June 2007

And God’s gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-12

Much of my work in recent months has focused on the development and role of leadership in the churches, both in the past and in the present. I want share with you glimpses of how women and men are being encouraged to think of their participation in the work of ministry in new ways.

Ordination of Alma Lili Rodriguez de Ibarra as minister of Word and Sacrament.

In December, Occidente Presbytery of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG) ordained Almi Lili Rodriguez de Ibarra. Several years ago, Alma Lili was a student of mine at the Presbyterian seminary. She is one of the most gifted preachers with whom I have worked here. The IENPG voted to allow women to be ordained in 1998, but as recently as three years ago the presbytery had voted against women’s ordination. Despite the closed doors, Alma Lili knew she had been given gifts by God to be a pastor, and she prepared herself. Now she’s leading the Bethel Fuente de Luz Church here in Quetzaltenango in their worship of God and their ministry to the community.

One of my current projects is a textbook for the Bible Pastoral Institute of the Latin American Biblical University (UBL) on the experiences of Christian communities during the first centuries after Jesus’ death. I’ve been sharing the course as I’ve been developing it with a group of five K’iche’ women who are receiving theological training through the Fraternidad de Presbiteriales Mayas. The women were fascinated to learn that there was a time before the church became institutionalized when leadership was based on one’s experience with God and one’s gifts, rather than on a position. They wonder how they might recover some of this dynamism in their own churches today, where their own gifts often go unrecognized.

April found me at the St. Paul Andean Seminary in Huancayo, Peru. Over two weeks, 30 women and men reflected together with me on the participation of their church in the mission of God, what Paul calls the “work of ministry.” I was delighted to discover that many of the insights I have gained over seven years of work in the multicultural context of Guatemala are also relevant for other multicultural contexts in Latin America. In their final projects, the students asked how the way in which their churches are structured enables or hinders the participation of the entire congregation in the mission of God. We affirmed that mission is, indeed, the work of the entire church, not just a specialized group or committee.

From Peru I went to the main campus of the UBL in San Jose, Costa Rica, to participate in a faculty workshop on pedagogy. I was also present for the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the university. After 75 years of training church leaders in Latin America, the authorities of what was the Latin American Biblical Seminary decided to go through the arduous process of getting government recognition in order to be able to offer accredited degrees. Now students who graduate from the UBL are not only trained to guide the theological reflection and pastoral action of their churches, but they enjoy the privileges of having official degrees that can open doors for them to study or teach in other educational institutions.

Back in Guatemala, eleven students in the capital are working through the history of Christianity course. They came to class expecting to be bored by memorizing dates and names. Instead, they are being challenged to think about their own churches in new ways as they reflect on the testimonies that have come to us from Christian communities in the past. Joel, a pastor from the Church of God now in his forties, said recently in class, “For the first time in my life, I am learning how to think.”

Theological education is about encouraging people to think deeply about their faith in Christ and its implications for life in the world. I’m very grateful to be part of “equipping the saints for the work of ministry” in Latin America. The generous support of people and churches of the PC(USA) has made this possible, though much more support is needed for me to be able to continue to serve.

Starting in July, I will have the opportunity to participate in this same process of reflection about our participation in the mission of God with churches and presbyteries in the United States. For the coming year, I will be on interpretation assignment. I’ll be based in Princeton, New Jersey, but available to travel to other places. Please be in touch with me. There is much to share.

In the hope of God’s coming Reign,

Karla

For all of us

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 63