January 2026
Reverend Luis Gonzalez and Reverend Cruz Guerrero were ordained and installed as Associate Pastors at Iglesia Evangelica
Luteran San Pablo in Aurora, Illinois on December 14, 2025.
The Rite of Ordination was presided by Rev. Dr. Allan Buss, President of the LCMS Northern Illinois District, and the sermon was preached by Rev. James Buckman, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church of Lake Forest, Illinois.
Both Reverend Gonzalez and Reverend Guerrero completed studies through the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
NIDnews.org was able to ask the newly ordained and installed pastors a couple of questions: In this moment, what is God placing on your heart for the people you are called to serve? What prayer would you ask the Church to hold for you as you being this ministry?
Rev. Guerrero said, “With the help of the Holy Spirit of God, [it is placed on my heart] to always serve with love and dedication, to care for the Lord’s Church
with compassion, sharing the Gospel of salvation and the sacraments with joy.” He asks that the Church would pray for guidance, strength, and wisdom.
Rev. Gonzalez’s responded “God is placing on my heart a desire to faithfully proclaim Christ crucified and risen, so that the people I serve may be grounded in God’s grace through Word and Sacrament, and live with home and confidence in His promises. I ask the Church to pray that I would remain faithful to the Gospel, serve with humility, depend fully on God’s grace, and shepherd His people according to His will.”
All glory be to Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of shepherds, who calls and sends His servants into the holy ministry.“Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8
We welcome Rev. Gonzalez and Rev. Guerrero and their families to their new calls to the LCMS Northern Illinois District!
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