Title: Rafael Malpica Padilla Named Director, ELCA Global Mission
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 1, 2003

RAFAEL MALPICA PADILLA NAMED DIRECTOR, ELCA GLOBAL MISSION
03-138-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, associate
executive director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Division for Global Mission, was elected June 28 to a four-year
appointment as executive director of the division effective August 1.
     As executive director, Malpica Padilla, 46, will oversee a global
program in more than 70 countries with 300 missionaries and volunteers,
47 division staff based here and annual expenditures of $29 million.  He
succeeds the Rev. Bonnie L. Jensen, who will retire July 31.
     "The Rev. Malpica Padilla's ministry reflects the ELCA's
commitment to be one church in three expressions.  He has served as
parish pastor, synod bishop and churchwide staff," said the Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA.
     "Rafael embodies the ELCA's commitment to become a more diverse
and inclusive church.  Raised in Puerto Rico with Spanish as his first
language, Rafael's life, faith and ministry have been shaped in the
context of global mission.  Rev. Malpica Padilla is an articulate
theologian, a primary architect of the Division for Global Mission's
understanding of global mission as accompaniment among partner churches,
and a gifted administrator committed to deepening and expanding
relationships within the ELCA and throughout the world," Hanson said.
     Malpica Padilla has served as associate executive director for the
Division for Global Mission since May 2002.  He succeeded the Rev. Will
F. Herzfeld, who died last year following a sudden attack of cerebral
malaria.
     From 1993 to 2002, Malpica Padilla was the division's program
director for Latin America and Cuba.  He served as bishop of the ELCA
Caribbean Synod from 1987 to 1993.  The synod's main office is located
in Dorado, Puerto Rico.  From 1981 to 1987, he was parish pastor of
Iglesia Luterana Reconciliacion, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
     Malpica Padilla earned a bachelor of arts degree from the
University of Puerto Rico, Carolina, Puerto Rico, in 1977 and a master
of divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia in 1981.  In 1989 he received a doctorate in divinity
"Honoris Causa" from Newberry College, Newberry, S.C.
     Newberry is one of 28 colleges and universities of the ELCA, and
the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia is one of eight
seminaries of the church.
     Malpica Padilla has delivered numerous presentations across the
country and around the world and has served as trustee and board member
on a variety of global organizations.
     In an interview, Malpica Padilla said he will work to "continue to
deepen the Division for Global Mission's understanding of its
accompaniment model.  What does it mean to walk with people, churches,
organizations and institutions  around the world whose context for
mission and ministry is challenging due to economic marginalization,
civil strife and war, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic?  At the same time, how
do we continue to be open to the witness they bring to us, the vitality
of the Christian faith and life in community?  How do we maximize the
wonderful resources available to this division and to the people who
serve on behalf of this church as missionaries and division staff?
These questions will continue to shape the Division for Global Mission's
vision for mission."
     The Rev. Joel S. Bjerkestrand, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran
Church, Fountain Hills, Ariz., said Malpica Padilla is "deeply
theologically grounded and strongly mission-minded.  Rafael has
demonstrated significant leadership in the church."  Bjerkestrand is
chair of the Division for Global Mission board.  The Rev. Stephen M.
Youngdahl, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas, chaired
the search committee.
     Malpica Padilla and his wife, Luz D. Marzan, are the parents of
three children   Rafael, Felix Javier and Karla Marie.  He is a member
of Bethany Lutheran Church, Crystal Lake, Ill.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html