‘A church without walls’ Gilberto Quesada Mora, president of the Iglesia Luterana Costarricense (ILCO, Costa Rican Lutheran Church), has a similar understanding of evangelism to Orn’s. It starts with walking with others and advocating for their needs. “The principle form of invitation that we


extend is when we place ourselves along certain populations and walk with them. This can be in a public march, in a demonstration or also in a religious activity,” Quesada Mora said. “By acting naturally and being authentic, we make ourselves known in a different way.” The church centers its mission on the most


vulnerable: indigenous people, urban poor, peasant farmers, Nicaraguan immigrants, and people living with HIV and AIDS.


When she was 14 and living in her home country of Nicaragua, she heard a Costa Rican missionary speak in worship. “I felt the need to raise my hand in response to God’s call to serve as a missionary,” she said. Ten years later she found herself in Costa Rica studying theology. Now 32, she is the first female pastor to be ordained by the ILCO in 25 years. When asked why she joined the Lutheran church,


she said, “I felt the need to talk about a liberating God, a loving God, about a God who walks on the side of people, to see God’s reflection in each one of them.” This commitment to social justice has been the


hallmark of her ministry—for five years she worked in Costa Rica’s Sarapiquí region with the church’s ministry among migrant children and mothers. An ELCA grant helps fund work to build up more leaders like Álvarez Rocha. The project “is a


Photo: ELCA/Raquel Rodriguez


Members of the Costa Rican Lutheran Church participate in a demonstration alongside other citizens. Founded in 1988, the ILCO has seven


congregations and nine mission points with approximately 500 members. Quesada Mora estimates that it accompanies an additional 500 people through various ministries. “The Costa Rican Lutheran Church has taken


upon itself the historical challenge of accompanying and furthering the struggle to defend the human rights of [impoverished and marginalized],” Quesada Mora said. “What moves the Lutheran church is not the immediate affiliation of new members, but rather the accompaniment of processes that free people from historic bonds, be they religious, political, social and even cultural.” The church’s commitment to personal witness


and accompaniment (see page 17) has drawn people in. “For years our motto was ‘a church without walls,’ ” said Geraldina Álvarez Rocha, pastor, feminist theologian and human rights activist in the ILCO. “When people heard that, they immediately became interested out of curiosity.” Raised in the Church of the Nazarene, Álvarez Rocha felt called to pastoral work at an early age.


20 JULY 2016


proposal for the empowerment of the church, above all the empowerment of congregational leaders, working in five major areas of church life—organi- zation, leadership formation, liturgy, sustainable stewardship and infrastructure,” she said. One of the biggest challenges facing the ILCO,


she said, is how it can distinguish itself from nongovernmental organizations. In her work, Álvarez Rocha wants the church to move from providing services to lifting up initiatives developed by community members. “Without a doubt, I believe that the most


exciting part is the fact that we have proven we can be a church that tries to reform itself in time and space,” she said. “We are a church that is moving forward with strength, slowly but surely.”


Download a study guide by clicking on the “Spiritual practices & resources” tab at LivingLutheran.org. Find this story on the website to watch a video interview with Rahel Mwitula-Williams.


Strybis is an associate editor of Living Lutheran and a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Chicago.


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