| Ellen Dozier
Seminario Evangélico Presbiteriano
Apartado 3
11905 San Felipe, REU
Guatemala, C.A.
Email: Ellen Dozier
Email: Ellen Dozier 2
Ellen ended her term of service on May 31, 2008.
Short video
interview with Ellen Dozier.
Ellen Dozier has served in Guatemala under appointment by the PC(USA) since 1996. Since 2000, she has served with the Sinódica, which is the women’s organization of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG). She assists the directors of the presbytery-based women’s groups (“presbiteriales”) as they plan activities and find ways for women to be involved in ministry in Guatemala.
When Ellen first began her work with the Sinódica, she coordinated a theological education project for women that was jointly sponsored by the Sinódica and the Presbyterian seminary in Guatemala. This project offered workshops to women throughout Guatemala and enabled the Sinódica to reach out to the many indigenous presbiteriales that were not members of the Sinódica. The fruit of the work is seen in the current membership of the Sinódica which counts as members 15 presbiteriales, a mixture of indigenous and ladino women reflecting the multi cultural reality of Guatemala.
Ellen now focuses her work in the area of leadership development and strengthening the work that the Sinódica does through its committees: Christian Education, Christian Service, Mission and Evangelism, and Scholarships for Theological Studies. She initiated a relationship with Cedepca (Central American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies), which the Sinódica has now formalized with a covenant agreement; this relationship has expanded the work of Presbyterian women into such areas as domestic violence, emotional and mental health, and alternatives to violence.
Ellen’s work came at a turning point for women and the church in Guatemala. “It is an exciting time in the life and work of the women of the IENPG,” Ellen writes, “especially since the church voted in 1998 to ordain women to the ministry of elder and the ministry of Word and Sacrament. This has led to an interest in education to prepare women for the roles of elder and pastor. Women are looking for new models and visions for their ministries in Guatemala.”
Prior to 2000, Ellen’s assignment was to facilitate a partnership between Western North Carolina Presbytery, where she is a minister member, and two IENPG presbyteries: Sur Occidente (Sur) and Suchitepéquez (Suchi). She helped to connect the three presbyteries as she preached, taught, prayed, and visited with people, enabling exchanges of culture, language, worship, and faith. In this position, Ellen spent eight to nine months each year in Guatemala and the rest of the year in North Carolina sharing her experiences and involving the communities and churches there with her ministry in Guatemala.
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