The evangelical presence in Galicia, in northern Spain, has a rich history, although it is still unknown to many of its inhabitants.

One example is the town of O Grove, where the Ebenezer evangelical church is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

That is why the church, along with the local council, is organising a series of activities on 21 and 22 September to remember its history, beginning with a remembrance of the founding pastor of the church, Luis Policarpo Wirtz y Prieto.

Pastor Luís Policarpo Wirtz

Luís Policarpo Wirtz y Prieto was a civil engineer who, among other engineering works, built the railway viaduct in the city of Pontevedra, which is still in use today. He was also a prolific inventor who patented many projects of which there are records.

He came from a wealthy family of Menorcan liberals, spoke five European languages and read the Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek. He also wrote poetry and composed music, of which we still have some hymns.

Thanks to his friendship with the prime minister of the time, Cánovas del Castillo, he was able to obtain the necessary permits to build the Marín Church-School in the midst of much opposition.

He died in O Grove on 2 August 1927, and his remains rest in that town.

His wife, Lydia Brooks, the daughter of a renowned London doctor, left the comfort of her social position to live most of her life in Galicia. That land and its people won her heart.

She worked as a missionary and teacher in Marín and several other towns in the area. Someone said of her that she “preached like a man”. She had four daughters and a son, the latter, after the death of his father, took over as a Protestant pastor in O Grove. Lydia was the great-granddaughter - unacknowledged - of the British monarch George IV.

Keeping the legacy of his father

Luis Ricardo Wirtz, an engineer like his father, was not afraid to dirty his hands with grease and could often be found with sailors in the harbour, helping them with their engines and also in the workshop, where they built their engines.

He was denounced several times and arrested at least once for officiating at the funeral of a young boy, the son of a Protestant carabiner.

Wirtz had to flee to England in fear for his life because he had informed the British government and had helped many to cross to Portugal during the Civil War.

Someone said of him: “Luís came with a coat with pockets full of books. He didn't look English!”

His sister Elena, after graduating in Medicine in London, practised free of charge in O Grove, during the years 1925-26.

Wirtz returned to Spain in the early 1960s and lived in Portonovo where he owned several properties, including the one used as a church, visiting O Grove regularly.

From Portonovo he moved to Malaga where he established an international church, later returning to England where he died in January 1993.

In the 1950s several people who married in O Grove were added to the local church, among them Amador Mariño Rivas, who played an important role in the continuity of the Protestant congregation in O Grove.

Amador is 97 years old, and one of the main characters of the book published because of this anniversary.

Presentation of the book and centenary service

On Saturday at 18:30, the book Protestant Galicia. 100 years of presence in O Grove will be launched in O Grove.

The author Xosé Manuel López Franco, the writer and editor Antón Mascato and relatives of the main characters of the book will be present.

On Sunday at 11:00 there will be a special service in the local evangelical church with the intervention of the pastor Timoteo Glasscock. And in the afternoon in the O Grove Auditorium, the Marín evangelical choir will perform.