Title: Disciples National Hispanic pastor-elect resigns prior to assuming post
Date: October 2, 1998
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: news@cm.disciples.org
98a-61
INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- The Rev. David Vargas, confirmed in July as the next national
Hispanic pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), has declined that call. He
had been
expected to start his new ministry, succeeding the Rev. Lucas Torres, Feb. 1, 1999.
Vargas' call to the post was confirmed in July by the Hispanic Caucus at the National
Hispanic and Bilingual Assembly in San Antonio. Vargas accepted the call in that setting.
Calling it "one of the most difficult decisions that I have ever made," Vargas
made his desire
to decline the call known in a Sept. 21 letter to Maria C. Perez, chair of the Pastoral
Commission for
Hispanic Ministries.
"After long hours of conversations with my God, very intense self-analysis and after
some
initial encounters with leaders of the Disciples Hispanic family...I am convinced that I
will serve
more efficiently our beloved Hispanic constituency from my current pastoral position in
Global
Ministries than from the Central Pastoral Office for Hispanic Ministries," Vargas
said.
Vargas' ministry with the Disciples Division of Overseas Ministries has covered 15 years.
Presently he heads the Common Ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and
the
United Church of Christ in Latin America and the Caribbean. He served as director of the
Hispanic
office, the predecessor to the Central Pastoral Office for Hispanic Ministries, and was
the interim
national Hispanic pastor prior to the Rev. Lucas Torres' call to that position.
Torres says the Pastoral Commission will meet in December to plan the process of selecting
the next national Hispanic pastor.
Torres, who had planned to start retirement at or near the end of 1998, will continue to
serve
during the search and transition to new leadership.
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