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GRAPEVINE—In early August, Luis Gonzalez began working as the full-time director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s En Español ministry. In his first days on the job, he began familiarizing himself with staff and connecting with pastors, church planters, and associations.
“I’m so grateful to be a part of this team,” Gonzalez said. “We want to mobilize our churches to make disciples and to do it with excellence.”
There are many ways SBTC En Español will do that, he added, including providing more resources to better equip Hispanic pastors. “[When we do this], we will see more of our churches accomplish the mission of making disciples and seeing many people come to Christ,” he said.
Gonzalez is joining SBTC En Español at a time of encouraging growth and engagement among the churches it serves. This past year, the ministry’s anchor events—the Hombres de Impacto men’s conference and the Florece women’s retreat—drew 650 and 750 attendees, respectively. Youth Week summer camp had 540 students registered from 26 churches, and Spanish sessions at events such as Apoderados, held in conjunction with the annual Empower Conference each winter, continue to see increasing participant numbers.
Gonzalez is no stranger to those events, having served as a volunteer helping organize and promote them. He has also served on the SBTC Resolutions Committee, as well as with Send Network SBTC, the church planting partnership between the SBTC and the North American Mission Board, supporting new planter assessments.
He comes to the SBTC having previously served as the Hispanic pastor for Lamar Baptist Church in Arlington, a position he had held since 2016.
Julio Arriola, who served as Send Network SBTC’s director for several years before answering a call to serve Cross Church in Arkansas earlier this year, said Gonzalez’s Christlike character, servant leadership, and unwavering commitment to advancing the gospel among Hispanic churches made him a perfect choice to lead SBTC En Español.
“Beyond his credentials, it is his heart for the local church, his vision for discipleship, and his ability to collaborate cross-culturally that makes him such a vital leader in our convention,” Arriola said.
J.J. Washington, the North American Mission Board’s national director of personal evangelism, said Gonzalez exceeded his expectations this past year when he reached out to ask him to mobilize Hispanic churches for the Crossover 2025 event held prior to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas.
“I set a goal for Luis to mobilize 15 Hispanic churches, but Luis set a personal goal of 30 churches, and he achieved it,” Washington said in recommending Gonzalez to lead SBTC En Español. “Luis connected with pastors over lunch and coffee, at associational gatherings, state events, etc., and suddenly the registration numbers for Hispanic pastors and churches increased. … He is a man of God, he has integrity, he is a self-starter, he is very dependable, and he loves serving pastors.”
Gonzalez led Lamar’s Crossover groups in English and Spanish, resulting in more than 25 people coming to faith in Jesus Christ.
“It was a beautiful blessing to welcome missionaries and to witness how the whole church came together in unity, moving forward faithfully in the mission of making disciples—all for God’s glory,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said he is grateful for the opportunity to lead SBTC En Español, thanking the SBTC’s senior strategist of Missional Ministries, Tony Mathews, the Executive Committee, and Executive Director Nathan Lorick.
“We’re confident Luis will excel in leading our Hispanic ministries and make an incredible contribution,” Mathews said. “It will be a joy working with him.”
Added Lorick: “We are really excited to have Luis join us to lead our SBTC En Español ministry. I believe great days are ahead under his leadership.”
