Deaconesses, Servants of the Church
Concordia the Reformer Seminary’s deaconess program provides training for women in five Latin American countries: the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela.
Concordia the Reformer Seminary’s deaconess program provides training for women in five Latin American countries: the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela.
The Latin America and Caribbean Region had a special visitor this week. Deaconess Tiffany Manor, Director of LCMS Life Ministry, arrived in Santiago, Dominican Republic, to meet with the region’s Life Coordinator, Jamielynn Tinkey Flores, and other regional team members.
Eager to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Concordia Deaconess Conference (CDC) – which should have taken place in 2020 – CDC members and guests “met” together through an ingenious combination of individual participation and group “hubs.” Initiated due to varying Covid 19 pandemic restrictions, the Zoom (internet based) conference was attended by 160 people.
Concordia the Reformer Seminary launched her Deaconess Program for 2021 on January 14th, with an eight-week intensive course entitled The Catechism – Disciples for Life: Instruction in the Christian life from Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Over 100 women from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela, signed up for the online offering, with Deaconess Caitlin Ramirez and Rev. Sergio Fritzler serving as the professors.
Regional Director and Missionary Pastor Ted Krey spoke to the 2019 LCMS Convention on the afternoon of July 21, 2019. The convention theme was “Joyfully Lutheran.” In this video, Rev. Krey shares stories from his 20 years of missionary service across the region and how the Church is growing day by day.
For the first time in two years, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Panamá hosted a Luther Academy conference. Luther Academy provides continuing theological education courses in intensive formats to strengthen and assist pastors and leaders throughout churches in Latin America and around the world.
Diaconal formation continued in Panama September 28-29, as the ladies continued with their second course in the Deaconess Program, The Divine Service and the Life of the Church. A dozen ladies were in attendance from two congregations.
Diaconal formation continues to expand throughout Latin America. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Office of International Mission in Latin America and the Caribbean adds the country of Panama.
Santa Ortiz, the pastor’s wife of a Lutheran congregation near the capital of the Dominican Republic, describes her church’s need for more members willing to serve the church as deaconesses.
Twenty-five ladies from five countries gathered for Latin America & the Caribbean’s pilot deaconess intensive in 2016. Afterward, they were excited to promote Concordia the Reformer Seminary’s three-year diaconal formation program. As a result, nearly a hundred deaconesses recently graduated, and 70 more are enrolled in the current cohort. The program has expanded to nine countries.
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