wfn.org | HISPANIC\LATINO PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

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15-May-95

95155          HISPANIC\LATINO PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN  
                  HOLD FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.--More than 150 Hispanic/Latino Presbyterian women 
gathered here April 28-30 for their first national conference.  The theme 
of the event was "Rejoice...God's Eyes Are Set Upon You!" 
 
     Opening speaker Ruth Burgos-Sasscer, president of San Antonio (Texas) 
Community College, told the crowd, "Although we represent different 
countries and cultural views, we are united by a common language and faith. 
It is the Holy Spirit that brings us here." 
 
     Bible study, on Luke 1:46-55 (the Magnificat), was led by the Rev. 
Raquel Welty, a staff member of Hudson River Presbytery.  The gathering 
also included lengthy sessions on Reformed theology and Presbyterian 
polity, led by Ana Ines Braulio-Corchado, former synod executive for the 
Synod of Puerto Rico, and the Rev. Gloria M. Casasus Urrutia, pastor of 
First Presbyterian Church in Yauco, Puerto Rico. 
 
     Workshops, all led by Hispanic\Latino Presbyterian women, covered a 
variety of topics, such as preaching, evangelism, church government, 
advocacy, legal rights, violence, gender struggles and cultural challenges. 
 
     Closing worship leader the Rev. Sandra Mangual, professor of ministry 
at the Evangelical Seminary in Puerto Rico, challenged participants to 
"dare to live out your calling in prophetic and faithful ways, seeking the 
certainty that God's eyes are indeed set upon you." 
 
     An offering totaling $800 was given the Women's Housing Coalition, a 
social service agency in Albuquerque. 
 
     Numerous governing bodies and Hispanic\Latino organizations helped 
underwrite the conference.  General Assembly sponsors included Presbyterian 
Women, the Evangelism and Church Development Office and the Racial Ethnic 
Ministries Office of the National Ministries Division, and the Refugee 
Services Office of Presbyterian World Service in the Worldwide Ministries 
Division. 
 
(information for this story furnished by Yolanda S. Hernandez, Women's 
Ministries, Eastern Regional Office -- New York) 
 
 

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