Dominican Bible Society Marks 75 Years
The organization marks 75 years of distributing Scripture, starting from two rooms lent to it in Santo Domingo.
The Dominican Bible Society (Sociedad Bíblica Dominicana) celebrated its 75th anniversary of official establishment in the country on November 1, 2026, according to Evangélico Digital. The story began in two borrowed rooms in Santo Domingo, lent by an evangelical church.
By 1951, the Dominican evangelical movement had grown and needed more efficient administration and a structure capable of sustaining Bible distribution. Dr. Joaquín González Molina, regional secretary of the Bible Society based in Havana, Cuba, visited the country several times and found a favorable climate.
The Penzotti method: the Bible, house to house
On one of those trips, González Molina put the Penzotti method into practice: taking the Bible from house to house. Dominican believers went with him, among them Julio Postigo, doña Cruz Minerva de Postigo, Ernestina viuda Vallejo and doña Eduardita de Díaz.
«The mission remains just as concrete: that the Bible be known, read and lived.»
Postigo was manager of the Missionary Bookstore of the Dominican Evangelical Church. Joining the effort were Rev. Carlos Amado Ruiz, pastor of the First Dominican Evangelical Church of Santo Domingo, and Rev. Richard Johnson, superintendent of that denomination.
With that backing, an Advisory Committee of Christian leaders was formed. It named Postigo honorary Bible subagent and doña Amancia Nadal head of the agency, a role later taken over by Irma Ramos. Ramón Espinosa joined as a messenger and over the years rose to store manager and administrative accountant.
Two rooms, a display case and a table
The first office opened at the corner of Mercedes and 19 de Marzo streets in Santo Domingo, in two rooms lent by the First Dominican Evangelical Church, then pastored by Amado Ruiz. Rev. Johnson and the official board provided the space.
The furnishings were minimal: a small storeroom, a display case and a work table. González Molina presided over the inauguration, and Johnson gave the speech. He stressed that an autonomous, independent agency was a step forward for the evangelical work in the country.
The Committee also decided to send a young man, Petronio Pez, to study at the Penzotti Institute in Mexico, and to promote Bible Day in order to raise funds and encourage the reading of Scripture.
From Bible agency to national office
In January 1962, Rev. Álvaro Vicioso Santil was installed as a full-time Bible promoter, under an agreement between the United Bible Societies and the Dominican Evangelical Church. The office moved to 137 El Conde Street in the Colonial City, about 60 meters from Columbus Park and the Primate Cathedral of the Americas.
An evaluation by the World Bible Family and the United Bible Societies raised the agency to National Office, and its director went from Associate Secretary to General Secretary. Since then the institution has identified itself as the Dominican Bible Society.
In 1984, the House of the Bible (Casa de la Biblia) was acquired and consecrated at 8 Juan Pablo Pina Street in Santo Domingo. That year Rev. Ramón H. Cornielle was appointed assistant to the General Secretary; years later he succeeded Vicioso Santil and led the organization until December 2007.
In January 2008, Carmen Luisa Checo de Acosta took over as General Secretary, and she remains in the post. Tomás Gómez Bueno's article in Evangélico Digital draws its historical details from the book Cincuentenario de Sociedad Bíblica Dominicana, the 2002 autobiography of Álvaro Vicioso Santil.
After seven and a half decades, the mission remains just as concrete: that the Bible be known, read and lived. "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him" (2 Corinthians 2:14, ESV). This week you can take one small step: read a chapter with someone who has never opened the Scriptures, or ask at your church who needs a Bible. Who would you take one to?
