After 49 years of uninterrupted service in ministry, Pastor Raúl Rodríguez has announced his retirement. Rodríguez began his pastoral work in 1969 and became an integral part of Potomac’s pastoral team in 1997.
Within his time in Potomac, Rodríguez helped found several Spanish churches in Virginia and Maryland; established a social assistance program for people in the Maryland communities of Takoma Park, Hyattsville, Wheaton—later extending this program model to Latin American countries to offer support in evangelism, education, philanthropy and health; helped develop The School of Theology for Disciples, a program designed to train laity in evangelism, which to-date has reached nearly 350 students; and passionately served as district pastor, resulting in many baptisms, positive financial commitments and growth within those congregations.
Before coming to Potomac, Rodriguez served for 11 years in his home country of El Salvador as a district and departmental pastor in the area of youth, stewardship and lay people. He later worked as the field president, in which he helped establish schools that prepared about 350 volunteers to preach throughout the Salvadoran mission—which resulted in 1,325 baptisms in a single day and 2,000 during the culmination of the evangelistic campaign led by Pr. Carlos Aeschlimann.
Additionally, Rodriguez served in Venezuela as a pastor; in Bogotá, Colombia as president of the Alto Magdalena Association; evangelist of the Colombo-Venezuelan Union; and pastor in the New York Conference, where he founded a church in Syracuse.
“There are few who demonstrate the same passion of bringing people into a saving relationship with Jesus as Raul Rodriguez,” says President Bill Miller. “He has been committed to the mission of Jesus Christ of making disciples and seeking to save those who are lost. Raul has been instrumental in church planting and has been tireless in the mission set out in Ephesians 4:12 of ‘equipping the saints for the work of ministry.’”
written by Jose Esposito, Director for Hispanic Ministries
