Springdale First Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church

A Brief History of Springdale, Arkansas

The Work Begins

Members of the Spanish church in Springdale, Arkansas in 1994. *Photo courtesy of the Southwestern Union Record.*

Interest in the Seventh-day Adventist church teachings was first started among the Spanish residents of Springdale when Dr. Leo Garbutt and Carlos Pardeiro held a series of family and health seminars in 1988. Hilberto and Carmen Garcia worked hard to keep the interest going. Soon a small group of between ten to twenty began to meet regularly at the Gentry church. Then other laymen from the Springdale church helped the Spanish group set up a church board and organize leadership responsibilities. Robert and Adriana Conde, Jorge and Graciela Alcon, Juan Alvarez, and Carlos Pardeiro gave Bible studies to other Spanish people in the area and by 1994, there were thirty-six baptized members and approximately forty additional friends preparing to join (Pardeiro, 1994).

Springdale Spanish Church Organized in 1994

Ray Daniel (far right) and Carlos Pardeiro watch as members sign the charter of the first Spanish church in Arkansas. Photo courtesy of the Southwestern Union Record.

On June 18, 1994, a Spanish church was organized in Springdale, with fifty-four charter members, becoming the first Adventist Spanish church to be organized in Arkansas (Orian, 2004). In the summer of 1997, the Springdale Spanish members purchased their own church home. They bought a residential house which was then adapted, and a sanctuary added (Record, 1997). Their old church property was sold in 2002 (Minutes, 2002).