Evangelical Seminary of Theology
Matanzas
EVENTS / MARCH 2010
Credits Contacts Leadership Professor
NEWS OF
THE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION SCHOOL “RAFAEL CEPEDA
CLEMENTE”
11th
MEETING OF THE BACCALAUREATE ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
WORKSHOP
OF CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR PASTORS AND CHURCH LEADERS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
AIPRAL
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IS VISITING SET
SET OPEN
DOOR DAY
LENT
PILGRIMAGE
FACING
MATANZAS BAY AT RESURRECTION DAWN
BERLIN
MISIONARY WORK REPRESENTATIVES AT SET
VISITORS
VISITING
DELEGATION OF THE SYNOD OF THE SUN
MEETING
WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BAPTIST MONASTERY “COMMUNITY OF THE
TRANSFIGURATION”
NEWS OF THE CHRISTIAN
EDUCATION SCHOOL “RAFAEL CEPEDA CLEMENTE”
REGIONAL COURSE FOR SUNDAY
SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING
The Regional Course of the
Christian Education School continues at the Presbyterian Reformed Church of San
Nicolás de Bari. In March Professor Nelson Dávila
Rodríguez delivered the subject “The use of the Bible at Sunday
school.”
This
course has also continued in March at the Presbyterian-Reformed Church of
Luyanó. Professor Dora Arce Valentín delivered the subject “Elements of
Ethics”. The course has also continued enthusiastically at the Church
Christian Agrarian Brotherhood of Cuba in the municipality of Jovellanos,
Matanzas. Professor Carlos Molina Rodríguez delivered the subject “Panorama of
the History of the Church” and Professor Nelson Dávila Rodríguez taught the
subject “The use of the Bible at Sunday school.”
11th MEETING OF THE BACCALAUREATE ON CHRISTIAN
EDUCATION
The 11th Meeting
of the Baccalaureate on Christian Education was held on March 8-12. On this
occasion the course “Characteristics of the Church Educational Ministry with the
Youth and Adolescence”, was coordinated by Professor Nelson Dávila Rodríguez. It
had the participation of the young pastors, Alison Infante
Zamora of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church, Yhanco Monet Rodríguez, of the
Fraternity of Baptist Churches and and the Ms.Sarahí García Jiménez,
vice president of the Christian Student Movement for Latin America
Caribbean.
Ph.D. Patricia Arés Muzio,
Professor of the School of Psychology at the University of Havana and
coordinator of the Family Program of this institution delivered a
course-workshop “ Current Issues of the Cuban Family” where she presented the
challenge posed in the family by the presence of teen-agers and young
people.
WORKSHOP OF CONTINUING
EDUCATION FOR PASTORS AND CHURCH LEADERS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN REFORMED
CHURCH
On March 1st and
2nd the Workshop of Continuing Education was held at SET for more
than thirty pastors and leaders of the Presbyterian Reformed Church (IPRC).
Acting as a councillor was Dr. and Professor Jean Zumstein- an
internationally renown expert on theology of the New Testament –in invitation of
IPRC and sponsored by DM- echange et misión of the French speaking Swiss
Reformed Church . He gave lectures on the “the Community of Jesus” and “John’s
Gospel”.
The workshop closed with an
ecumenical worship at the Chapel “Resurrection”, during which a group of
brothers and sisters of the Executive Committee of the Alliance of Presbyterian
and Reformed Churches of Latin America (AIPRAL) was welcome together with
pastors and members of the different churches in the city. On this occasion,
Reverend Sergio Bertinat. of the Evangelical Church of Río de la Plata,
Argentina, gave his message.
AIPRAL EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE VISITS SET
The Executive Committee of
the Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches of Latin America (AIPRAL) met
in Cuba on March 2nd -8th to prepare the 11th General
Assembly of AIPRAL to be held in Guatemala City on August 9-14, 2011 with the
motto “The fruit of justice is planted in peace and communion”. They visited our
seminary on March 2nd to share some time with SET direction and the
Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba.
The Executive Committee was
in session at the Presbyterian Reformed Church “Dora Valentín” of Varadero.
During the session AIPRAL reaffirmed its commitment with the diverse needs
of the continent and expressed its willingness to continue working together with
other confessional families, ecumenical bodies and social networks in the
region.
SET OPEN DOOR DAY
Our Seminary invited the Ph D. on Psychology and researcher of the
Central Institute of Educational Sciences Pedro Luis Castro Alegret, for 
delivering a Model Lecture on “Society and Disability” on
this occasion of “SET Open Door Day to celebrate the gifts of people with
disabilities”.
In his lecture, Dr. Castro - the author of various books on the
family, sexuality and disability – made a cultural interpretation of the
psychological factors of the family and society and explained the way in which
our society stigmatizes the people with disabilities.
“There is rejection or intolerance – declared Castro Alegret
for “Acontecer” – towards extreme differences: towards the mentally challenged,
the people with AIDS, homosexuals, etc. towards everything that may seem to
break the norms, so that culture ends up creating different marginal groups;
this people are marked by social prejudice coming from professionals,
institutions, and even from the family itself that somehow have an ideal of what
their children must be like. Society is intolerant towards any difference and
makes parents feel guilty for this. That is why the people with disabilities
feel uneasy and it is necessary to take care of the family in charge of that
human being. It is easy to identify prejudice but it is necessary to disclose
the mechanisms that trigger and sustain it” he added.
LENT
PILGRIMAGE
Brothers and sisters from
the city of Matanzas met on March 27 at 8.30 a.m. at the Catholic Cathedral “San
Carlos Borromeo” to begin the Lent Pilgrimage: an ecumenical march taking place
the Saturday before Palm Sunday . This is part of the preparation of
THE WEEK OF PASSION, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
celebration.
Every year the participant
churches elaborate a short program of about 20 minutes consisting of a chant -
that goes on during the pilgrimage- prayers, silence, reading, and reflection of
one of the stations of the Via Crucis.
At the end of the worship
at the Cathedral the pilgrimage headed for the 1st Baptist Church,
which started its station at 9.00a.m. Afterwards at 9.30, they visited the
Central Presbyterian Reformed Church and at 10.00 a.m. they went to the Roman
Catholic Church of “El Carmen “,ending on Simpson Heights, where they gave
greetings, wished peace and love to one another and sang at the
Seminary. Later, they got in groups of seven people in the garden to
reflect on the words of Jesus and share their personal experiences during the
pilgrimage. It ended at the chapel “Resurrection “at 11.45 after the message
given by Professor Francisco Rodés González and the intercession for
our problems as people and churches that call for God’s help.
As usual, to share with people of different confessions and ages, to be together
in prayer and hymns, to have no denominational barriers, had a great impact
on the participants.
This idea was contributed
by the SET group of Liturgical Renewal in 1998. Since then the Lent Pilgrimage
has continued with SET sponsoring and collaboration in an effort to keep
alive the an ecumenism of this city dating back to more than a hundred
years of history.
FACING MATANZAS BAY AT RESURRECTION DAWN
At the dawn of Sunday April 4th hundreds of Christians of Matanzas
City got together to celebrate the miracle of Resurrection. It happened at the
day break in front of Matanzas Bay. Brothers and sisters of different churches
and from many geographical areas went up to the Seminary to
celebrate the liturgy in the spectacular scenery that can be viewed from there.
This tradition goes back to the decade of the 50´s when the first
rector of the Seminary, Dr. Adolfo Rodriguez Hidalgo, called local Christian men
and women for the first time to join in the celebration of Christ’s
Resurrection, an event that since that time has closed the Week of Passion in
that institution.
What set the stage for
the spirit of
the participants for the Word was a typically Cuban liturgy in which many
representatives of Matanzas ecumenical community participated with readings,
prayers, and hymns dealing with the hopeful meaning of this commemoration.
The morning message was delivered by the recently appointed Bishop of the
Episcopal Church of Cuba, Griselda Delgado del Carpio. She stated that for the
first time, like many other participants she was attending this warm and
fraternal celebration there, in that morning in the midst of doubts,
nightmares, expectations and shadows, coming to the flow of true life through
Jesus Christ”
“That is why I want to give
thanks to God”- the Bishop stated – “for letting us have this immense life
this morning; for this unique and special day of 2010, in which we are
proclaiming that Christ is living and that He has come to give us life,
life in abundance. Otherwise our faith would be empty and there would be no
reason for us to be united. There would be no chance of envisioning our future
existence” (Taken from the special report by Aurelio Paz)
BERLIN MISIONARY WORK REPRESENTATIVES AT
SET
Cornelia Schattat and a
group of seven brothers and sisters coming as representatives of the Berlin
Missionary Work visited our Seminary on March 10th. During
their brief stay they had a fraternal meeting with Rector Reinerio Arce Valentín
and Dean Francisco Marrero Gutiérrez, in which they talked and
exchanged experiences about theological education in Cuba.
VISITORS
Reverend William D. Smith, and a group of leaders and young people of
the Bridge Street Church belonging to the Bay of
Quinte Conference, Ontario, of the United Church of Canada visited our
Seminary on March 8th . During their visit they expressed their
interest on the teaching work of our institution.
A
group of brothers and sisters from the Presbyterian Church of Myers
Park of North Carolina, USA visited our Seminary for strengthening the bonds
between both institutions. During their visit they talked with the direction and
SET community and they also visited churches and other places of interest.
Eight
young people of the Presbyterian Church of St. James, Canada, interested
in the theme of urban agriculture, visited us on March 18th. Brothers
of this church had learned from our Canadian friend, Valerie Ross about the
organic garden project carried out in our center since 1999. During their visit
they interviewed professors and made a tour on the gardens. They exchanged
experiences and saw the plants and green vegetables of the organic
garden.
On March 23-26 we were
visited by brothers from the Presbyterian Church of Oregon and from
the Portland Presbyterian Church, USA. Both churches have
fraternal relations with the Presbyterian Reformed Churches of the Center
Presbytery. They were respectively welcome by SET Direction and they expressed
their interest in learning about the theological education and the churches
in Cuba.
VISITING DELEGATION OF THE
SYNOD OF THE SUN
From March 17-18 a group of
15 executives of the Presbyterian Church of the USA (PCUSA), from several
Presbyteries of the Synod of the Sun visited SET, to hear about the work of the
Seminary, of the Cuban churches, and to reflect on the mission of this church
and its current challenges. During their visit they had a very tight program in
which they shared with professors, students, pastors and leaders of the Cuban
churches.
In
our Seminary for the first time, PCUSA General Secretary, the elder Gradye
Parsons, stated for this newsletter: “We are very thankful for the success in
education, for the women’s success in leadership and for the role of the
lay people. The Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba is very devout and
impressive. This is a starting relationship, but we are sure that it will be
strengthened in the future, he stated.
MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BAPTIST MONASTERY “COMMUNITY OF
THE TRANSFIGURATION”
On
March 12th our Seminary was visited by Stephen Shipman, prior of the Baptist
monastery Community of The Transfiguration and Marcus Pomeroy, member of
this community living in Philadelphia USA
This
Baptist monastery is located in Teesdale, Australia and its ministry is based on
integrating their work on social justice and prayers in an effort to help the
people to live their faith in every day life. Its members teach theology in
several seminaries and also work as chaplains and counsellors 
for people with problems
such as disease, alcoholism, drug addition, and HIV-AIDS. They have also made an
important contribution with refugees, especially from Ethiopia and Thailand.
“In our every day monastic life – Prior Stephen explained- we
have three important moments for worship: before breakfast, later in the
morning- for those working on campus- and at night. We also have a contemplative
prayer at another time during the week, with a specific theme for every day of
the week. On Mondays we deal with the incarnation; on Tuesdays, the nativity; on
Wednesday, the transfiguration; on Thursdays, the Supper; on Fridays, the
Crucifixion; on Saturdays, the tomb; on Sundays, the resurrection: That means
that for our Lord to be born every day we need to go through transfiguration,
and continue every day until our own crucifixion, so that we die and resurrect.
This is our weekly reflection with the aim of getting our lives closer to the
life of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“The
members of our community work at the farm, which is ecological. They also do a
number of chores as a means of supporting themselves: some work directly in the
community and others in nearby cities as professors, chaplains, pastors,
carpenters, farmers, plumbers, drivers, etc. Some members of our Monastery are
celibates, but others live with their families on campus. All of us organize our
life communally, putting all our goods in a common pool.
“I
will leave you this prayer in which we try to express the purpose of our
“Community of Transfiguration”:
In the name of the non-violent God,
With the certainty of eternal life, proclaim gratitude from the
bottom of your heart.
Do not refuse anything,
consecrate everything.
Be loving to God, to your neighbour and to all of creation.
Do not judge anybody, do not even judge
yourself
Love beauty.
Keep inner silence in everything.
Be hospitable; make mistakes only out of generosity
Tell the truth before power, especially before power without
love
Make only your experience of evil suffer, not His
creation.
To inspire peace in the world you must first disarm your own
heart.
We only make an attempt; the rest is not our
business.
COMING ACTIVITIES
Graduation
week
Monday June 14th
3.00
p.m. Certificate-giving ceremony to the graduating students of the introductory
course for Sunday School Teachers
8.00
p.m. Consecration Worship
Wednesday, June 16th
10.00
a.m. Graduation Ceremony
Summer Biblical-Pastoral
Institute
It will be held on July
5-8th and theme for this year is “Diakonia”. All the people
interested in joining the Institute please, ask your pastors to send the
request and the letter of recommendation to the coordinator, Professor Daniel
Montoya Rosales intra@enet.cu or to
SET registrar set@enet.cu
NEWS
Opening of semi-residential
Baccalaureate on Theology
During the course 2010-2011 the program of
semi-residential Baccalaureate on Theology will take place in two
locations: in the province of Holguín and in Matanzas city at SET. All the
people interested in registering this program should
contact Dean Francisco Marrero Gutierrez, at his e-mail publiset@enet.cu
for more information.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President of the Board: P.P. Daniel Izquierdo
Hernández, Th.M.
Vice-President of the
Board: Bishop
Miguel Tamayo Zaldivar
Secretary of the
Board: P.
P. Ismael Madruga Sotolongo , Lic.
lll
Rector: Reinerio
Arce Valentín, Th.D.
Vice-rector:
Pablo Odén Marichal. Th.M
Dean: Francisco
Marrero Gutiérrez, Th.M.
Vice-Dean: Iván González Tassé, Th.M.
Chaplain: Marianela de la Paz Cot,
Th.D.
Daniel Montoya
Rosales, Th. M.
Clara L. Ajo Lázaro, Th.D, Theology, Sergio Arce Martínez, Ph.D, Theology, Dora E. Arce Valentín, Th.M, Biblical Sciences, Reinerio Arce Valentín, Th.D, Theology, Carlos M. Camps Cruell, Ped.D. Theology, Alina Camps Iglesias, Lic, Complementary Courses, F. René Castellanos Morente, Ph.D, Biblical Sciences, Nelson A. Dávila Rodríguez, Sc.M. Practical
Theology, Marianela de la Paz Cot, Th.D, Practical Theology, Iván González Tassé, Th.M. Practical
Theology, Adolfo Ham Reyes, Ph.D. Philosophy and History, Odén Marichal Rodríguez, Th.M. Philosophy and History, Francisco Marrero Gutiérrez, Th.M. Biblical Sciences, Héctor Méndez Rodríguez, D.Min. Practical Theology, Daniel Montoya Rosales, Th.M. Practical Theology, Ofelia Ortega Suárez, D.D.h.c. Theology.
VISITING PROFESSORS
Prof. Ildefonso Acosta Escobar Music, Prof. Wil Arts, Ph.M. Practical Theology, Dra. Mercedes Cárdenas Hodelins Complementary Courses, Carlos Expósito Irarragorri, Lic. Complementary Courses, Esther
Fuentes Oliva, Th.M. Practical Theology, Carlos R. Molina Rodríguez, Lic. Philosophy and History, Sonia Montes de Oca Castellanos, Lic. Complementary Courses, Orestes Roca Santana, Th.M. Biblical Sciences, Dr. Min. Francisco Rodés González Philosophy and History, Daylíns Rufín Pardo, Th.M. Biblical Sciences, Prof. Hans Spinder Philosophy and History, Iraida Trujillo Lima, Lic. Complementary Courses.
Reinerio Arce Valentín, Th.D.
Edition, Design and typesetting
Elizabeth González R., Ing.
Writing
Rosa Bahamonde
Fernández, Sc.M.
Elizabeth González R., Ing.
Photography:
Jesús Martínez
León
Calle Dos de Mayo Final,
Apartado 1439, Matanzas, Cuba
(: (53-45)
24-2866 ext. 34
http://www.cuba-theological-seminary.com/
Hinicio