¡Bienvenidos a la Iglesia del Mesías! Advent this year was about more than just awaiting the birth of Jesus. This season also witnessed the birth of Church of the Messiah’s Spanish service, which we hope will serve as a light in the darkness for many years to come.
We have been diligently praying, preparing, and waiting upon the Lord to make this new service possible. God has been gracious and clear that this is one of the ways He is calling Church of the Messiah to grow. West Orange County has been home to a diverse Latino community for generations, and this community continues to multiply. As a church, we are called to grow with our community.
Our church began discerning over the past year that God was calling us to expand the ways we serve and spread the good news of Christ. Starting a Spanish service was a part of my call to serve as assistant rector. As is often the case, when I arrived at Messiah, I realized God had already been at work preparing the way. Messiah was blessed to have a small number of people who were attending English services but were of Latino heritage or spoke Spanish as a second language. With this core group already in place, I began to pray for the leaders, lay and ordained, to support a Latino ministry and a Spanish-language service. God blessed us with Deacon Richard Gonzalez from South Florida and a team of lay leaders. Our lay Eucharistic ministers are of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Peruvian descents. Our music team is also blessedly diverse. Garine Adams, who is of Armenian descent, serves as our music minister and leads a talented team.
Our faithful start is reminiscent of another faithful start that bore much fruit. Church of the Messiah was founded to gather faithful Christians together and to promote the good news of Jesus Christ. Church of the Messiah began in 1950 with just 17 people present at the first worship service. On December 4, 2016, 23 people attended our first-ever Spanish service.
Our vision for this new service is to spread the good news that Christ is the Messiah of all peoples, nations, and tongues, and we as a local body of Christ want to reflect that in the way we worship Him. As our worship has come together, we are also looking at expanding the ways we serve our community.
Church of the Messiah is partnered with Dillard Street Elementary School, which is just two blocks away, and we have participated in various service projects with them in the past. Last November, after meeting with the Parent-Teacher Association, we discovered their biggest underserved need was tutoring for children of parents who were not native English speakers and tutoring for children whose parents could not afford private tutoring. Hearing this need led to our decision to offer free tutoring to the children of Dillard Street. Once a month, we send the school bilingual fliers to remind parents and students where and when we provide tutoring. We’ve had six children join us for tutoring on the Sundays we’ve offered it, and three of them stayed for our regular children’s church group that meets afterward.
Church of the Messiah/Iglesia del Mesías is growing with our community for the Messiah. Come and see on Sunday mornings at 11:30 in the sanctuary. You can also like us on https://www.facebook.com/Iglesiadelmesias/ and see our latest updates.