Grantee Directory

This bilingual (Spanish & English) initiative addresses the imminent generational shift in leadership within Latino congregations and equips them to become thriving centers of spiritual growth and community engagement. It is designed to provide a comprehensive, year-long leadership program for pastors and leaders focusing on a few key areas: emotional and spiritual health, a biblical and pastoral theology in a changing world, organizational thinking, and prophetic advocacy. Through this initiative, Latino congregations will be able to live out their faith in ways that shape the world around them.

The Southern Pacific District of the Assemblies of God is one of the largest Hispanic districts in the United States. Our district has placed a great emphasis on addressing congregational post-pandemic challenges and helping our Hispanic women and church leaders thrive within their roles. The Southern Pacific District (SPD) emphasizes the importance of investing in church leadership in ways that will be transformational. Our vision is to intentionally become a Pentecostal leader in pastoral care through multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual ministry, in order to fulfill the Great Commission. This program initiative will support three primary goals: 1) Promotion of Latina Church leadership, 2) Promotion of mentoring and wellness for our pastors, and 3) Helping our churches understand and welcome first-generation immigrant communities into their congregations. For over twenty-five years, SPD has provided resources through our offices of pastoral care. These include regular workshops, trainings, mentoring, and where possible, individual counseling. The pandemic has created unique challenges for pastors in terms of reaching their congregation, helping members with emotional needs, and developing platforms for counseling that make sense to members operating remotely. We also know that in the past, pastors have neglected their personal well-being, despite the added stress of the pandemic. This program will offer trainings and workshops for pastors, and hire counselors tailored to the needs of the post-pandemic pastor. In addition, SPD has several ministries to support our Hispanic women. These include family-oriented support ministries to help women and children through difficult times, food shortages, or natural disasters. Woman to Woman is a mentoring ministry connecting veteran women with younger women who are emerging within the church. Our goal is that church leaders and congregations, especially Latina leaders and churches that serve immigrant communities, will receive the resources and support to thrive within their respective context.

Our project will help Hispanic Pentecostal churches within a 50-mile radius to understand their changing socio-cultural context through a collaborative design thinking process, discover their own gifts and missions through participative education that is focused on Hispanic leadership within churches, and infuse a unique brand of compassion into their community that is rooted in their Pentecostal distinctive. Vanguard's Jesse Miranda Center for Leadership has led the way for Vanguard to carry the Department of Education's national distinction of being a Hispanic Serving Institution, with over 35% of its students coming from Hispanic descent. With this initiative, Vanguard aims to expand the vision of the Jesse Miranda Center to create a meaningful and lasting impact on the surrounding Hispanic communities by helping Pentecostal churches understand their context, identity, and calling.