Snowbirding? : Dr. Brian Morris on helping church plants in the Costa del Sol

Retire to the Costa del Sol to help plant churches!

What follows is one believer’s account of an annual six-month winter sojourn that has become a spiritual blessing of deepening faith and joy.

I have been a Christian for over 40 years. About five years ago, three pals (Mike, Harry and Brian) took a two-week holiday in Spain. We rented a flat there and toured the Costa del Sol, in the south of Spain. Now, we have all retired, with Mike and Harry moving away from London to the south coast of the UK, but the church we discovered in Spain made an impact on me. And its members seem encouraged by my commitment to it.

The original idea to go south, to the south of Europe, to a better climate in winter, began with Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Victorian preacher. The Spurgeons would take winter vacations in Menton, France. While in Menton in January 1892, C.H. Spurgeon left this earth in his 50s. But Spurgeon’s winter legacy lives on.

We three went further south than France, to the Costa del Sol in Spain. I had been struck by an English-speaking church we found there, which met in a function room at the back of a Roman Catholic church in the small town of Torre del Mar on the Costa del Sol.

Retired and free

Being newly retired, I was free to roam. So I returned there for the month of November, and then again the following winter.

The whole experience has been and continues to be a wonderful and challenging eye opener. The Christian message is preached there freely and faithfully. There are Bible studies and even its own church plant activity at nearby Torrox Costa.

Abundant life

It is similar to life in the UK, but there is something different about it too. It has life, and it has that life abundantly. People go out there for four weeks in winter and then return to the UK for a period of weeks, and then return again! This is called snowbirding by some. Just like migrating birds, this ‘snowbirding’ urge to fly south in the winter months is very strong and often for health reasons. Particularly if, like me, you need the sun to stay free of severe bronchitis. Is this a new sociological phenomenon? The church was planted by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland in 1988. Its current status is that of a church plant, and is part of the Evangelical Presbytery of Spain.

The services are in English and cater for Christian English residents and English ex-patriots. It is a mission field. Mission is not a new sociological phenomenon, but ‘snowbirding’ is. As I write this I am in Torre del Mar Church and I am in the middle of a six-month stretch out here at 68 years of age. It beats trying to survive gloomy winter days and dark nights in London.

Ex-pat community

In southern Spain, there are many ex-pats living in retirement, yet in need of the gospel. This is something that the Catholic church is not too keen on, but Protestants are. It is a veritable mission field. It is the ministry to expats, from all parts of Europe, that energises me. It really is the Great Commission writ large. Are there English-speaking churches in Spain? There certainly are! For both the snowbirders and the expats.

Snowbirding is common in North America. It seems Canadians and Americans retire to the south (Miami and California) for the winter months for rest and relaxation. But to do so, and combine it with typical church work and outreach, is unusual and very energising.

In the past, people who retired in Birmingham might have moved south to Bognor. In these EU days, people in the UK can now retire and move to the south of Europe, to the Costa del Sol. People who do so will be welcome at the Protestant Torre del Mar Church (and other churches such as the Anglican church), especially those people who can speak Spanish.

People, from all over Europe, come out for a month and then return to the UK for a month — and repeat the pattern throughout the winter. I have met many Christians from all over Europe in south Spain — and what a blessing it has been. Some have bought cheap fincas; others simply rent apartments for a month to six months, at around £100 per week.

Half the week can be taken up with the very full church activities, particularly at Torre del Mar Church, with its church plant at Torrox Costa. It is a community of believers who abide together, sharing their time and doing the Lord’s work together during the week.

How does it work?

There is no owned church building. The Torre del Mar Church meets in a four star hotel paying a weekly fee for the hire of a function room. In this way, costs are kept low. The modern facilities of the hotel are available (cleaning, restaurant, modern equipment, coffee service, etc.).

There is a cash collection, but little availability for BACS services for giving through e.g. Stewardship (http://www.stewardship.org.uk). It seems the key factor is time. The people that reside here, and the snowbirders themselves, are free from wage slavery. Consequently, they join together to do the Lord’s work in sunshine and daylight, on an ‘all week’ basis. The phrase ‘a gleeclub for the over 60s’ conveys some of its spiritual truth: what is wrong with joy? What is wrong with being free indeed? What is wrong with lots of smiles and touchy feely Spanish social welcomes? And the singing…..!

Another side

All this is within easy access, by airplane, from London, UK. This article shows another side to church work, here in southern Europe. It is a joyful, yet theologically serious side, in the sun.

Pastors with church members who can speak Spanish may wish to encourage them to use their linguistic skills to help the English-speaking community in Torre del Mar.

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