Pastors gather in Minneapolis for first ‘Hagamos Discípulos Fructíferos’ workshop
Twenty-four pastors from 10 churches gathered at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Minneapolis Sept. 18-19 for Hagamos Discípulos Fructíferos (Let’s Make Fruitful Disciples), the first workshop of its kind convened by Northwest Conference Latino Ministry. The two days were conducted in Spanish.
Many pastors brought leaders from their congregations with them. Friday evening drew 63 people, and 59 returned Saturday. Most of those attending serve Northwest Conference churches, joined by a visiting pastor from Las Vegas and pastors from CREES (Camino a Restauración por El Espíritu Santo), a Latino church in Ramsey, MN.
The workshop grew out of something Latino Ministry Coordinator Edith Soto López had been noticing among the pastors she serves.
“I have realized that some pastors have been hurt and wounded,” she said.
That premise shaped the two days. Pastors and leaders carry wounds of their own, the event description read, and those burdens keep them from moving the way God intends. The workshop was designed to make room for healing so that those leading Covenant congregations might bear greater fruit.
Roberto Reed and Nancy Maldonado led the sessions. Both born in Ecuador, they serve as Area Directors for Latin America and Latinos USA with Freedom in Christ / Libertad en Cristo and have spent more than 30 years in pastoral ministry, including years as missionaries in Spain working in church planting, discipleship and church growth. Reed is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and has pastored churches in Spain and the United States. Together they lead Freedom in Christ’s identity-based discipleship work across Latin America, which has grown from two countries to ten over the past four years and trains hundreds of pastors annually through a nine-month intensive.
Ángel Sinchi of National Covenant Properties came not to present but to sit with pastors one by one, sharing information and answering questions about the resources available to their congregations.
Greg Ellis, Latino Liaison for the Northwest Conference, spent both days serving meals and tending to the pastors and leaders who came. He pointed to the sessions on identity as the teaching that stayed with him.
“Roberto and Nancy spent time focusing on our identity: that the New Testament doesn’t talk about believers as sinners but saints,” Ellis said. “To say we are sinners saved by grace isn’t how the Bible talks about us. We were sinners—now we’re saints!”
He also noticed who was in the room together.
“It was beautiful to see these pastors learning alongside their leaders,” Ellis said. “Something special happens when they get to be at the same table, learning together.”
By Saturday, Soto López said, something had shifted in the room. “There was more trust, a better relationship among the pastors.”
Not everyone had arrived expecting that. Some came in without much interest, Soto López said, and a few told her outright they would attend only Friday.
“What a surprise when I saw them arrive Saturday,” she said. “‘This is very interesting,’ they told me. Those were their words.”
Quotes from Edith Soto López were translated from Spanish.
