The Mita Congregation ( es, Congregación Mita) is a Christian denomination with headquarters in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. The congregation has chapters in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. They have an estimation of 100,000 members worldwide.

History

The Mita Congregation was formed when Mita said that God had chosen her to found a church. The congregation was formed in

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...

in 1940, but in 1947 the church was relocated to Hato Rey. Mitas, as her followers are called, believe that

Juanita García Peraza Juanita García Peraza also known as "Mita" (June 24, 1897 – February 21, 1970) was the founder of the "Mita congregation", a spin-off of the Pentecostal church with Puerto Rican origins which is described in Melton's ''Encyclopedia of Protest ...

was chosen by

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

and that she became the Prophet of the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

in its third manifestation. First, as the omnipotent father in

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judaism ...

, then in his beloved son

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

and in its third manifestation with a new name revealed Mita, name of the Holy Spirit of God. According to their beliefs, the Holy Spirit once acted through

and anointed

Teófilo Vargas Seín The Mita Congregation ( es, Congregación Mita) is a Christian denomination with headquarters in Puerto Rico. The congregation has chapters in the United States, Canada, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, E ...

(October 23, 1921 - January 18, 2021) as the first anointed of God in what they call the new manifestation of God, the third manifestation, the Holy Trinity, the father, son and the Holy Spirit. According to the church, Vargas was renamed Aarón and before Peraza died in 1970, she called Aarón and told him to take care of his church and he was the spiritual leader of the Mita Congregation until he lost his battle to extensive cardiovascular conditions, passing away on January 18, 2021, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Aarón was very known in the church and in the communities as a very enthusiastic and people-oriented leader, spending hours and hours of his days helping those in need, visiting hospitals and visiting the poorest communities. He's also very known for bringing an extensive growth in the number of church members, taking it to many countries around The Americas and Europe. All this due to his vast campaigns of preachings where he would do 2, 3 and even 5 church services in one day in different communities. The Congregation is now led by Rosinin Rodriguez, who had been named by Aarón in 2012 as his successor and the Spiritual Mother of the church.

Doctrine

The doctrine of the church is based on the original

Reina-Valera The Reina–Valera is a Spanish translation of the Bible originally published in 1602 untilAnon. ''¡Refrescante y más brillante que nunca!'' Sociedades Bíblicas Unidas (1995) p.9 United Bible Societies in 1909 revised the earlier translation pr ...

Spanish translation of the Bible. They are trinitarian, believing in

and the Holy Spirit (Mita), who they believe "is on earth, that His new name is Mita and that, through Aarón, He guides His Church and guides it through truth and justice towards salvation". Aarón is considered God's prophet for today, and through him God's message of cleansing, freedom from sin, and unity is brought to the world. "Mita en Aarón" (Mita in Aaron) is a slogan of the Mita Congregation.

References

External links

* Christian denominations founded in the United States Religion in Puerto Rico Christian organizations established in 1940 {{Christian-denomination-stub