Toronto Church calls first Filipino Hispanic pastor

Toronto Church calls first Filipino Hispanic pastor

For two years now, Rafael Vallejo has been serving with the congregation at Queen East as their Lay Minister. This urban church with 135 years of history is today a multi-racial, intercultural faith community that seeks to become a “house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7) using community organization as a tool for mission.

The people of Leslieville know Rafael as a street pastor who walks with the homeless, the migrants, the drug dependents, the prostitutes, the youth and the elderly. He also speaks gospel with the many local business owners, artists and young professionals that congregate in coffee shops, bars, restaurants and vintage boutiques in this trendy Toronto neighborhood bounded by Little India, Greektown, and East Chinatown and the Beaches.

The ordination service for Rafael will be held at his home church, Knox’s Galt Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, Ontario on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 3:00 in the afternoon. He will be the first Filipino Hispanic Canadian in Ontario to be ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The week after on October 21, 2012 at 3 PM Rafael will be the first Filipino Pastor to be inducted at Queen St East Presbyterian Church. All the others that preceded him are of Anglo ancestry. Filipino communities in the Greater Toronto area are invited to attend this event which is open to the public.

The Presbyterian Church in Canada has its roots in the Church of Scotland and stands in the Reformed Tradition of the Christian Church. It currently has about 1,000 congregations in Canada with members coming from many national and racial backgrounds.

Contact Person: Rafael Vallejo 1344 Eleanor Avenue Cambridge ON N3H4N2 Telephone: 519-653-8136.

(PRESS RELEASE)