New Beginnings; Old Challenges
Words of Acceptance of the Presidency
Reverend Juan Ramón Mejías Ortíz, Ed.D.
Twelfth President
Associate Professor of Practical Theology
Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico
August 28, 2021
Words of Thanks
May the peace and grace of our Father and Mother and of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all today and forever. Thank you for being here at this very important moment for the community of the Evangelical Seminary of Theology, for the sponsoring denominations, and for my family. I thank you very much and remain indebted.
I am also grateful for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Espinosa, and their pastor Rv. Dr. Víctor A. Graulau Müenchow for receiving us this afternoon with such great hospitality. My wife Esmeralda and I are very happy that this activity is occurring in this beautiful place. Almost two decades ago, I had the privilege of serving as interim pastor in this beloved congregation. In fact, you are not only my mother church but were also the first church where I pastored. Today, from the distance of time, I assure you that I pastored you with all my heart and energy. From you I carry in my ministerial knapsack many fond memories. At that time, I was very young. I am sure I had many successes and many failures. The former, please, treasure them as part of the seed that I sowed in this precious garden. The latter, consider forgetting them, out of love. Thank you for being our family and for taking care of my mom during all that time.
Words of Acceptance to the Presidency
Brothers and sisters of the board of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, I accept with great joy and hope this laudable designation. I must confess that I never thought that I would have such a great honor; even less aspired to it. After two years as interim president, I humbly receive this high reward in obedience to the Lord and in happiness and respect for the church in Puerto Rico. I remember that on one occasion, as the Lord ministered to our lives, we received a prophetic Word that I would assume a position at the national level. I never thought that this Word would be fulfilled with the position of Executive President of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. I remember what the Lord required of me at that moment of being ministered: “stay humble”. I confess that I have tried and lived by this word every day, with all possible strength, showing myself before you, my brothers and sisters, as one who serves and not as one who pretends to be served. Today I present myself to you as I am. I think that my affability is my greatest virtue, but at the same time my greatest vulnerability, so at times I get hurt.
You, greatly beloved brothers and sisters of the board, needed a president that would help lead the institution at this darkest hour. You even came to Vega Alta to seek me, and that honors me. I come from a very poor family that forged a way in the Sabana Hoyos neighborhood of Vega Alta. Product of that home, my mom Belén and my uncle Jose “Cheo” are here today, and whom I deeply love. At my mom and dad’s house, my grandparents never taught us how to pray. I do not remember receiving any catechetical instruction, even less doctrine. I also do not recall that they took me to a temple to learn the liberating message of Jesus of Nazareth. God made sure of that through other ways, and through other hands, like sister Migdalia Candelaria, and through my dear Reverend Alejandro Lafontaine, who is here present. Nevertheless, from my dad and mom I learned to root myself with the power of hope that comes from the God of the poor. There, in the neighborhood of Sabana Hoyos, I learned what it means to respect and value the dignity that every human being possesses. They taught me that we are much more than our possessions, titles, and life experiences; even, we are more than our mistakes and wounds. From a poor home, I was led to value what is most sacred in every human being, their dignity. From my childhood, I learned to find the God of life in the faces of the poor, the marginalized, and those who lack justice. Today, I appreciate such grounding as the deepest gift that I have received in this life. Do not expect that at this stage of my life I will take another path. From this position, I will promulgate respect toward the dignity that every human being possesses as a son and daughter of the most high, without exclusions or vacillations.
The church welcomed me since I was five years old; it loved and educated me. For many years, I was the only one to regularly attend a congregation. Today, I acknowledge that it is difficult for me to see the world through any other lens than the ecclesial one. Through valuable people in the faith like Reverend Esteban González Doble, Pastor Reverend Enid Olivieri, and above all my beloved brother Reverend Justino Pérez Ojeda, the Lord opened the doors so that I could channel my vocation through the pastorate in this beloved denomination. As a pastor here in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Espinosa and then in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Río Arriba Saliente at Manatí—this last one for fifteen years, I walked the halls of life where those with broken hopes dwell. I did pastoral work among the poor. I walked on thorns in order to saw the Word of God. In my much-loved Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Río Arriba Saliente, I did pastoral work among the poor and among the new faces of those who have been socially postponed, without excluding or separating, and even less, labelling or denying God’s salvation to the people who see the world from a different perspective as mine. I simply loved and accompanied each person that came to the Church. I did pastoral work for children and youth. Yes, I sang reggaetón with the youth, but they had to sing salsa with me! I was the pastor in the soccer field, the pastor of the pizzas and the movie theatre. Through those activities, I taught the new generations the value of the liberating Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. I pray intensely so that that generation of young people remains in the Lord. Brothers and sisters here present, I share this with you not to bore you with my pastoral trajectory, but to remind you that I have chosen to set aside my academic credentials, which I consider worthless to gain the Gospel, to assume the presidency of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico as a pastor.
Today, I join a long list of men and women who have consecrated their lives to the service of the church, of Puerto Rico, and the world, from the position that I have occupied as interim since June 2019. I am grateful for the contributions made by those who went before me in this work. I value the legacy of Dr. Samuel Pagán, Dr. Sergio Ojeda Cárcamo, and Dr. Doris García Rivera—who was the only woman to occupy this position. To each of them, thank you for your effort and dedication. I also honor the memory of all those presidents who served this honorable institution with fortitude, courage, and sacrifice. The institution that we celebrate today is the product of the seed that was sowed by our past presidents, from Reverend James McAllister—at the turn of the Twentieth century to Reverend Luis Fidel Mercado—at the beginning of the 1990s. I also give thanks to God for them and their ministries, honoring their trajectories and legacies.
New Beginnings; Old Challenges
Therefore, what does this servant have to offer to this institution, with such a rich heritage and such wonderful history, and which is approaching 102 years of fruitful educational ministry? I will tell you briefly. At the end of the first century, the community of the beloved disciple included the narrative of the disbelief of Thomas among the texts concerning the apparitions of the Resurrected one (See John 20:24-29). This disciple did not believe the news of the appearance of the Master. The text reads “if I do not see in his hands de mark of the nails, and if I do not put my finger in his side, I will never believe it” (John 20:25, RVA 2015). Eight days later, Jesus surprised him. He told him that the resurrection did not erase the marks of the cross, but that it transformed them into life and hope. Although the marks continue as a reminder of the agony and death, the hopelessness and pain of the cross did not prevail; what prevailed is the salvific power of God. This means for all of humanity a new life in Jesus Christ.
There is no doubt that the Seminary has its own historical marks and wounds. This afternoon, I come before you with mine. Neither the Seminary nor this servant can erase them or hide them. What we can do is to transform the situations that have produced these marks and wounds into hope. I am convinced that this is a new time of advent. A new time is near when God will revive his work, and the Seminary is a secret place for this to happen. Today, I come with humility so that together with you we can transform the present crisis into new winds of hope.
If you read with attention, you will find that in John 20 there is a wonderful Pentecost different from the one in Acts two. The evangelist writes that Jesus blows over the disciples and tells them “receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22 RVA 2015). The followers of Jesus cannot chart new paths discarding the perennial presence of the Spirit of life. In the same way, the Lord today is blowing his sacred Spirit over the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico to give testimony to the resurrected one at a national level. This is not because I came to the position as president, but because of those who have forged the way and have left unerasable prints in this centenarian institution. I am referring to the prophetic voices that have known how to proclaim the Gospel with courage. Among those here present Dr. Ediberto López Rodríguez, Mrs. Lourdes de Jesús Cesáreo, Dr. Guillermo Ramírez Muñoz, and Mrs. Lyda E. Alvarado Cardona, who have already served this institution for 25 years. Together with them are the tens of people who continue to leave prints of love in favor of biblical, theological, and pastoral education that responds assertively to the current challenges and in faithfulness to the word of God. A thousand thank yous!
For almost 102 years, the Seminary has announced, taught, and lived the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and has paid the price for that. Six denominations make up the board of directors: The Baptist Church of Puerto Rico, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Puerto Rico, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Caribbean Synod (ELCA), The United Evangelical Church of Puerto Rico, The United Methodist Church of Puerto Rico, and the Presbyterian Synod Borinkén in Puerto Rico (PCUSA). These denominations have entrusted the education of their leaders in the hands of men and women that God has called to this task at the Seminary. Together with these wonderful denominations, seminarians from pentecostal, independent, Roman Catholic, unaffiliated, and from other religious experiences join in to forge a student body. For more than a century we have announced the new life in Jesus Christ. We have marked the route so that our graduands continue to proclaim the gladness of the Gospel over the entire resplendent greenness of our Antillean lands, the communities in Latin America, and the United States of America. We have given our students the tools for them to announce with vigor the Year of the Lord’s Favor, so that they walk along with the poor, the postponed in this world. In the classrooms, we prepare them pastorally and academically so that they can go and preach the good will of God. So that they assume the defense of the victims and make theirs the words of our beloved Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, “The pastor must be where there is suffering, to be a voice for those who do not have voice, to shout that justice may be done to them.”
It is for this reason that the Seminary is called “a school of prophets and prophetesses”. They are wrong, those who—in the attempt of silencing our voice—accuse us of being a “cemetery for the faith”. The slander is disrespectful to this laudable institution and bears little resemblance to the evangelical character. Those who think that way exhibit a spirituality far from the liberating message announced by Jesus of Nazareth.
I will not confront the challenges ahead by myself. I will tell you how I will do it. In the story of Elisha and the Syrian army (See II Kings 6:8-23), when the prophet’s servant found himself besieged by the Syrian military forces, he thought he was alone, that there was not going to be a solution to the crisis. The divine response to Elisha’s prayer allowed his servant’s spiritual eyes to be opened and to see the squadrons of the living God protecting the prophet. I too have a squadron beside me. I invite the faculty to stand. Look at the faculty, they are pastors, some ordained minsters, and others, leaders committed to the cause of the gospel in their respective congregations.
Do you know why you are here in our classrooms? Simply because you have responded to the calling of God and are serving God from the classrooms. Dear faculty, there will always be those who—like Elisha’s servant, will cast looks at you to judge you; they will do this without seeing or understanding what God does or wants to do through you. Perhaps the lack of understanding may be the price that one ought to pay for staying in the Gospel with integrity. But I am certain that the Lord will bless you at each moment. There, standing before the church and country, surely you can say with great conviction:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captive and sight to the blind, to grant freedom to the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Lk. 4.18-19, RVA 2015)
Thank you for honoring me today, not as one of your colleagues but as your pastor: “and the Good pastor gives his life for his sheep” even if it is costly (See John 10:11).
Brothers and sisters here present and those who see us through social media, it is true that the Seminary needs the churches, but the churches also need the Seminary. In such a pluralist and complex society, the leadership of the church must be instructed in the areas of Bible, theology, practical theology, homiletics, education, psychology, sociology, among other disciplines, to develop an effective leadership. God raised the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico in 1919 as a sacred space for this to happen. The Seminary is our fountain from which to drink fresh water and to quench our thirst. The Seminary is of the church and the church is of the Seminary. Church, today with greater strength, the Seminary continues to be Bethel, a “House of God and doorway to heaven!
We have worked hard to overcome the economic crisis that shook the institution a few years ago. When I arrived as interim president of the Seminary, it was going through a moment when it seemed like the ship was going to capsize. Let me confess to you something publicly. During my first days, I had long nights on which I could not get any sleep, because of the need to find funds to tackle the economic commitment with the employees, and to meet all of the other financial obligations. One of the nights, I prayed desperately to God looking for possible solutions. As an answer, I felt a sweet voice that reminded me with firmness “that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church” (See Mt 16:18). I then was able to sleep. That is how it has been during this period of crisis. God has fulfilled his word. This afternoon, I promise you from the bottom of my heart that I will work with all my strength so that the “gates of Hades do not prevail against this beautiful dream of God”.
In this journey, we have trusted God, and he has been faithful. Finances have been improving thanks to the help of so many people, including the board of directors. Our accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has been granted for eight more years. We have reaffirmed our ecclesial credentials with the University Senate of the United Methodist Church and the Committee on Theological Education (COTE) of the Presbyterian Church of the United States. I am grateful for the help that my sister, Dr Palmira Ríos, offered me in this great effort. Even during crisis, we have granted scholarships to students who do not enjoy economic support to cover their studies. Rev. Raúl Santiago, director of finances, will be able to tell you that we have forgiven meritorious debts of some students, and have given offerings to others in personal crisis. We are here to serve the people of God because we are part of the people of God.
We cannot overlook the help offered by the local churches that have blessed us with offerings and contributions. I want to thank, especially, Rev. Ángel Luis Rivera Agosto from Global Ministries (ICDC-UCC) for his continuous accompaniment and collaboration. Today we are on route to stabilize our finances, although I acknowledge that we still need a little more to achieve it. Certainly, God will provide new helps to continue with this educational project.
To accomplish that, we have focused on a curricular re-engineering unique in the history of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. We already have the approval of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in the United States and Canada for two postgraduate programs for lay people: A Marter of Arts in Biblical and theological studies (39 credits), and a Master of Arts in Christian Formation and Education (40 credits). In addition, we will be presenting to the Board of Postsecondary Institutions of Puerto Rico a master’s degree in Pastoral Counselling in Family, couples and marriage therapy. This degree will be aligned with the requirements and standards of the Examining Board of Professional Therapists so that, graduands will be able to opt for a license that will certify them as Professional family counsellors. We are hoping to start this program soon. In this project, we want to open a Centre for Counselling and Psychological Support as a service to the community with first-rate professionals. To achieve this, we will be looking for collaborations with sister universities in Puerto Rico.
On the other hand, we have redesigned the Continuing Education Program to include new offerings oriented to church leadership on the island. The program is being enriched with new certifications in the areas of feminist theology (basic and advanced level), church administration and ecclesial programs, inclusion of seniors in communities of faith, and youth ministry, among others. We can add the Certificate in Missions, under the auspices of the Baptist churches. All these in order to offer our pastoral and lay leaders a quality theological education that is responsive to the historic challenges they confront together with the people of God. These degrees join the new sequences of the Marter of Arts in Religion and the Doctor of Ministry that begin this semester.
Presently, we finished the first stage of the renovation of the library Juan de Valdés, recognized as the most important library in the Caribbean and one of the most complete in Our America. I am working hard to begin building the Centre for Religious Research. This space of investigation will be the new house of the Historical Archives of Protestantism in Puerto Rico, and it will feature the literary production room of Puerto Rican Protestant Theology. We need economic help and support for this Project.
Similarly, we are adapting educational areas with high technology that enables online interactivity and give way to hybrid modality. We are dreaming with the construction of a preaching laboratory and an interactive room for teaching biblical languages. In addition, the incorporation of the platform Populi has allowed us to digitize and integrate all the services in our offices. The submission of documents, including grades on paper, is only a memory. There is more. This summer, three classrooms were fitted with equipment to convert those classrooms into a conference centre, so that students who are at a distance will have the opportunity to continue their studies. These three classrooms are added to the smart classroom already existing. I am grateful for the help of my brother Jesús Rodríguez Cortés in this aspect. Soon we will begin the design of courses to be offered in the modality of distance education.
Unity of the People of God
We are a university, but we are also a Church. Our mission is to educate. It is to discuss social issues contemplating the interdisciplinarity of knowledge. We offer to our students the academic and pastoral tools, so that they succeed in assuming their own theological position in the face of difficulties and challenges confronted by our communities. In the social polarization in which we live, I am often asked to comment on the position of the Seminary about a particular topic. Today, I give you a clear answer the Seminary exists to discuss, study, and investigate themes without excluding any perspective. That is our teaching function. To research and to think the faith are part of our function as educators. In fact, it is our apostolate. Doctrinal positions or answers about any given issue pertain to each denomination. They will have to assume the position they think their followers must consider.
As I have already mentioned, our board is composed of six denominations that on many occasions converge in their positions, but sometimes they differ. What is important is that whether on one side or the other, we all want to honor the Lord, laboring toward paths of justice, peace, and solidarity. It is for this reason that one of my efforts is directed to promoting, from the Seminary, unity amidst diversity, and respect among the people of God. Stop using the name of God to divide and bias! Today in this space, we are sitting together conservatives, moderates, liberals, and we have greeted each other with great Christian affection. I want to invite you to construct with the Gospel a fraternity of solidarity that counteracts the powers of the culture of indifference. Let us live and practice unity in love and hope. Let us work together and not be separated. The country and our communities of faith demand it.
Final Words
Finally, I present myself to you with my marks, my history, but with my faith and my strength and desire to serve as well. I am sure I will make mistakes. When this happens, give me a hand. On occasions I will take positions different than yours, Jesus did it. When that happens, love me. I will have successes and failures; I will laugh and cry. When this happens, pastor me and pray with me. There will come days when I will want to run and others when I will not want to take even a step. When the latter happens, relieve my burden. Remember, today I come to you because I am convinced that I have heard the Lord saying: “who shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then, an internal fire did not let me resist nor remain quiet. I then responded: “Here I am, send me”. (See Isa. 6:8, RVR 1960). Thus, before you I promise to walk like someone worthy of the calling that I received.
I am grateful for my mother Belén, and for her care to the president of my fan club, my father, who is absent today. I am grateful to my only sister Yasmin, her husband, and my three nephews José, Rafett, and Zabdiel. I love you very much. Together with Esmeralda, you are everything I have. I thank God for you always.
Today, with great honor, I accept the presidency of the main institution of theological education in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Brothers and sisters of the Executive Board, dear faculty, students, and beloved people of God, before the Lord with fear and trembling, I accept to pastor the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico as its new Executive president. May God help me. Amen.