Empowering El Pueblo
April 23, 2025
Garrett gathers Latine leaders for a landmark training
“This Escuela de Ministerio was more than a conference; it was a prophetic response.” From March 28 – 30, Garrett welcomed more than 60 Latine pastors and lay leaders drawn from six conferences across the North Central Jurisdiction, whose Mission Council grant made this weekend event possible. Celebrating the gathering she helped convene, Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer is emphatic. “In the face of challenges and uncertainty, there is still hope in the Hispanic/Latinx community, which is alive, faithful, resilient, and rising,” she writes for the Northern Illinois Conference.
The Escuela de Ministerio is part of a broader institutional commitment to strengthen Latiné pastoral leadership and congregational life, using our resources to create opportunities and connections. “The Escuela emerged from the urgent need for our Latiné pueblo to see the United Methodist Church as a faith community where they can respond to God’s calling and engage in justice work,” says Dr. Emma Escobar, Director of Garrett’s Hispanic-Latinx Center and Assistant Professor of Faith-Based Organizing. “The idea for this program came from the vision of Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer, a Garrett board member and Director of Connectional Ministries for the Northern Illinois Conference, and Garrett President Javier Viera, in response to the current realities facing the church due to disaffiliation.”
Immersed in Wesleyan theology and history, participants discerned new ways to breathe life into their ministries. “We learned how to renew our calling, to dream without limits or fear, and to explore our full potential,” writes Rev. Dr. Enna Antunez for the Iowa Conference. “Wesley’s perspective allowed for diverse theological views, pastoral models, and various forms of worship.” From a joyful service that featured new hymns written by Latiné liturgists to a training that illuminated how Methodist polity and theology enables culturally-specific leadership, the retreat served as an incubator for fresh thinking. “This is a crucial moment for the United Methodist Church and U.S. Christianity more broadly,” President Javier Viera notes. “Churches that are growing thrive because they are responsive to people’s needs and aspirations. Latiné congregations can kindle hope in a moment of widespread fear, and it was beautiful to watch these dynamic leaders inspiring one another.”
Beyond strengthening Latiné Methodist leadership within the United States, the Escuela also seeks to nurture relationships across Latin America. The gospel transcends national boundaries, and the justice work to which it calls will need international coalitions to flourish. “I am deeply grateful for our partnership with the Methodist Church of Chile, who led a powerful workshop facilitated by Rev. Miguel Ulloa, the director of the Methodist Seminary of Chile” Dr. Escobar adds. While this event is the first collaboration between Garrett and Chilean Methodists, it will not be the last. “I’m delighted by Garrett’s expansive thinking about Latiné identity and the ways we can strengthen pastoral leadership,” says President Viera. “Since her appointment as Director of our Hispanic/Latinx Center, Dr. Escobar has been intentional and persistent in cultivating transnational partnerships. It was such a joy to see those efforts bearing fruit.”
There are exciting plans to expand this Escuela de Ministerio model, deepening opportunities for culturally specific education and coalition building. “Through the work of the Hispanic-Latinx Center, I look forward to continuing this vital initiative,” Dr. Escobar says. “Together, inspired by Garrett’s broader mission, we will form leaders in ‘the way of Jesus to cultivate communities of justice, compassion, and hope.’”
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