McCabe Memorial Church, also known as Iglesia Metodista Unida de la Playa de Ponce, is a historic church building in

Barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

Playa in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. It dates from 1908, and was designed by Antonin Nechodoma. It was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2008. It is one of four places such listed in Barrio Playa, the others being the U.S. Customs House, the Caja de Muertos Light, and the Cardona Island Light.

Construction

The church is built in the Neo Gothic heritage. It has a concrete foundation and walls, and a wood and corrugated metal roof. Built in 1908, the church was built as a house of worship for the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

congregation in Playa de Ponce. The roof was originally built of wood shingles. The church was named in memory of well-beloved Methodist Bishop Charles Cardwell McCabe, who died shortly before its construction (at a time, also, when the Methodist Church in Puerto Rico was a missional outreach of the Methodist Church in U.S.A.).

History

The church was built at this location because of the prominent commercial role that the Playa barrio played in the early nineteenth century. For this reason the La Playa barrio also had fisheries, schools, hospitals, a cemetery, and a population of 5,169 distributed through a residential area dominated by wooden houses. There was also a Catholic church, the Virgen del Carmen Catholic Church, built there in 1882. "The vital importance of the Port of Ponce explains why it was targeted as an early site for the missionary work of the new

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches that came to Puerto Rico, immediately after the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

of 1898." The church lot was acquired on March 31, 1906, after a donation of $400 by Bishop Charles McCabe Church construction began in 1907, and finished in 1908, at a final cost of $4,500. The locals christened the new church as ''La Iglesia Metodista de la Playa de Ponce'' (The Ponce Playa Methodist Church).

Through the years

In 1928 the San Felipe hurricane partly destroyed the church. It was quickly rebuilt by the locals, with the guidance of Catholic parish priest Gonzalo Noel.Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) February 26, 2008. In ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form''. United States Department of the Inferior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 19. Listing Reference Number 08000283. April 11, 2008. Through the years, the locals, regardless of religious affiliation "have embraced the McCabe Methodist church as one of their icons". In 1946, the church inaugurated the McCabe Memorial School, and locals sent their children there regardless of religious orientation. The original facility was known as the Robinson Methodist School, but was later changed to Rev. Julia Torres School, in honor of a local teacher and religious leader. In 1960, Reverend Julia Torres, born in La Playa, became the first woman in Puerto Rico to be ordained as a Methodist minister. She directed both the church and the school for almost 12 years.Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) February 26, 2008. In ''National Register of Historic Places Registration Form''. United States Department of the Inferior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 20. Listing Reference Number 08000283. April 11, 2008.

Significance

The McCabe Memorial Church embodies the wide historic process of the establishment of the Protestant factions in Puerto Rico. In this respect, it defied the monopolistic control of the Catholic Church that had prevailed during the Spanish sovereignty over the Island. The church broke previous barriers as to the ideological separation of Church and State, when the opposite was the normal daily experience in Puerto Rican life. The church is also associated with an important icon of twentieth-century Puerto Rican architecture of the time, Antonin Nechodoma.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCabe Memorial Church Churches completed in 1908 20th-century Methodist church buildings Methodist churches in Puerto Rico Churches in Ponce, Puerto Rico National Register of Historic Places in Ponce, Puerto Rico Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico 1908 establishments in Puerto Rico American Craftsman architecture in Puerto Rico United Methodist Church United Methodist churches in insular areas of the United States

Construction

History

Through the years

Significance

See also

References