FIEL Providing Educational Opportunities for Latinos
FIEL is the educational theological and ministerial reflection forum with a Latino perspective that has given rise to ministerial strategic visions, integration of innovative ideas for ministry, working platforms, Latino theological literature, among other achievements. The acronym FIEL means Fraternity of International Educators and Leaders.
FIEL encourages Latino constituents of the Church of God to fulfill the missional plan of the denomination in Latin America, United States, and other countries around the globe, particularly where there is a presence of Spanish-speaking believers and ministers. Today, FIEL is one of the educational arms of US Hispanic Educational Ministries that has been recognized by the Division of Education of the Church of God. Intents to integrate thoughts and feelings meanwhile unifies the perspectives of several Latino leaders who dream of being better ministers, educators, pastors and better people.
FIEL has also been consolidated in the United States with the acronym FIEL USA. It has taken place in a number of Hispanic regions since 2007. Some key data since 2011:
• FIEL USA 2011—The central theme was Comprehensive Mandate for Church Planting. It was held in Cleveland, Tennessee, with an estimated attendance of over 120 delegates.
• FIEL USA 2013—The central theme was Living the Word. It was held in the facilities of the Jubilee Camp, which also hosts the Regional Office of the Northeast Hispanic Region in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Attendance was approximately 230 delegates.
• FIEL USA/International 2015—The central theme was Pastoral Challenges for the XXI Century. It was held in Tampa, Florida, with an attendance of nearly 600 delegates. FIEL 2015 broke boundaries, allowing a united celebration among ministers, pastors, educators and leaders not only from USA, but also from all Latin America. In other words, it has been a historic event as we celebrated together FIEL USA and FIEL International. It became a space for dialogue, interpretation and reflection about some ministerial and pastoral challenges of our denomination. It was a movement where divergent dialogue led to the emergence of several strategic alternatives for the overall design of the future church. FIEL 2015 represented the voice of leaders in the areas of Education, Pastoral, Administration, among other ministerial networks.
A way to provide timely follow-up to the final declarations of FIEL USA/International 2015 has been to unite some Hispanic/Latino leaders into a Follow-Up Committee. Doctors Enrique A. De Jesus, director of Latino education in the United States and Canada, and Dr. David Ramirez, field director in Latin America, created a committee to discuss and strategize the input received during the conferences Equilibrium 20/20 and FIEL USA/International 2015 held on August 2015. This committee is comprised of leaders who are currently active in areas such as Education, Pastoral, and Youth Administration.
The main purpose of this committee is to analyze the data collected from the reflections on FIEL as conducted in 2015 so that they can be interpreted in order to reach to consensual conclusions. The intent is that they can serve as a useful motivational element to transform our traditional ministerial practices that perhaps are not effective. Also, it will help to reach and encourage the emergence of social and youth ministries, among others. The purpose of this committee is to tabulate the comments and feedback from the discussion groups. These dialogs may contribute to the improvement of what is working in a good way and reinforce what needs to be strengthened among Latino ministries.
The first meeting of the Follow-Up Committee was held in the Discipleship and Education Building, in a meeting room of the Division of Education and the Department of USAMEH. Some of the subjects that were developed and analyzed in the first meeting were: Ecclesiastical Movements: Emerging Threats or Opportunities; The Innovative Pastor with a High Generational Outreach; Faith, Work and Ministry: Opportunities for a Bi-Vocational Ministry; and, Personal Holiness and Mission in Contemporary Preaching. Later, the Committee will reconvene to point out some future actions regarding FIEL International and other events in order to impact more effectively the overall Latino ministry of the Church of God.
(By Enrique A. De Jesús, USA Hispanic Educational Ministries Director)
