Interesting times demand interesting solutions. With an ordination scheduled and a limit on the size of gatherings, Eli Rojas Jr. and the Carolina Conference Ministerial Department collaborated to meet the challenge. Family, Conference officers, and church members all wanted to be present, so the service was relocated from Rojas’ local church in Elizabeth City, N.C., to Charlotte, N.C., Central Spanish Church where there was space to distance and internet to stream the service to everyone who wanted to join.
This was of significance because Rojas’ father, Eli Rojas Sr., had served as pastor at Charlotte Central, where Rojas had spent many of his teenage years. Just blocks away, a horrific automobile accident had led Rojas to make a serious commitment to Christ and his direction in life, resulting in a call to ministry.
Rojas has a rich heritage of ministry in his family — his father (Rojas Sr.), maternal grandfather (Minner Labrador Sr.), and paternal great-grandfather (Ananias Gonzalez) all served as pastors — with the most recent three generations working in the Carolina Conference.
Eli Sr. delivered the message of the hour, alternately in English and then in Spanish with each paragraph. Before Leslie Louis, Conference president, and Haskell Williams, Conference ministerial director, placed the mantle of responsibility on Rojas Jr., his grandfather, Labrador, shared pertinent advice. The most memorable and touching part of the ceremony was when Labrador gave to Rojas Jr. his personal baptismal robe. The respect and affection the younger man has for his grandfather was abundantly evident. Meanwhile, Minner Labrador Jr. (former pastor of Charlotte Sharon Church), was watching with great interest from the West Coast via internet streaming.
Rojas Jr. will continue ministry with the validation of his call to ministry from the World Church. He also takes up the additional responsibility of serving as director of singles ministries within the Carolinas.
Carolina | December 2020
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