Training & Ordaining in Mexico
An update from Abelardo Muñoz, one of the pastors of Gracia Soberana de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico…
In 2014 our church, Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Juárez, asked the leaders of the Charles Simeon Trust to conduct an expository preaching workshop in our premises. They kindly agreed to do it, and in May of that year we hosted what was the first 3-day workshop of this kind not only in México, but in all of continental Latin América (prior to this, only a few lectures had been taught to a few pastors in Cuba). The response of all the pastors who completed that first workshop was very enthusiastic, and we entered into a partnership with the Charles Simeon Trust in order to conduct a workshop in Juárez every year, which we’ve done ever since.
The workshops had a strong and positive impact not only on the pastors preaching skills, but on their lives as well, and in order to make the workshops more accessible to a greater number of pastors from the central and the south regions of México, in 2018 we decided to conduct two workshops annually, one in Juárez and the other in Guadalajara, the second largest city of the country, located in the west-central state of Jalisco. As expected, the response in Guadalajara was as positive as it had been in Juárez, as more and more pastors from all regions of our nation are eagerly looking for opportunities to be trained and grow in their expository, gospel-centered preaching skills.
This year’s workshop in Guadalajara took place from March 9th to the 11th, and we studied the book of Acts, which belongs to the biblical genre of Gospels/Acts. By the grace of God we had a total attendance of 55 pastors and/or teachers of God’s Word, with about 50% of them attending their first workshop. The participants came from 26 different churches and from 13 different states, and their level of preaching experience went from brand new leaders and/or pastors in training to seasoned pastors with over 30 years of experience.
The workshop went really well. All the attendees were very attentive to the instruction received, and they participated with enthusiasm during the hands on sessions of this training event. As a result, the main goals of the workshop were accomplished and all the pastors/teachers went back to their churches better equipped to handle with precision the precious Word of God. In this way, these workshops become a valuable means by which we can promote the crucial but rather ignored or neglected practice of gospel centered preaching in our nation.
In addition, these workshops always give us wonderful opportunities to meet and connect with pastors who express an interest in knowing more about our dear family of churches, or to continue the conversation and strengthen the relationships with those pastors who are already actively seeking adoption into our family of churches.
The workshop in Juárez took place from March the 14th to the 16th, and the biblical genre and book under study was the same as in Guadalajara. Mostly due to our remote location, the attendance in Juárez is always smaller, and about 30 pastors/teachers came to our workshop this year, and for almost 50% of them this was their first workshop. We had 20 different churches represented at the workshop, most of them from our city, and despite the distance, we had pastors from six other cities. As was the case in Guadalajara, the workshop in Juárez was also successful, and the main goals of motivating and equipping the pastors/teachers to handle with precision the word of truth were accomplished.
On Saturday March the 5th, Hellman Ávila (senior pastor of Iglesia Misión de Gracia in El Paso, Texas) and myself, accompanied by Jaime Chow (associate pastor in Misión de Gracia) and Manolo Quintal (senior pastor of Iglesia Gracia Sublime in Silao, Gto., Méx.), then had the joy and privilege of conducting the ordination ceremony of Enrique Villegas, senior pastor of Iglesia Gracia Soberana of Orizaba, Veracruz, México.
Enrique is a fine young pastor who began his ordination process early last year. He passed all his written and oral exams with flying colors, and then he completed the rest of the ordination requirements during the first two months of this year. He is married to Maricruz, and they have two pre-adolescent daughters. He began serving what is now Iglesia Gracia Soberana de Orizaba about seven years ago, and continues to serve as the only elder of that church.
Besides the members of the church, the ordination ceremony was attended by several local pastors who are friends of Enrique, and by the pastor, leaders and wives of a sister Sovereign Grace church in the nearby city of Córdoba, Veracruz. The ordination ceremony was solemn and moving, as Enrique acknowledged the Statement of Faith of SGC as his very own faith, and as he declared his submission to the biblical principles contained in the BCO of SGC. And the congregation affirmed their willingness to submit and respond to his leadership and to support his ministry among them.
All ordinations are very significant, and Enrique’s ordination is also special because with his ordination we now have in our region, five churches with at least one SGC ordained pastor, which enables us to continue moving forward in the process of eventually becoming a Sovereign Grace Nation outside of the USA. We thank God for raising up men like Enrique, and look forward to all the fruit his ministry will bear for the advancement of the Gospel in our dear nation of México.
