50 Years in Puerto Rico

Retired Missionary Ralph and Roxanne served souls in Latin America for the majority of their ministry. Recently, they joined other missionaries who served in Puerto Rico to celebrate 50 years of ministry in Puerto Rico. They gathered together with local congregation members and pastors in Guayama, Puerto Rico to celebrate the 50th anniverary and participate in the annual Reformation retreat full of Bible studies, devotions, and fellowship.

More than once during the celebration the sentiment was expressed as in the Sunday worship text, "Not to us, oh Lord, not to us be the glory, but to your name, for your mercy and truth" - Ps.115:1.

The Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Confesional (the Puerto Rican national church) and particularly Christ Lutheran Congregation in Guayama had worked hard to put the property in optimum condition: the grass was cut, new paint everywhere, and Rafi (one of the members)  had installed a one-step concrete and tile riser for the chancel/altar area. The choir was impressively organized (burgundy colored tops for all nine members) directed by Mary. They sang for both the Saturday evening tribute to national Pastors Sergio and Manuel and for the worship service on Sunday. The music was generally praise songs sung to prerecorded sound tracks, but we did get a pretty rousing rendition of "A Mighty Fortress" on Sunday. We were some 90-100 people on Sunday with members from the San Juan, Humacao and Guayama congregations participating in Holy Communion.

Traditional foods (rice and gandules/chick peas, roast pork and chicken, fruit, ham & cheese sandwiches on criollo bread, and more) were served both for breakfast, lunch and suppers. The ladies of the IELC had organized the Saturday tribute and awarded plaques of recognition not only to their pastors, but also to faithful laborers who had and have served over the past 50 years--people like Kelly and Miguel, Rafi and a number of young men--and gifts for the expats.

Former Missionary Paul & Carol

Retired Missionary Ralph & Roxanne

Retired Missionary Ron & Karen

 Former Missionary John & Barb

Former Missionary Tim & Lorna

Former Missionary Steve & Brenda

CELC President - Dan Koelpin

WELS WM Administrator- Larry M. Schlomer

WELS World Missions Administrator Larry M. Schlomer, Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference President Dan Koelpin and Multi-Language Publications Coordinator Paul Hartman greeted and reported to the people for WELS, CELC and MLP respectively. Pastor Roger Sprain of the original Missioner Corps who came to the island in 1964 sent his greetings by mail which were read to the assembly on Saturaday when each of the expats were given an opportunity to share an update on their life and family.

The expats were housed at Pastor Sergio's house bringing the total occupancy to some 27. Those who arrived on Thursday were greeted by a torrential downpour and the remainder of the weekend was beautiful tropical weather: clear skies, heat and humidity. 

The Lord's mercy and truth have preserved a little flock in Puerto Rico for 50 years, and we pray they will continue to preach the good news wherever they may be.

Photo Credit: Former Missionary Steve & Brenda

A Faithful Servant Retires

Missionaries Mark, Lorenzo, Larry, Roger, & Ernie (1977)

Professor Larry and his wife Marlene began serving souls in world mission fields in 1977. Prof. Larry, Marlene, and their three children moved to Colombia where Larry led theological education and evangelism/church planting in the formative years of the mission work until 1983.

The family relocated to El Paso, Texas to train ministry leaders in Mexico from 1983 to 1990, with seminary students studying there as well as traveling into Mexico approximately ten days out of every month.

In 1990, Professor Larry accepted a call to Nigeria help establish a seminary for the national church, teach nine students, and train a national pastor to take over the direction of the seminary. He and Marlene served in Africa for three years.

Preaching in Mexico (2011)

They moved back to Latin America in 1993, when Prof. Larry accepted a call to train seminary students and assist with local ministries in Mexico until 2004. In 1995, he was additionally called to serve as field counselor for Mexico.

Mexico (2009)

Mission Team (2010)

Mission Team with Seminary Students (Christmas - 2010)

Mission Team (2012)


Serving Together (always)

For the past 11 years, Prof. Larry served as coordinator of LATTE, Latin American Traveling Theological Educators, based out of Mexico. He trained students in Bolivia, the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Some of the training took place during onsite teaching trips, while others were taught through online courses through the Internet. Prof. Larry also participated in several exploratory trips to visit contacts and research new mission starts.

Professor Lorenzo shares, "Larry has been zealous to train our national workers to 'rightly divide the Word of Truth' -- 2 Timothy 2:15."

Seminary Students from the Dominican Republic and Haiti (2008)

Pastoral Workshop in Mexico (2011)

Fellowship at a Pastoral Retreat in Mexico (2012)

Teaching in Colombia (2014)

We thank our gracious God for allowing Missionary Larry and Marlene to serve him faithfully in world missions for 37 years and wish them the Lord's richest blessings in retirement.

New Latin America Mission Team

Missionary Wagenknecht & Pastor Jorge

WELS World Missions is announcing changes to its work in Latin America. All WELS missionaries serving in Latin America, including those who are members of the Latin American Traveling Theological Educators, will now be part of one Latin America mission team.

As Rev. Larry Schlomer, administrator of WELS World Missions, explains, “The flexibility this group will have allows our missionaries to be deployed where they are needed most and to be redeployed when the assigned tasks are done. This one Latin America mission team can provide exploration of areas and contacts, church planting, an evangelism push, evangelism training, lay leader training, pre-seminary and seminary education, and whatever else can be useful and effective for each unique situation. Missionaries can be deployed for years at a time or serve a country with short visits and encouragement.”

Several factors contributed to this change in mission planning, including the growing maturity of national church leaders in WELS missions in Latin America, fluctuating security concerns in certain areas, and a reduction in missionary manpower.

Schlomer notes, “For several years WELS mission work in Latin America has covered the training and support of national workers in many different countries. Our Latin American Traveling Theological Educators have traveled to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and there are now 24 national pastors and seven evangelists serving in these Latin American countries. There are also 18 more seminarians who are being trained with the current program in conjunction with the national churches. These leaders form a small army of confessional, Lutheran, Hispanic ambassadors of Christ serving in local congregations and reaching out into their communities. The growth of these national churches allows them to stand on their own with occasional visits and support from WELS.”

Missionary Nate Wagenknecht, who had served as a Latin American Traveling Theological Educator, is the first called worker to be redeployed since the inception of this new strategy for serving Latin America. Wagenknecht, who had been based in Puebla, Mexico, has relocated to Houston, Texas, to help Hispanic members of WELS reach back into their home countries with the gospel. It is estimated that as many as 2,000 WELS members are immigrants from a Latin American country.

“The friends and family members of these brothers and sisters can be the starting point for mission work in many areas of the Americas that desperately need the saving truth,” says Schlomer.

Wagenknecht adds, “We want to network better with stateside Hispanic ministries and tap into the relationships our stateside members have with their family and friends back in their home country. We also want to maintain a healthy balance between outreach—sharing the gospel with new contacts—and discipleship—helping Christians mature in their faith and service in God's kingdoms.”

If you know of a contact in Latin America who needs to hear the gospel and you would like to work with the Latin America mission team to reach them, contact Wagenknecht at 1LA@wels.net.

Source: http://www.wels.net/news-events/new-latin-america-mission-team

Sharing the Good News

While visiting various countries when traveling with work of LATTE, there are many opportunities to share news from other mission fields. 

Much of this is informal like the included picture taken after a delicious dinner given to the professor and his wife in the home of one of the members. Conversation had touched on what other places WELS is sharing the gospel besides here in Colombia. We talked of the work in Latin America, Africa and then Asia. These Colombians are looking at pictures of a tour the chairman of World Missions of WELS is taking of work in Asia. 

You may be sure that these members are enthused and encouraged by the continued spread of the gospel. They will have these distant fellow believers in their thoughts and prayers.

Macedonian Giving

 Brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able,  and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 

(2 Corinthians 8:1-4)

On our recent visit to Bolivia, where LATTE Professor Philip is located, we found an example of this type of giving. LATTE Professor Larry, Ernie Latorre, and I were visiting Bolivia. We attended a worship service together with the national congregation. After the service, the members insisted on sending the offering along with us. Our first thought was that they were as much in need of this offering as anyone, but we thought it was very important to honor the spirit in which they offered this, as well as their desire to assist in world missions, so we accepted.

May God bless their spirit of mission giving and promote it among us as well!

Pastor Robert Smith serves as the liaison for LATTE and as the chairman for the WELS Administrative Committee for Latin America.

A Blast from the Past

LATTE Team (2006)

Professors Ralph,  Natán, 
Larry, Lorenzo, & Philip

The following description of the LATTE program was first written for a meeting in January of 2006. As we approach the 10th anniversary of the LATTE program's official start next year, we look back to past descriptions and accomplishments of the LATTE program. Look for more "blasts from the past" throughout the next 12 months.

In 2002, when the first warnings about budget shortfalls and cuts began to circulate, the Administrative Committee for Latin America called a meeting together with all five of its field coordinators to consider options. After discussing many opinions and reaching a consensus regarding the indispensable part of our work to continue serving our fields, even if one no longer had resident missionaries, the idea for LATTE (Latin American Traveling Theological Educators) was conceived. Calls to form part of the LATTE team were issued to the five Latin American missionaries who were then responsible for the theological education in the Spanish speaking missions we had at that time. After a series of meetings planning curriculum, course load, and course responsibility, the teaching trips began in July of 2003.

Based on input from the fields our Administrative Committee established the following goals for LATTE:

1. Maintain theological education in fields that might no longer have resident missionaries.
2. Maintain contact with fledgling national churches when no resident missionary is present.
3. Train nationals to be pastors and other trained workers for the national churches.
4. Provide "post-graduate" instruction to graduated pastors:
• continuing education to improve their ministries.
• preparation for some of them to be seminary professors, according to the needs of the national churches.
5. Visit contacts from counties where we don't have a presence to investigate the possibilities of training them to gather and shepherd their own groups, and provide such training where possible.

To reach those goals, LATTE's ministry would consist of the following ways in which we serve our Lord:

1. Establish a core seminary curriculum for all our Latin American fields.
2. Serve the various fields as requested by the national churches in consultation with their resident missionaries or the missionary contact person for the field where there is no resident missionary.
3. Make teaching visits to the several fields as necessary for teaching the curriculum.
4. Confer with the appropriate national church leaders regarding the theological education needs of the church.
5. Offer instruction on the Bible Institute level where the national church is not yet ready to assume that responsibility.
6. Offer brief seminars for graduate national pastors in subjects where they request help, and also in areas where LATTE professors or resident missionaries detect needs.
7. Visit and then teach contacts from countries where we don't have a presence.

Learning How To Disagree

Pastor Robert Smith serves as the liaison for LATTE and as the chairman for the WELS Administrative Committee for Latin America. He comments on making decisions for upcoming budgets.

 

I suppose it’s no surprise to the reader that at times there can be disagreement among the Lord’s people about how mission work should be done and how best to use the resources we have. Right now we are at budget time, the time when we have to submit our budget for Latin America for the two fiscal years of 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 (WELS fiscal years run from July 1 through June 30). 

 

So the committee has the responsibility of dividing up limited resources among the various fields we have in Latin America - Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, LATTE, Mexico, and the Caribbean. We have limited manpower, 7 full-time missionaries, and limited finances. Of course we should thank the Lord for what we have. To be frank, as we have discussed resource allocation in the last 2-3 months, strong opinions and even differences have emerged as to the optimum allocation of missionaries and financial resources.

Yet I have learned to try not to think of these differences in terms of who’s right and who’s wrong. If one person thinks that these two positions could be best used in this country, and another one thinks that the same positions could be best used in another field or another country, they are both right in a way. Each person wants the gospel of Jesus Christ to reach throughout the world. So even when we disagree on how best to do the work, we are united in the forgiveness won by Jesus and our eagerness to share this good news.

And now decisions must be made. The committee has to decide - so much here, so much there. I’m not sure that we can do this in a way that makes everyone happy because each field might not receive all it’s asking for. Yet I’m not sure that there are “right” or “wrong” decisions here. The Lord’s work advances, and he blesses it.

So it’s OK to have different opinions, as long as we remember what we agree on. We have eternal life in Jesus, and together we serve him to bring that good news to others.

LATTE Tour Wrap-Up

 My husband Natán and I just completed an amazing two-week tour of presentations in Arizona, USA. Our tour sites included congregations, elementary schools, a high school, a retirement center, and various group Bible studies.  

All of our hosts welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts. We enjoyed sharing how the Lord is richly blessing seminary training in Latin America by sharing personal greetings from our students, telling life stories from the students' lives, and sharing the cultural challenges we face.

We spent a few days at the White Mountain Reservation with the mission team working with the Apache Nation. Both my husband and I were surprised at all the similarities between Latin American and Native American cultures.

In addition to worship services and presentations, we set up a LATTE mission kit display at the majority of our tour locations. This display features flags and a large variety of  hand crafted items from the 10 different countries LATTE serves.  It also includes a photo album offering descriptions of the places and people our team of seminary professors serve and literature provided by Multi-Language Publications that our seminary students use in their own countries. WELS Missions Promotions has three (3) of these kits available for schools, congregations, and other groups. Contact missionspromotions@wels.net or (414) 256-3293 to request a LATTE mission kit to learn more about seminary training across borders and get a taste of life in Latin America.

We thank each of you for your support of the work of seminary training in Latin America through your prayers, offerings, and service.  God be with you until we meet again.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. 

In all my prayers for all of you, 

I always pray with joy because of 

your partnership in the gospel.” 

- Philippians 1:3-5

Colombia - Mission History

1973 -- WELS commissions three-man missionary team to Colombia.

1974 -- Missionary team arrives in Medellín. Mission conducts first worship service and confirms first adult member. Radio outreach starts.

1975 -- Dedication of Holy Trinity Church in Medellín. Bible Institute program begins.

1979 -- Provisional seminary opens in Medellín.

1982 -- First Colombian student graduates from Lutheran seminary.

1983 -- Ordination and installation of first Colombian pastor. Work begins in Bogotá with two missionaries.

1989 -- Inauguration of first Christian Information Center (CIC) in Bogotá.

1990 -- Installation of first lay minister in Medellín.

1996 -- Medellín students receive pastoral duties.

1997 -- Medellín CIC moves to downtown church building. Bogotá congregation and CIC move to new location in north of city.

1998 -- Bogotá school becomes first Spanish-speaking school in WELS fellowship. English as Foreign Language (EFL) classes begin as outreach.

1999 -- Medellín congregation has two Colombian pastors. Bogotá church has a three-man council. All WELS missionaries and families evacuate because of increasing violence. Missionary begins long-distance training and counseling of national leaders.

2000 -- Bogotá congregation begins a new congregation in a local school.

2001 -- Three Colombian leaders begin helping WELS Coordinator train nationals in ministry.

2003 -- WELS Coordinator discontinues field visits to Colombia due to increased security risks. Contact and long-distance training continues by phone, e-mail, and fax.

2005 -- Due to improved security conditions, LATTE Professors begin to make periodic trips to Colombia for continued theological training of leaders. The Colombian national church is incorporated as: Colombian Confessional Lutheran Church (ILCC.Wels); giving the church legal standing in the country.

2006 -- Outreach efforts begin in the city of Barranquilla when a family relocates from the Bogotá congregation. LATTE continues to train student pastors of the congregations in Bogotá and Medellín.

2007 -- First national missionary trip to Barranquilla. LATTE work continues with the theological education of church leaders and pastors.

2008 -- The ILCC.Wels begins to support the International Church through the Internet. LATTE continues its assistance.

2009 -- A national pastor and LATTE professor make visits to Quibdó and establish fellowship with an existing congregation. Our Redeemer Congregation of Quibdó is born with 50 members. Mission trips to cities of Cartago, Pereira and Valledupar begin.

2010 -- The ILCC.Wels calls one of the pastors in Medellín to serve as a national missionary and he starts to study full-time with LATTE to finish up his theological studies. Mission trips to the cities of Cartago, Pereira, Valledupar, San Rafael and Manizales are made.

2011 -- For the first time in history, a representative from Colombia attends the world-wide meeting of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC) in New Ulm, MN. The Colombian national church celebrates a special working congress with the attendance of members of the WELS committee for Latin America. The Light of Christ Lutheran Church is born in Santa Marta with 6 members. The ILCC.Wels through its national missionary pastor prepares men for the public ministry with LATTE's assistance.

2012 -- With the help of scholarships, two leaders begin full-time preparation for the public ministry; one student from the church in Quibdó and another from the congregation in Medellín. Professors from both the ILCC.Wels and LATTE carry out this ministerial training together.

 Our Redeemer Congregation -- Quibdó 

Christmas Greetings from LATTE

¡Feliz Navidad!  Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas!

Christmas greetings from our hearts to yours as we celebrate our Savior's birth!

Noche de paz, noche de amor,

Todo duerme en derredor.

Entre sus astros que esparcen su luz

Bella anunciando al niñito Jesús

Brilla la estrella de paz

Brilla la estrella de paz.

Noite de paz! Noite de amor!

Dormem todos em redor.

Em Belém Jesus nasceu,

Rei de paz, da terra e céu.

Nosso Salvador é Jesus, Senhor.

Silent night, holy night,

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon virgin mother and child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Update from South America

Bolivia  

A LATTE Professor has been in La Paz, Bolivia, since March of this year. His purpose is to help a small church body in its effort to become a confessional Lutheran church. The instructor reports that there is good progress. The pastor of the La Paz congregation is now preaching and practicing sound Biblical doctrine and other leaders are also gladly receiving Biblical instruction. Though there has been progress, there is still work to be done. 

Brazil  

Despite church break-ins and unexpected bills from the city, God is helping the members of the Gravatai congregation to slowly increase support for their local ministry. Another two baptisms and five confirmations show God's grace in action. The Brazilian Lutheran Church (ILB) is in the process of producing evangelism tracts that deal with current issues in Brazilian culture. National pastors gathered around God's Word for spiritual growth and mutual encouragement in October. In November, WELS representatives met with the ILB to discuss options for how the WELS and the ILB might work together so that the gospel may continue to be proclaimed in the world's fifth largest country. 

Colombia

The growth of the church in the Medellin, Quibdó and prospective Pereira area is slow. The willingness of the church of Medellin to relocate Pastor Herrera to a new city and partially support him shows the seriousness it takes mission work. This idea is under strong consideration and is an objective for the immediate future once more prospective members are added. This outreach commitment merits support and encouragement.  The growth in Bogota has been very limited.  Efforts are being made to help the congregation focus on evangelism, as well as the LATTE efforts to train three leaders of the congregation. Training of one pastor continues via Skype and with personal visits from LATTE professors. Training of two more student candidates is under consideration.

A Growing Mission

This Sunday, the mission Cristo Resucitado -- Resurrected Christ in México; received its first two members with over 50 people in attendance.  These two new confirmands,  Javier and Victor, have been studying the Bible and its teachings with local  Missionary Brad for the past year.

It has been amazing to watch the Holy Spirit work in their hearts.  Both began attending weekly Bible studies, then worship services regularly, and bringing their families to church activities.  Listening to their initial questions about God's Word transform into concrete affirmations of faith has been heart-warming.  Tears flowed down my face as I witnessed Javier and Victor confess their faith and take Holy Communion with our mission team.

This joyous event has also served as an encouragement to others who are taking instruction classes with Missionary Brad. Several expressed their excitement to become members of the congregation and want to continue to learn more about the Bible and its teachings.

It is neat to watch our church family grow and become active. Some invite friends and family to worship services, Bible studies, and fellowship activities. Some take ownership by providing snacks for after the worship service, cleaning and building maintenance, or donating items as needed.  Last week, a man brought a Christmas tree, this week someone else brought a stand for it, and this Sunday, multiple families brought Christmas decorations.

Being part of the congregation is one of the abundant blessings of serving on the LATTE team. The opportunity to share my faith and build relationships with fellow believers is an awesome privilege I will always cherish.

May God continue to bless the mission efforts in México and around the world.

Cristo Resucitado is located in México and began regular worship services in July, 2010.  The Lord has blessed the efforts of this mission in countless ways as mission workers share the good news of the Savior Jesus Christ with the souls in Léon.  Go to www.luteranosmexicanos.net and www.lutheransinmexico.com for more information on this mission.

Field Visit

Last month, three WELS Representatives arrived in Brazil for a 14-day tour of Igreja Luterana Brasilera (ILB) – The Brazilian Lutheran Church. Pastor Robert Smith serves as the chairman for our Administrative Committee for Latin American Missions (AC-LA) as well as liaison to LATTE, Mr. Ernesto LaTorre serves on the AC-LA as the newly appointed liaison to Brazil; and Dr. Robert Anderson serves on the WELS Board for World Missions (BWM).  Read below as they share their observations.

 Friendly Counselor Natán, Mr. Ernesto LaTorre, Pastor Robert Smith, 

& Dr. Robert Anderson

In contrast to the densely packed cities are the vast expanses of farmland in central

and southern sections of the country. Smaller cities and a slower paced life allow

us to work with the people to spread the Gospel message. Worshiping with our

brothers and sisters in Gravatai and Dourados warmed my heart and reassured me

that the work of the Holy Spirit through WELS missionaries for the past 24 years

has born much fruit. I am left with the prayer ta, 'Times New Roman', serif;">

In contrast to the densely packed cities are the vast expanses of farmland in central

and southern sections of the country. Smaller cities and a slower paced life allow

us to work with the people to spread the Gospel message. Worshiping with our

brothers and sisters in Gravatai and Dourados warmed my heart and reassured me

that the work of the Holy Spirit through WELS missionaries for the past 24 years

has born much fruit. I am left with the prayer that our Lord will allow us to continue assisting the ministry in Brazil."

-- Dr. Robert Anderson, WELS Board for World Missions Member

"Our trip to Brazil brought many memorable moments. One of them was the church dinner held on a Sunday night in Dourados. The church had prepared a special meal in the Brazilian style of churrascaria, which includes various meats roasted on spits over a barrel of Brazilian charcoal. As the meal was starting, there was a thunderstorm going on outside, and the lights started to flicker. Just a couple minutes later everything went dark. That did not stop the meal. Some people turned on their cell phones to provide light, others their cameras. Together with a flashlight or two there was enough light to continue. And then, just about when everyone was done eating, the lights came back on. 

This event made me think a little bit about the bigger picture. Brazil is a land like any other, filled with people who live in the darkness of sin and unbelief, people who need the light of a Savior. The darkness seems overwhelming, considering that we have only two rather small congregations in the middle of a land of 200 million. Nevertheless, Jesus sends us out with the light of the gospel. Just as with the light of the cell phones was enough for the meal, so the light of the gospel, even though the workers are few, will shine and accomplish God's purpose in Brazil."

-- Pastor Robert Smith, WELS Administrative Committee-Latin American Missions Chairman

  

 

Thanksgiving Blessings

LATTE gives thanks for the faithful service of its professors who travel far from home, stay in less than ideal circumstances and serve our Lord by training men to serve as leaders of their churches. 

Also for recent trips to the Carribean, Colombia, Bolivia and Brazil where we had the opportunity to carry out our calling with zealous and excited students who are eager to serve their Savior. 

Also for the new plan underway in Colombia to train even more nationals and to prepare one of them to fully participate in this training.

Update from the Caribbean

The Lord continues to provide believers and to bless the work being done in the Caribbean. A teaching trip was completed this October to one of the Spanish speaking countries with the objective to teach the Psalms and to do sermon text studies.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican mission field has experienced many great blessings in the first half of this year. The members and workers there are passionate about the gospel and have a great mindset for evangelism. The pastor in Santiago has been considered capable by two LATTE pastors of teaching seminary-level courses to his fellow Dominicans. The Dominican field receives no subsidy at the present.

Haiti

The Haitian outreach has also experienced tremendous blessings this year. The connections with Haitian orphanages have resulted in 62 orphans receiving saving faith through the washing of Holy Baptism. It is the hope that the current partnerships and other orphanage leaders can continue and even expand (with the hope of also reaching out to an additional area) so that more souls may be reached and may hear the gospel in a country where voodoo and other false practices are the norm.

LATTE's work focuses on Spanish-speaking countries plus Haiti. WELS also serves English-speaking countries of the Caribbean -- Antigua, Grenada, and St Lucia.

The Five Solas of Reformation

Sola Scriptura — by Scripture alone  

• You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about [Jesus]. (John 5:39)

• From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:15-16)

Sola Gratia — by grace alone  

• So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.  (Romans 11:5-6)
• For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Sola Fide — by faith alone

• But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  (Romans 3:21-22)
• For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.  (Romans 3:28)
• Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5)
• Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  (Romans 5:1-2)
•  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  (Philippians 3:8-9)

Solo Christo — by Christ alone

• These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.  (John 20:31)
• Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name [Jesus Christ] under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  (Acts 4:12)
• God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  (Romans 5:8-10)
• No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 3:11)
• You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  (Galatians 3:26-27)
• [God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.  (1 Timothy 2:4-6)

Soli Deo Gloria— glory to God alone  

• So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:10-11)