Nov. 6, 2009

by Julie Price

Rev. Nohemi Ramirez serves communion to her parishioners. Photo courtesy of Nohemi Ramirez

Rev. Nohemi Ramirez first heard God’s call to ministry when she was a young girl of six or seven. Growing up in Veracruz, Mexico, her family lived around the corner from the church, where they participated in every program and activity offered. However, at that time and in that place, women were not ordained. She had to wait to begin the process toward ordination until an unrelated family circumstance brought her to the U.S. as an adult.

Since January, Ramirez has served La Puerta Abierta (“The Open Door”) United Methodist Church in Saint Paul. She is hoping to complete the process toward ordination in 2010.

“It’s a great blessing to be part of the United Methodist Church, because it’s a church that has concerns that its pastors are well prepared, and they help you in the process,” she said.

Ramirez is a member of the Rio Grande Conference in Texas, the only Hispanic conference in the U.S. There she joined the United Methodist Church and began the process toward ordination in 1991. In 2002 she moved to Athens, Georgia, where she started a Hispanic ministry. About the time her appointment there was reduced to part-time, Rev. Liz Lopez, Twin Cities District superintendent, heard about Ramirez from a contact in Nashville. Lopez invited Ramirez to consider taking an appointment at La Puerta Abierta.

“I prayed about it,” said Ramirez, “and I felt God was calling me to come to Minnesota to work at La Puerta.”

Although it was hard to leave her growing ministry, which she had started 18 months previously, she is enjoying the work at La Puerta Abierta.

“I feel really blessed with this congregation,” she said. “We have good leaders that are very committed to the mission and vision of the church. That is great for me, as a pastor.”

“The biggest commitment the annual conference could make to La Puerta Abierta was in having a fulltime pastor,” said Lopez. “With all the investments we’ve made in this congregation, that was an important step.

“Nohemi brings a great understanding of the United Methodist Church, which is a real plus. She’s brought vacation Bible school and new relationships with the farm project on the church’s land. She and her husband and son are very gifted musically, and brought that important dynamic into the church. She’s a great preacher. And she’s moving the congregation into the community,” said Lopez.

Under Ramirez’s leadership, La Puerta Abierta is expanding its outreach efforts and offerings for cultivating spiritual vitality. An informal Sunday school, featuring breakfast, has blossomed, as have prayer services, Bible studies, and men’s and women’s group meetings throughout the week. Another program, Pentagrama, offers music classes for all ages and levels.

Chile Peppers, an afterschool program for community children, welcomed six children during the last school year. “This year there are 24 kids,” said Ramirez. “We are trying to find two volunteers to help,” due to the overwhelming increase in enrollment.

La Puerta Abierta doesn’t just serve Hispanic members of the community. “It’s a multicultural church,” said Ramirez. “The focus is on Hispanic ministry, but the church is open to any culture.” Services are bilingual, Spanish and English.

However, La Puerta Abierta, its members, and ministries are important resources to other churches seeking to begin or expand their ministry to Hispanic populations in their communities.

“You can reach Hispanic communities by being intentional in helping the community,” said Ramirez. “Hispanic people are struggling with a lot of issues. They come because they need money and their government doesn’t take care of the poor people. They think that if they come [to the States] everything will be fine. They don’t realize that there are other situations they need to struggle with.” Because many people emigrate from South and Central America and Mexico without their families, “they come and find they are alone here, and they start to indulge in alcohol,” she said.

Ramirez said that she has found that many Hispanic people have a strong faith, even though they may not actively participate in a faith community. One stumbling block to engaging some Hispanic people is that they strongly identify themselves as Catholic, which they see as very distinct from other Christian denominations.

“When we try to reach those people, many of them reject any other denomination. Most of the time they don’t trust other churches—they think the purpose is to get them to attend the church,” she said. “At La Puerta Abierta we are trying to help the people understand that it’s not our intention that they come. ‘We are helping you because you are children of God and we want the same blessing that we find here, for you.’ If they feel good with that and decide to come, well, then—welcome!”

Ramirez has also worked closely with the denominational National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministries, which helps to develop Hispanic congregations and leaders, provides resources for Hispanic ministry, and gives people a greater understanding of issues affecting Hispanic people in the U.S. Visit www.hispaniclatinoministry.org for more information.

“With a partnership between the annual conference and La Puerta Abierta, we can have a greater understanding of the work that’s needed in order to do Hispanic ministry around the conference,” said Lopez. “La Puerta Abierta is a lightning rod to understanding the commitment of Hispanic ministry, as is the partnership with the National Hispanic Plan.

“If you have Hispanics in your community, or a Hispanic congregation in your building, cross the road—like the bishop said—meet your neighbors, build a relationship, build a partnership.”

Julie Price is communications assistant for the Minnesota Annual Conference.