Hispanic faith, church leaders to be celebrated in 2-day ‘Pastors’ Gathering’ event in Coral Gables

Through the book, the pastor will tackle how Christians must think about their faith in God and how it must mainly benefit the ‘society’s most vulnerable people.’ (Photo by Jessica Sysengrath on Unsplash)

A two-day ‘Pastors’ Gathering’ will be held from Friday, Sept. 16, to Saturday, Sept. 17 at Granada Presbyterian Church at 950 University Drive, Coral Gables, Florida, a few miles away from Miami. The event will reportedly celebrate the Hispanic faith and its church leaders. 

Miami Pastors’ Gathering

To be hosted by City to City Miami, the ‘Miami Pastors’ Gathering: Hispanic Heritage Celebration’ invites pastors all over Florida to attend its event. As per its Eventbrite page, the gathering will be free of charge for all. 

On the first day of the event, attendees will celebrate the Hispanic heritage and culture of its different churches. This will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Meanwhile, from 9 a.m. to noon on the second day, participants will hear from Latino Pastoral Action Center founder Rev. Raymond Rivera. 

At the seminar, Reverend Rivera will lead the second day by discussing his book entitled ‘Liberty to the Captives: Our Call to Minister in a Captive World.’ According to the Amazon page, the book is about the pastor’s inspiring story, from being a gang member to a church leader. 

Through the book, the pastor will tackle how Christians must think about their faith in God and how it must mainly benefit the ‘society’s most vulnerable people.’ The book will also remind Christians to minister to other people as part of their responsibility, just like God intended. 

Reverend Rivera’s book is available on Amazon at $23.95 for a paperback version. 

With more than 45 years of experience as a pastor, Reverend Rivera has already achieved many things in the congregation, including establishing LPAC’s ‘Four Principles of Holistic Ministry: Liberation, Healing, Community, and Transformation’ and serving the Sanctuary Church, and the Council of Holistic Christian Churches & Ministries (C.H.C.C.M.), as per his Facebook page. 

Latino Pastoral Action Center

Based in the Bronx, New York City, the Latino Pastoral Action Center is an organization led by Reverend Rivera and Rev. Susana Rivera Leon, as per its website. The group’s Facebook page said that the organization has a goal to empower Latino churches and nonprofits to have ‘holistic ministries.’ 

Aside from empowering churches, the organization also provides several items to locals, mainly supporting anti-violence with kids and the youth. On Friday, Aug. 12, the nonprofit announced having a ‘Community Resource Day,’ which will feature raffles and giveaways for the youth in the Bronx. 

Challenges of Hispanic Churches

According to the Malphurs Group website, unlike the traditional churches, many Hispanic churches in the country face different challenges every day. Although speaking Spanish and Hispanic people have been all over in the U.S, the issue of cultural differences is still prominent. 

As explained, the majority of immigrants in the country speak Spanish, but not all of them come from a single culture. For example, a person can be Mexican or Venezuelan, but churches only have Spanish Sunday services, which reportedly differs from their own traditions per culture.

Another thing they have issues with is the lack of resources in churches, especially for Spanish-translated books. 

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