By Rev. Jaime Lazaro
Since arriving at the Presbytery of San Fernando six years ago, I have been committed to our diverse congregations’ growth, development, and creativity. Therefore, in addition to my leading La Iglesia de Panorama (NWC), in 2022, I launched a beta test of my leadership coaching program, which consists of a close mentorship accompanied by the completion of the 12-week Ciclica Express Course, as well as the Presbyterian History, Theology, Government and Worship Course. The beta test included enrollment and completion from nearly ten church planters and leaders. As I continue to engage with all participants of this beta test, I’d like to highlight three of our church planters.
Felix Acosta is the first person I have brought to our Presbytery. I began coaching him in November 2021. In June 2022, he initiated a new worship community in Santa Clarita with the mission of reaching the Hispanic community in the area. Acosta is a key player in our Presbytery due to his capacity in training future church planters. Since the initiation of his worship community in Santa Clarita, he has begun a second worshiping community in English led by two of his mentees.
Additionally, Pastor Enrique Ruiz, a classmate of mine at Fuller Seminary in 2016, began coaching me in October 2022. He restarted a worship community that was greatly impacted during the COVID pandemic. As of late 2022, he has committed to begin the process of affiliating himself with our denomination.
Finally, I started coaching Ricardo Polanco over two years ago and began a new virtual worshiping community shortly after in October 2020. He currently engages an average of 600 individuals a week via Facebook Live. Overall, every month, I host “vital congregation” gatherings via Zoom with all participants, as well as in-person meetings quarterly.
I am committed to coaching, guiding, and offering the essential support required to brainstorm and develop new worshiping communities within the Hispanic population in the San Fernando Valley. Navigating unique socio-structural factors and obstacles while upholding a deep cultural understanding of our spirituality creates a need for leadership that is representative of the communities we are attempting to reach. This clear need has led me to develop a beta test, achieve quantifiable success, and seek the resources to continue my program and strategically embrace the diversity in our communities.
Our Strategy:
I am committed to increasing diversity within our Presbytery through a 3-part strategy for 2023:
- Monthly meetings with pastors and Hispanic leaders of the Presbytery to identify local needs and critical players in facilitating an increased engagement in existing churches.
- Visit existing Spanish-speaking congregations quarterly to offer accompaniment and support as needed.
- Search for new church planters and begin coaching at least once annually.