Training Preachers in Latin America
Preaching with Passion Workshop in Puerto Rico
An update from Jared Mellinger, Senior Pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, PA, USA;
On October 18-19, Joselo Mercado and I traveled to Puerto Rico for a workshop on preaching with passion. The workshop was sponsored by Sovereign Grace Churches and Reformados, a ministry devoted to rescuing the purity of the gospel in pulpits throughout Puerto Rico. Iglesia la Travesia, a PCA church in San Juan led by Ronnie Garcia, hosted the event and provided generous hospitality. There were around 130 people in attendance, most of whom were pastors and leaders.
In planning the event, Joselo’s desire was to encourage pastors to not only preach messages that are theologically sound and expositionally faithful, but also to be filled with the Spirit and to communicate God’s truth with appropriate liveliness, zeal, and joy. The gospel rightly understood will set a preacher’s heart on fire, giving those who hear a sense of God’s presence and power.
Joselo taught on the priority of preaching, and I taught sessions on the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching and the role of emotions in preaching. Joselo led several panels further applying the content of the messages. The time with local leaders was a great encouragement: new friendships were made, joy abounded, stories of churches being planted in Puerto Rico were shared, and all the brothers were built up through the gift of fellowship.
Preaching Workshop in Monterrey, México
A report from Carlos Contreras, Senior Pastor of Gracia Soberana de Ciudad Juarez and Regional Leader for Mexico…
Every year we host 2 Preaching workshops in México. One in the church in Guadalajara and the other in our church in Juarez. However, we are trying to expand the reach and availability of these workshops in partnership with the Charles Simeon Trust. Because of this, Manolo Quintal, Sr. pastor of the newly adopted Sovereign Grace church in the city of Silao, Guanajuato and myself, participated as instructors in the new workshop in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. We were also joined by Kristian Tucker, pastor of Gracia Soberana Durango and Carlos Martinez from our sister church in the city of Torreon who served as Small Group leaders.
This new initiative attracted 70 pastors mostly from the Monterrey region, and we were amazed by the eagerness to learn of mostly young and humble pastors. We were very encouraged and will be returning next year to continue with further workshops.
These workshops have proven to be a very useful tool to make connections with like-minded leaders as well as to follow-up with leaders that have sought us out for training. Through this partnership we have been able to bring Gospel-centered Biblical theology and expository preaching to many throughout Mexico. We also are planning with CST to possibly opening up another workshop in Mexico City by late 2020 or in 2021. This will allow us to cover the majority of the country and reach and serve our friends and more interested pastors.
