June 27, 2014
To our brothers and sisters of the Hispanic Latin community in the United States and our partners in Latin America:
Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ for each one of you!
The 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which met in Detroit from June 14 to 21, has just finished its business and, as is often the case with all meetings of our faith communities, there were moments of agreement and disagreement, sadness and happiness, uncertainty and certainty. Just as our newly elected moderator, Dr. Heath K. Rada, said in reference to the changing climate we experienced in Detroit, “... just so it is with the General Assembly, we have fog, rain, storms and dawns... but we trust that, in the midst of it all, God will show us the way.”
“Storms and dawns” also defines the context and the work of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church lives between the uncertainty of the unknown and the certainty of the unseen. We know that we walk in darkness yet illumined by the presence of the Spirit of Life, who leads us to “still waters” and “green pastures,” but who also accompanies us through “the valley of the shadow of death.”
As all of us have heard multiple times, and the mass and social communication media have widely publicized, the General Assembly of the church approved an Authoritative Interpretation to its constitution, which leaves up to teaching elders (that is, the clergy) the decision to celebrate marriages between same-gender persons in US states where such a practice is legal; and leaves up to sessions whether church grounds can be used for these ceremonies. We have also heard that over the next year our presbyteries will approve or reject an amendment to the constitution, which redefines the concept of marriage as “a unique commitment between two persons, traditionally a man and a woman.” In the same manner we’ve heard about the Assembly’s decision to divest denominational funds from Caterpillar, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard due to their ties with policies of the state of Israel that threaten Palestinian communities. The emphasis placed on these three points is so great that at times it seems like the Assembly met only for this purpose.
And yet, we accomplished many other things together in Detroit. Worship services were fabulous, inspiring, and uplifting; preachers challenged us to live with the conviction that God never abandons us, that the blood of Jesus was not shed in vain, and that He calls us to cross the desert of trials because on the other side is the land of promise. In Detroit we also celebrated the 248 new worshipping communities that are already functioning within the Presbyterian Church as part of the “1001 Worshipping Communities” plan. The Assembly rejoiced over the progress of missions we carry out in dozens of countries where we maintain partnerships, many of them in Latin America, investing human and financial resources for the benefit of those sister churches without asking for anything in return. We approved the creation of community response groups to address the needs of immigrant brothers and sisters who are undocumented and need our help. We rejoiced with the good work done by our seminaries and approved recommendations to make ordination exams more just and culturally-sensitive for Spanish-speaking candidates. We approved sending to the presbyteries for ratification the Confession of Belhar; if approved, it would become the first creed in our Book of Confessions which comes from the Global South, to defy institutional racism and challenge us to watch for the demographical and cultural signs of our times. We honored brothers and sisters, as well as churches and organizations, for their dedicated work on behalf of communities and for the environment, their ecumenical and inter-religious commitment, their journalistic work, their trajectory as writers, as well as women of faith recognized for their service to the church. We had the most wonderful and dynamic group of young adult advisory delegates that we have seen in years; they injected life and energy into the Assembly, making us dance and move with their famous “energizers”, thus offering us joy and movement to awaken us after long working sessions. Unfortunately, all these Assembly actions and activities will not be aired by television stations or seen on newspaper headlines, and many people will ignore them, but not us, not those of us who have seen the storms and dawns of the 221st General Assembly in Detroit.
The question that remains following this reflection has to do with the future of the church and our role in it: what is the balance of Detroit? The theme that gathered us in Detroit was, “Abound in Hope.” The hope is Jesus, which is why hope casts out fear. Hope makes us more human, more sensitive and more respectful of one another. Because of hope, before criticizing, hurting or insulting anyone, we have to look into their eyes, discover there the presence of Jesus, and recognize that we would be hurting him or her with our words, actions and attitudes.
Who is right and who has the accurate answer to the difficult topics we addressed in Detroit? We can spend hours, days and years discussing them, and this is in fact what has happened with many of these issues, but we prefer to bet on the love of Jesus. Thus it is better to answer the Biblical question: who can separate us from the love of Christ? And if nothing can truly “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”, then let us do the same with our brothers and sisters, even if they think differently from us. Let us side with God’s love, which goes beyond being united or respectful. As one of our praise songs says: “Let love be from the heart, and not just lip service...”
As a closing reflection we offer you a stanza and the refrain from “We Have Hope”, a famous song that is part of the Latin American Hymnology, written by Methodist Bishop Federico Pagura from Argentina.
“Because He came into the world and into history, because He broke the silence and the agony,
because He filled the earth with His glory, because He was light in our cold night.
Because He was born in a dark manger, because He lived sowing love and life,
because He opened up the hard of heart, and lifted up downtrodden souls.
Therefore we have hope today, therefore we fight on tenaciously today,
therefore today we look confidently on the future of this land of mine.
In the love of Jesus,
NOTE – The signers’ titles and positions appear only for the purpose of identification, but this does not mean they sign on behalf of the institutions they represent.
1-Rev. José Luis Casal 2- Rev. Magdalena I. García 3- Rev. Dr. Antonio (Tony) Aja
General Missioner Capellana, Vitas Innovative Hospice Care Hispanic/Latino Immigrant Ministries
The Presbytery of Tres Rios Ministra Especializada del Presbiterio de Chicago Coordinator, Mid-Kentucky Presbytery
4-Ruling Elder Rubén Armendáriz 5- Rev. Aleida Jernigan 6- Rev. Eliana Maxim
Interim General Presbyter Co-Executive Presbyter NE/NW Associate Executive Presbyter
Mission Presbytery The Presbytery of Cascades Presbytery of Seattle
7- Rev. Ruth F. Santana-Grace 8- Ruling Elder Conrad M. Rocha 9- Rev. Dr. Felipe N. Martínez
Executive Presbyter Stated Clerk/ Executive Associate Executive Presbyter
The Presbytery of Philadelphia Synod of the Southwest Whitewater Valley Presbytery
10-Ruling Elder Loyda Aja 11- Rev. Dr. Héctor Rodríguez 12- Rev. Marissa Galván-Valle
Secretaria Permanente Asociada Associate Hispanic/Latino/na Congregational Asociada para Recursos y Relaciones
de la Asamblea General PC(USA) Support Office (Spanish & Portuguese Language) con las Constituyentes Hispanas/Latinas
Office of the General Assembly (OGA) Presbyterian Mission Agency – PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission Agency – PC(USA)
13-Rev. Lemuel García-Arroyo 14- Rev. Dr. Amaury Tañón-Santos 15- Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes
Director of Alumni and Church Relations Director de Programas de Educación Continuada Professor of Preaching and Worship at
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary McCormick Theological Seminary
16-Rev. Dr. José Irizarry 17- Rev. Ruth-Aimée Belonni-Rosario 18- Rev. Victor Aloyo Jr
Rector, Cambridge College Decana de Admisiones Administrador Principal de Diversidad
Puerto Rico Campus Lancaster Theological Seminary Seminario Teológico de Princeton
19- Rev. Dr. Pablo E. Rojas Banuchi 20- Rev. Pablo R. Caraballo Rodríguez 21- Rev. Alvin Padilla, PhD
Presbiterio del Noroeste, PR. – Facultad Adjunta de Presbiterio del Suroeste - Director de la Oficina de Dean of Hispanic Ministries Program and
Filosofía y Religión – Universidad Interamericana de Capellanía, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Professor of New Testament – Gordon-
Puerto Rico – Recinto San Germán Rico - Recinto San Germán Conwell Theological Seminary
22- Ruling Elder Dr. Jane Atkin-Vásquez 23- Rev. Jorge D. Zijlstra Arduin 24- Ruling Elder Raul F. Santiago
Trustee and Professor at the New Theological Moderador Presbiterio de San Juan. Sínodo 221 G.A. Commissioner of San Juan
Seminary of the West, Pasadena, CA Presbiteriano Borinquén de Puerto Rico. Miembro Presbytery. Vice-Moderator of the GA de la Junta Directiva del Consejo Latinoamericano Committee on Bills & Overtures
de Iglesias (CLAI)
25- Rev. Mauricio Chacón 26- Rev. Adrián Orozco 27- Ruling Elder Cecilia Casal
National Moderator National Vice-Moderator - Hispanic/Latino National Treasurer
Hispanic/Latino Presbyterian Caucus Presbyterian Caucus – Hispanic Consultant of the Hispanic/Latino Presbyterian Caucus
Synod of South Atlantic
28-Rev. Dr. Alfredo Miranda 29- Ruling Elder Angel (Gelo) Cardona 30- Ruling Elder Abel McBride
National Moderator, Hispanos Latinos Presbyterian Men National Vice-Moderator – Hispanos Latinos National Treasurer – Hispanos Latinos
Coordinator of Hispanic Ministries - Salem Presbytery Presbyterian Men – Moderator of Presbyterian Men Presbyterian Men – Member of Second
in El Redentor Church in Oviedo, FL Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, NM
31- Rev. Otoniel Bermúdez 32- Rev. Pedro P. Morataya 33- Rev. Gustavo Vásquez
Org. Pastor, Grace Point NCD – Moderator Hispano Latino Pastor, Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana Pastor, Iglesia Presbiteriana/Metodista Caucus of South Florida, Synod of South Atlantic San Francisco Presbytery, Synod of The Pacific Unida De West New York
34- Rev. José M. Capella-Pratts 35- Rev. José Luis Torres Milán 36- Rev. Noris Cabán
Pastor, Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana Moderador Presbiterio del Noroeste y del Sínodo Pastor, Community Presbyterian Church
Hispana de Miami, Sinodo del Atlántico Sur Presbiteriano Boriquén de Puerto Rico Broadview, IL – Presbytery of Chicago
37 – Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri 38-Rev. Karen Hernández-Granzen 39- Rev. Alicia Winters
Member of General Assembly Committee on Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church Honorably Retired- Former Mission
Theological Education - PC (USA) Trenton, NJ Worker in Colombia
40 – Rev. José G. González-Colón 41- Rev. Dr. Mara Liz Rivera 42- Rev. Joe Mares
Pastor, Iglesia Presbiteriana en Hato Rey Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Pastor, Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana de Presbiterio de San Juan, Puerto Rico Winneconne, WI Aurora, CO - Presbiterio de Denver
43 – Ruling Elder Dra. Ana Inés Braulio 44- Rev. Luis Madrigal 45- Rev. Consuelo Donahue
Profesora Emérita de la Universidad Interamericana Honorably Retired Chaplain for Goodwill Industries, San
de Puerto Rico Presbiterio de San Gabriel Antonio, TX – Mission Presbytery
.
46 – Ruling Elder Salvador Gavaldá Corchado 47- Rev. Dr. Carmelo Mercado 48- Rev. Dr. Daniel Beteta
Miembro del Presbiterio de San Juan y del Sínodo Senior Pastor & Head of Staff, El Redentor 221 General Assembly Commissioner from
Presbiteriano Boriquén de Puerto Rico Presbyterian Church, Oviedo. Presbytery of San Francisco Presbytery – Pastor of Latinos
Central Florida Unidos en Cristo, San Mateo, CA
49 – Ruling Elder Marta T Rodríguez-Fonseca 50- Ruling Elder Leticia Heredia 51-Ruling Elder Yudyt Bermúdez
Asesora Voluntaria Mujeres Hispanas Latinas Moderadora Nacional – Mujeres Hispanas Latinas Secretary – Hispanic/Latina Presbyterian Presbiterianas (MHLP) Presbiterianas – PC(USA) Women. Racial Ethnic Member at-large PW CCT. Council Member, Tropical Florida Pby.
52 – Ruling Elder Yolanda S. Hernández 53- Ruling Elder Esperanza Guajardo 54- Ruling Elder Dahlia Vela Retired Staff of Women’s Ministry of the General Mission Presbytery Racial Ethnic Member-at-Large PWCCT
Assembly, PC(USA) Mission Presbytery
.
55- Ruling Elder Ruth Burgos-Sasscer, PhD 56-Rev. Lilia Ramírez 57- Rev. Lis Valle-Ruiz
PW Moderator – St. Mathew Presbyterian Church Pastora Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana de Patterson PhD Student Homiletics and Liturgy
Silver Spring, Maryland Patterson. Coordinadora del North Jersey Latino Project Vanderbilt University
.
58 – Rev. Dr. Neddy H. Astudillo 59- Rev. David Cortés-Fuentes, PhD 60- CRE Ricardo Moreno
Pastora, Parroquia San Jose - Ministerio Ecuménico de Pastor, Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana Enmanuel Member of the Advocacy Committee on
La Iglesia Presbiteriana PC(USA) y la Iglesia Evangélica Claremont, CA Racial Ethnic Concerns ACREC of PC(USA)
Luterana en América, ELCA. Beloit, Wisconsin `Iglesia Presbiteriana de Pasadena, CA
.
61 – Rev. Jorge Sayago-González 62- Rev. Carmen M. Rosario 63- Rev. Daniel M. Garza
Chaplain at St. Stephen's Episcopal Day School Coconut Interim Pastor First Spanish Presbyterian Church in Honorably retired
Grove, FL – Member of Mid Kentucky Presbytery Brooklyn, NY. Adjunct Professor Hunter College. NY Wichita Falls, TX
.
64- CRE Julio Benjamín Damiani 65- Rev. Pedro A. Rivera 66- CRE Leocadio Pérez
Iglesia Presbiteriana de La Encrucijada- Brooklyn, NY - Vice Pastor Sunrise Presbyterian Church, Miami FL Iglesia Presbiteriana Enmanuel
Moderator-Hispanic/Latino Presbyterian Caucus Moderator of the Presbytery of Tropical Florida Dallas, Texas. Grace Presbytery.
Synod of the Northeast
67 – Rev. Dr. Francisco García Torres 68- Rev. Iris Dalila Santoni 69- Rev. Noé Juárez
Pastor Iglesia Central Presbiteriana en Isabella, PR Moderadora del Sínodo Presbiterio Pastor Sunset Presbyterian Church, Fort
Sínodo Presbiteriano Boriquén de Puerto Boriquén de Puerto Rico Lauderdale, FL - Moderator of Hispanic
Council - Synod South Atlantic
70- Ruling Elder Edmundo Vásquez 71- Ruling Elder Tony De la Rosa 72- Rev. Dr. Jorge Texidor
Honorably Retired Mission Worker Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles, CA Pastor Iglesia Presbiteriana El Buen Vecino
Pasadena, CA Kissimmee FL, Presbytery of Central Florida
73- Ruling Elder Norma Sayago 74- Ruling Elder William Reyes 75- Ruling Elder Noelia Colón
Copy Editor/Translator - Spanish Resources. Congregational Candidate to be Ordained 221 General Assembly Commissioner and
Ministries Publishing. Presbyterian Mission Agency PC(USA) Presbytery of Monmouth Moderator of the Presbytery of San Gabriel
76- Ruling Elder Zaida Rodríguez 77- Rev. Elizabeth Ruiz-Quiroz 78- Rev. Nelson Donado
Candidate to be Ordained Presbiterio del Noroeste. – Sínodo Presbiteriano Organizing Pastor del New Church
Presbytery of Chicago Boriquén de Puerto Rico Development El Nazareno NCD
79- Rev. Gerson Annunciaçao 80- Rev. Dr. Milton Núñez-Coba 81- Rev. Cruz A. Negrón Torres
Missionary among immigrants in prison Pastor Iglesia Presbiteriana Nueva Esperanza, Pastor, Iglesia Presbiteriana Villa Carolina
Presbyterian Immigrant Ministry Jersey City, NJ - Palisades Presbytery Carolina, Puerto Rico
Presbytery Southern New England
82- Rev. Jeniffer Rodríguez 83- Rev. Angel Ortiz 84- Rev. José Olagues
Pastora Asociada, Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana de Member of New Life Presbyterian Church Honorably Retired – Grand Canyon
Elizabeth – Coordinadora de Ministerios Multi- Miami, FL – Tropical Florida Presbytery Presbytery - Synod of the Southwest
Culturales del Presbiterio de Elizabeth
85- Ruling Elder José Rodríguez 86- Rev. Roberto Colón 87- Rev. Martín Garcia
Iglesia Presbiteriana El Buen Vecino de Kissimmee, FL Pastor, Iglesia de la Comunidad, Los Angeles CA Pastor, Iglesia Presbiteriana Agape
Moderador del Capítulo de Hombres en Central Florida Presbyterian Church (USA) Wilmington CA
88- Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo 89- Rev. Edwin Gonzalez-Gertz 90-Rev. Sandra Luciano-Andujar
Transitional Presbyter Pastor, Hope Presbyterian Church, Marietta, GA PC(USA) Coach for New Church
Albany Presbytery Presbyterian Church (USA) Development - Central Florida Presbytery
91- Rev. Dr. Elba T. Irizarry-Ramírez 92- Rev. Sandra Mangual PhD
Associate Professor in Education Member of Committee on Ministry
Inter-American University of Puerto Rico – San Germán Presbytery of Boston
Campus - Presbiterio del Suroeste – Sinodo Presbiteriano
Boriquén de Puerto Rico
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