Rev. Carmen Rosario speaks at the Racial Ethnic Seminarians Conference. Photo by Eugene Ansah. "Hope for the church”

The Rev. Carmen Rosario

New York, N.Y. , December 2008 – Among the many notable alumni affiliations claimed and cherished by the Rev. Carmen Rosario, it is the honor of being a “graduate” of the PC(USA)’s Annual Racial Ethnic Seminarians Conference that she perhaps values most.

“My participation in that conference is very close to my heart,” said Rosario, one of the first Hispanic women to be ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  “It’s an important conference that exposes racial ethnic seminarians to the realities of ministry.”

Rosario, a recipient of the 2006 Women of Faith Award who has held pastorates in Illinois and New Jersey, currently serves the Fort Washington Heights Presbyterian Church in New York City.  First invited to attend the Racial Ethnic Seminarians Conference in 1981 while a first-year M.Div. student at McCormick Theological Seminary, she later returned to the conference in 1985 to share her experiences as a new pastor, and again in 2008 as a leader and member of the planning team.

“Going back 23 years, I remember Charles Marks like it was yesterday,” she said, referencing one of her conference mentors, who is now chaplain and associate professor of Ministry at San Francisco Theological Seminary.  “He gave me as a token a home Communion set, which I still use with my members today.  We stay in touch.  The whole community keeps close.”

Rev. Rosario with Seminarians at the Conference.  Photo by Jewel McRae. The annual conference—which has been sponsored continuously for the past 31 years by the General Assembly Mission Council and in the past year jointly with the Office of the General Assembly—offers up to two students annually from each of ten Presbyterian theological institutions and two Presbyterian-related seminaries an opportunity to build a support base, to learn how to meet the national and regional requirements of the preparation for ministry process, to share learnings and experiences about seminary life, and to maintain an informed sensitivity to racial ethnic issues and concerns in the church.

Among the conference’s alumni are the Rev. Dr. Steven Toshio Yamaguchi, executive presbyter of Los Ranchos Presbytery, the Rev. Byron Wade, vice moderator of the 218th General Assembly, the Rev. Gloria Tate, and the Rev. Mary Paik.

In November 2008, the conference welcomed to the Ghost Ranch Conference Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 24 students selected and nominated by their respective seminaries—reflecting African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American backgrounds—members of the national staff of the General Assembly Council (GAMC) and the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), and volunteer conference leadership, including Rosario’s colleagues on the planning team, the Rev. Neal Presa and the Rev. Wayne Steele.  All conference expenses—including transportation, room and board—are covered in full for each seminarian through the Sidney and Lillian Harris Fund, which remains open to ongoing gifts through an Extra Commitment Opportunity.

While students praised the conference for having “demystified” some things for them, particularly the standard ordination examinations, Rosario also cited their positive response in hearing about the practical side and the challenges of ministry.

“One of the students told me, ‘I never learned in seminary to be a plumber or to deal with the boiler that breaks down in the winter on the coldest day of the year,’” she said.  “The students appreciated being exposed to the daily tasks we do as racial ethnic ministers.”

Evelyn Hwang, associate for Preparation for Ministry, who with colleagues, Jewel McRae, associate for Church Leadership Connection Administration and Racial Ethnic Referral, and Curtis Kearns, executive administrator of the General Assembly Council, serve as GAMC/OGA staff resource persons for the conference, emphasized the Presbyterian connectional system as being critical to the annual conference’s success.  “Our participants are selected by the Holy Spirit,” Hwang said.  “Our partnership with the seminaries is an important element in the discernment process.”

Despite the many hours of preparation and leadership required of her, Rosario found that she left the conference feeling surprisingly refreshed.  “I left with hope for the church,” she said, “having seen especially the younger generation of seminarians, their desire and their commitment about the call.”

“There are still possibilities for our church,” Rosario said.