Immigrant Groups Ministries
PC(USA) Seal
 
 
             
 

Mission and History

Logo: Immigrant Groups Ministries

The Immigrant Groups Ministries in the U.S.A. provides the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with resources aimed at facilitating entry of new immigrants groups into the life of the denomination. It was organized in 1999, one year after the General Assembly's approval of the "Racial Ethnic and Immigrant Church Growth Strategy." PDF icon

The challenge is to intentionally facilitate communications and resources to assist middle governing bodies to reach out to and to welcome those Christian immigrant groups. At this time, the office only works with groups from the countries of Africa, South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh), Brazil, and English and French Caribbean. In the same Goal Area, Latino, Asian, Korean and Middle Eastern Congregational Enhancement offices serve their other respective international groups.

Models accepted by presbyteries*

  1. Self-Forming Group: community of people who have come to the United States from the same country or region of the world with a common language, ethnicity and/or culture. They usually have a membership of fewer than 20 adults who do not hold PC(USA) membership.
  2. Fellowship/Bible Study Group: an international group of Christian people who are accepted by a presbytery as part of their evangelistic outreach ministry. Usually, they have a membership of 21 to 75 adults but not yet PC(USA) members.
  3. New Church Development (N.C.D.): a fellowship with a membership larger than 75 adults that either changes its status to be a chartered congregation or initiates the intentional process of becoming a congregation by its presbytery.
  4. Congregation: a chartered church in the PC(USA).
  5. Multicultural Church: chartered congregation with an ethnic diverse membership and church life.

(*Definitions vary according to each presbytery)

 
     
 
 

Theological Context

The Great Commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind ... and you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39) as well as the Great Evangelistic Commission cited in Matthew 28:16-20 and Mark 16:14-18, are the basic biblical reflection for the mission of this office. Based on those principles, our challenge is to achieve the ministry goals inspired by Jesus' prayer in John 17:20-21: "I am not praying just for these followers. I am also praying for everyone else who will have faith because of what my followers will say about me. I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me."

 
     
 
 

Ministry Goals

Photo of a group of men and women holding a banner that reads Welcome! National Presbyterian New Immigrant Leadership
Annual Presbyterian Immigrant Leadership Training. Photo by Angela Robards

 
     
 
  • Help the PC(USA) become more inclusive by welcoming immigrants as equal partners in ministry and mission.
  • Help presbyteries to organize new immigrant fellowships and their growth to new church developments.
  • Identify and develop religious leadership, focus on young immigrants and women, facilitating their inclusion as ministers of the Word and sacrament, elders and committee members at all levels.
  • Structure a network for communications and follow-up among immigrant fellowships, middle government bodies and offices of the General Assembly.
  • Help immigrant congregations deal with matters related to church polity, presbyteries and synods under the Reformed theology.
  • Develop immigrant field consultants as facilitators with the middle government bodies and their own ethnic group.
  • Develop language-specific, generational and cultural sensitive resources for Christian education, worship, evangelism and mission.
  • Facilitate the development of national organizations for new immigrant religious and social concerns.
 
     
  .
 

Contact Us

Angel Suarez-Valera
Angel Suarez-Valera. Photo by Angela Robards

Feel free to contact us if you need any additional information. We would love to hear from you.

Angel Suarez-Valera, Associate
(888) 728-7228 x5135
Email

Rina Arauz , Administrative Assistant
(888) 728-7228 x5692
Email

 
     
 
  PDF icon - Files marked with this icon can be downloaded in printable Adobe Acrobat format. This file requires the free Acrobat Reader. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select " save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.

Click here to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader
 
             
PC(USA) Home (Link)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
     
  For more information: Angel Suarez-Valera - (888) 728-7228 x5153 - Send email - Or write to: 100 Witherspoon Street - Louisville, KY 40202-1396  
     
  Link to Top of Page  
 
Contact PC(USA)
 

 

For more information on Immigrant Groups Ministries contact Angel Suarez-Valera - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - 100 Witherspoon Street - Louisville, KY 40202-1396 - Call toll free (888) 728-7228 x5153 or click here to email