Presbyterian Church of Mexico Delegation

On the left, Rev. Danny Ramírez, President of the Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Next, Rev. Isaac López, Director of the national Seminary (STPM). On the far right, Porfirio Camarillo, Director of the Instituto Juárez school in the capitol. Pedro Zamora and I are in the middle.

SEUT has a formal agreement with the Mexican Seminary (STPM) to enable them to offer distance learning courses. Last June Mark visited Mexico City, and this June SEUT was privileged to host this delegation.

Here are some students in Santiago, Chile studying our lay training materials.

April 1-10 Mark visited SEUT’s extension program in Santiago, Chile. SEUT Chile, as the program is called, is in its third year of operation. The seminary is working through the Anglican Church.

Check out our latest newsletter!  Abbott News Brief-April 2011

And… Mark’s Easter sermon.

What’s been going on with the Abbotts?  Travel! Check out our Abbott News Brief-December 2010!

Youth trip to Stockholm

Diane and I have updated our News Brief. Check it out!

Abbott News Brief–August 2010

Diane and I have an updated Abbott News Brief-April 2010. Check it out!

Go to my Newsletters and Sermones page and check out Gifts of the Spirit based on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 in English.

Visita la página Newsletters and sermons para leer el nuevo sermón Programa electoral de Jesús, basado en Lucas 4:14-30.

Click here to see and download the latest Abbott News Brief!

Make sure you print a color copy and post it on your church’s missions board.

On September 9-12 I attended the European Methodist Council in Manchester, England. This is my second time to represent the Spanish Evangelical Church on this body. The Council (EMC) is made up of United Methodists, British Methodists, the autonomous Methodist Church of Portugal, the Spanish Evangelical Church and the Nazarenes. A European district of Korean UMs has applied for membership as well.

The EMC is planning a European Methodist Festival in Crakow, Poland for August 2012. Instead of going to London for the Olympics you can celebrate with European Methodists in Crakow! You can bring a youth group as the European Methodist Youth Council is participating in the planning, so there will be a multi-generational program.

As November approaches I remember that 20 years ago on Nov. 9 the Berlin Wall fell. So much has changed since then! At the EMC meeting in Manchester I saw between the Moscow Seminary director and the Polish Missions coordinator. My supervisor with the GBGM, who was in Manchester, is from Estonia in the Baltics. None of these people could have been in the European Methodist Council 20 years ago.

In this picture you see Sergei Nikolaev, the director of the UM seminary in Moscow sitting in the famous John Rylands Library in Manchester. This library houses a famous John Wesley collection, but it also is home to the oldest fragment of the New Testament that we have, the P52 papyri, a fragment of the Gospel of John dating to 125 AD. I also saw the first edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species.

Sergei Nikolaev, director of the UM Seminary in Moscow sitting in the John Rylands Library.

Thirty years ago this May Mark was ordained as a minister in the United Methodist Church. The Rev. Cathy Bingman-Tennant of the Community Church of Madrid, herself an United Methodist clergy, organized a special celebration on Sunday, May 31 at the Community Church.

You can read Mark’s reflections on his 30 years of ordained ministry by downloading his sermon: What Compels the Call?

During these 30 years Mark has pastored First UMC in Plains, Texas; completed a doctoral degree; served with the GBGM for 22 years, 5 of which were in Mexico and the rest in Spain; pastored the Community Church of Madrid; taught in the Seminario Juan Wesley in Monterrey, Mexico and served as Dean for 2 years; and since 1996 been professor of New Testament and Dean in the Seminario Evangélico Unido de Teología (SEUT) in Madrid, Spain.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the loving support and participation of Diane. Mark and Diane will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary on August 18th. Ministry is certainly a family affair!

Colleagues in Ministry

Caroline & Chris join us for the celebration

The Seminary’s lay training program, called Taller Teológico continues to strengthen and grow. 187 people are participating in 23 groups, representing 8 denominations. This is an enormous success in the Spanish Protestant context. The Taller Teológico program is bringing the Seminary closer to the local church. As I always say, “In the Kingdom of God, the rubber meets the road in the local church.” Thank you for supporting this with your prayers.