Rico celebrated the inauguration of the church’s new state-of-the-art headquarter office during a special ceremony held on Feb. 12, 2012, in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
Pastor Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the Adventist world church, was accompanied by Inter-American leader Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, fellow administrators and local church leaders to witness the event.
“It is an incredible tribute to God and His people to inaugurate this building without any financial debt,” said Pastor Wilson. “May this be a testimony of Christian stewardship and everything done here may be to honor the Lord.”
“Today a new page is opened in the history of buildings in the Division territory,” said Pastor Leito as he joined in the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Government and municipal leaders joined dozens of church leaders and members as they took in the music and the raising of the flags by young people and pathfinders in front of the new office. The television media was there to cover the event.
The new facility sits on an acre lot close to one of the main avenues of the city with a 14,000 square feet structure and will be home to the central headquarters for the church on the island, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), as well as educational and youth programs to benefit the community.
The three-story building includes 20 offices, a 100-seat auditorium, a conference room, a cafeteria, and work stations.
The conference room was dedicated to the memory of Alberto Fischer, the first Adventist missionary to arrive in Puerto Rico in 1901. He later died in Mayaguez. The main auditorium was named after Pastor Felix Rios, who led the church on the island during great changes during the 1990s.
Formerly located in the capital city of San Juan, the union headquarters moved to Mayaguez in 2001 to be closer to the its university and hospital, church officials said. The administrative offices were housed in the policlinic in Mayaguez until the new union office was finished several weeks ago.
During the ceremony, the Puerto Rican Adventist artist Luis German Cajigas presented an exhibit of his paintings and the West Association of Journalists shared a photography exhibit of the visits to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010 with ADRA Puerto Rico.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Puerto Rico has more than 37,000 church members worshiping in 301 congregations. The church operates a university, a hospital, two radio stations and 19 primary and secondary schools.
To view a photo gallery of the event, click here
