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Chicago (ELCA)-MR — 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.