Evangelical Seminary of Theology
Matanzas
EVENTS /NOVEMBER 2009
Credits
Contacts Leadership
Professor Interviews
REGIONAL COURSES FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER
TRAINING
TITLES OF EMERITUS PROFESSORS AWARDED
NEW COURSE IN THE MASTER DEGREE PROGRAM
NATIONAL MEETING OF BIBLICAL, SOCIAL,
THEOLOGICAL AND PASTORAL REFLECTION ON ISSUES OF WOMEN, MASCULINITY AND GENDER.
COMMUNITY LECTURES
THEY CAME AND STAYED WITH
US………
CULTURAL GATHERING AT SET LIBRARY
VISITORS
MEETING OF THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD COMMISION
AT SET
REGIONAL
COURSES FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER TRAINING
In November SET
Christian Education School continued in the regional course for Sunday school
teacher training at the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Luyanó. 25 people are
enrolled: 11, from the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba, 8 from the
Presbyterian 
Reformed
Church of Cuba, 4 from the Episcopal Church, 1 from the Methodist Church and 1
from the Free Evangelical Church. In this meeting Professor Dora Arce Valentín
taught the subject matter “New Testament”
This
course for teacher training also continued at the San Nicolás de Bari
Presbyterian Church in November. This time Professor Dora Arce
Valentín taught the subject matter “New Testament”. 21 people are
enrolled in this course: 16, from the Presbyterian – Reformed Church, 2
from Western Baptist Church, 2 from the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba
and 1 from the Catholic Church.
TITLE OF
EMERITUS PROFESSORS AWARDED
As agreed
by SET Board of Direction the degree and title of Emeritus Professor was
awarded to Professor Dr. Francisco Rene Castellano Morente in view to all the years
devoted to the training and formation of pastors in our Seminary. Likewise, the
official title of Emeritus Professor was awarded to Dr. Sergio Arce
Martínez, He had already received it in previous years. These professors were
acknowledged by the Teacher Association of among the relevant professors of the
20th century. Our congratulations!
NEW COURSE
IN THE MASTER DEGREE PROGRAM
On
November 16 2009, a new course on the Master Degree Program started
with an enrolment of 11 students from the following churches: 2, from the
Adventists of the Seventh Day, 1 from the Church of God, 1 from the
Nazarene Church, 1 from the Pentecostal Church of the Good 
News, 2
from the Evangelical Church New Pine Trees, 1 from the Presbyterian-Reformed
Church of Cuba, 1 from the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela, 2 from the
Cuban Fraternity of Baptist Churches, three subject matters were included
in this first meeting.
Dr. Ivone
Gebara – Brazilian, the author of many articles and books, with a PhD in
Philosophy and Theology, stated about the course she taught on
“Philosophy of Religion”; “Many times Theology presupposes
that the basic concepts come straight from God. We do not try to find out were
our theological and religious beliefs come from. That is the reason why I am
working on the phenomenology of religion. It means, in trying to find the
complexity of the religious phenomenon in the most ordinary
components of human life”.
And she
concluded; “Since the time of official Christianity theology has been
conceived from the point of view of idealistic philosophy and it became a set
of rigid concepts consecrated as God’s will. There is now a crisis of
traditional Christianity in many parts of the world. But we tend to think
that what we call Christian faith has to do with daily things, highlighting the
divine, the presence of love in relations; and that is why I intend to make a
different reading of Christianity based on the values of human existence. These
are some of the challenges of the Philosophy of Religion that we study”
Dr. in
Religious Sciences Jung Mo Sung –a Brazilian Catholic
theologian of Korean ancestors delivered the course “Theology and
Education”. Dr. Jung, the author of many books, studied in the Enterprise
Management School. He also has a degree in Philosophy and Theology. He is
specialized in the relationship between economy and theology, at present he is
a professor at the Methodist University of Sao Paulo and an advisor of
grass-root communities and of the ecumenical movement. About his subject matter
he stated; “the aim of this course is to study that revelation is not the
transmission of information, but a pedagogical process where human beings learn
how to learn, to be more human.”
Another
course in this program was “Spirituality and pastoral counselling. The
relevance of ritual in pastoral care” delivered by SET professor, Rev.
Dr. Marianela de la Paz Cot. She has a Doctoral degree in Medicine (From the
University of Santiago de Cuba) and another in Practical Theology (Escuela
Superior de Teología, Sao Leopoldo, and Brasil.) About her course she stated;
my purpose is to analyze the religious and church context from the point of
view of the pastoral rituals. Some of the questions that lead to this
reflection are the following: Has the church neglected the healing power of its
rituals and given priority to the rigidity of tradition, rather than facing the
new challenges arising in the communities? Do the people feel they are being
accompanied by the liturgical experience with all its different rituals, or
not? The main objective is to reflect critically on the ritual practice of the
church and its relevance for pastoral care.”
NATIONAL
MEETING OF BIBLICAL, SOCIAL, THEOLOGICAL AND PASTORAL EFLECTION ON ISSUES OF
WOMEN, MASCULINITY AND GENDER.
THE
NATIONAL MEETING OF BIBLICAL, SOCIAL, THEOLOGICAL AND PASTORAL REFLECTION ON 
ISSUES OF
WOMEN, MASCULINITY AND GENDER was held from November 10-13 in our Seminary and it
was summoned by the Program of Women and Gender of the Council of Churches of
Cuba (CIC) , The Christian Institute of Gender Studies (ICEG), the Memorial
Center Martin Luther King and SET. The event coordinators were Dr. Ofelia Ortega
Suárez, Rev. Raquel Suárez Rodés, Moraima González Ortiz and
Alicia Sevila Delgado.
Among its
participants were leaders and collaborators of programs of ecumenical
institutions and organizations with a focus on issues of women, the family and
society, who are looking for justice and gender equity. The meeting was
honoured by the participation of well known feminist theologians such as
Ivone Gebara from Brazil, Rebeca Montemayor, from Mexico and Dr. Ortega,
as well as the national Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) represented by
Mariela Castro Espín- Center director - and Zulendris Kindelán Arias
–Juridical Advisor. Both delivered
The
sessions of this event consisted in spaces for reflection, worships, Bible
studies, presentations by theologians and guest Bible scholars, workshops,
lectures, group work and plenary sessions. The work of the participants allowed
us to reflect on how to build more horizontal and full relations in the midst
of the complexity of our social and church context and the global crisis the world
is going through. There was an appraisal of the different ways in which
pastoral work takes place from these perspectives, sharing dreams, identifying
obstacles threats and opportunities on the issues of women, the family and
society, always in the search of justice and gender equity.
The event
ended with a sermon by Rebeca Montemayor in the ecumenical worship held at the
First Baptist Church of Matanzas as part of the Commemorating Period of the
World Council of Churches of Non Violence towards Women.
COMMUNITY
LECTURES
Also in
November professors and students in our center participated in two open
meetings with guest speakers: Ivone Gebara, a Brazilian Feminist Theologian
– on November 17 and Jung Mo Sung, a Brazilian Catholic Theologian on
November 26th.
THEY CAME AND STAYED
WITH US………
On
November 18th our community got together in the chapel
“Resurrection” to attend a beautiful worship organized by students
from Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay that were studying in different academic
programs at SET. As symbolic travellers, they stopped in Matanzas and then
prepared their luggage to continue their journey. Based on this theme
Gerson Acker y Joice Klein from Brasil; Eduardo Daniel Escobar and Lizbeth
Valencia from México and Susana López from Uruguay talked about their
experiences in Cuba and at SET through images, gestures, and symbols expressed
in their liturgy by means of a beautiful poetic and theological language.
These students
arrived here and stayed with us. They are still in the classrooms, gardens, the
bay….. We hear their voices that were trapped within our bodies, the
place where love lies.
CULTURAL
MEETING AT SET LIBRARY
In the
evening of November 23rd SET library put an end to silence, but this time it
was done in a different fashion. We made an imaginary cultural trip to Jamaica,
Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay and Cuba, guided by the students’ presentations.
They shared with the audience the warmth of their culture by letting us know
about their remembrances, dreams, gestures, habits, anecdotes, music, anthems
and poems. .. making us happy with the privilege of getting to know and
joyfully enjoying the others’ cultures. At the end we shared traditional
dishes of the different countries.
VISITORS
Brothers and sisters
of the First Presbyterian Church of North Palm Beach USA visited SET on
November 12th.
On November 16 SET
was visited by members of the Saint Charles Church, from the USA. They
made a tour around our premises and shared with the community at the cafeteria.
This church has a partnership with the Presbyterian –reformed Church of
Cárdenas.
We were
also visited on November 27th and 28th by Emily Thomas
and a group of brothers and sisters from the Afro-American church of
Brooklyn, New York.
MEETING OF
THE PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD COMMISION AT SET
A group of
brothers and sisters, presbyters of the Commission of Inter- church Affairs of
the Presbyterian Synod got together at SET on November 25th.
Ivonne Gebara
We had the
honour of welcoming in our institution the Brazilian PhD in Philosophy and
Theology Ivonne Gebara, an ecumenical Catholic nun, 
now retired but still working as
invited professor and counsellor in different universities and organizations of
various countries. As to her participation in the meeting of Nov. 10-13 held at
SET PhD Gebara stated: “My participation was provocative, as requested.
In the first place I worked on the mobility of the feminine identity. For
several years we have made a deconstruction of the feminine subject as
conceived and passed down to us by the patriarchal world: Women, seen as
“mothers” and as “human beings existing for the
others”. There was a change in which women could say: “Yes, we can
be mothers, but we have multiple identities that are always mutating.”
There is another problem: the fragmentation of identities. Anti-racist
struggle, the antimodels….. can make us lose a common view in the
struggle for the dignity of human beings. We should not create new
essentialisms by saying “I am Black. What defines me is being
Black” or “What defines me is being Indian.” This is
important, but this is part of our human condition. There are struggles that
are lost because people are defending these identities only. We need a
critical, regional and global view.”
“As
to this event, I believe that the initiative has been a success, a very
important happening in the current Cuban and Latin American contexts. It had to
do with feminisms and masculinities. There were Cuban theologians and students
and two foreign visitors: Rebeca Montemayor and me. The multidisciplinary
nature of the event was very important because Cuban people working in
psychology, sociology and law were invited. So this issue was seen from many
different points of view, and among the participants there were homosexuals,
heterosexuals, young people, and elderly people. That is, a very plural
audience who were interested and interesting. “
Rebeca Montemayor
Rebeca
Montemayor – a Mexican feminist theologian, Baptist pastor and professor
of the Baptist Seminary of Mexico- had two presentations in this meeting: the
lecture “Women Ministry and Gender Justice “ and the other was
called “Provocation” About these presentations she 
expressed;
“In the lecture I tackled the social and economic situation in Latin
America focusing on what gender, poverty, and gender violence mean as well as
some advice about how to carry out the women ministry in the churches and with
the people working in the communities. There are many commonalities; in Latin
America there are many similarities and a long road ahead of us. We need to
develop men’s and women’s awareness to do away with violence and
bring about equity. Many problems taking place in the churches came out in this
event. I was surprised by the enthusiasm and the number of young women pastors,
However, there is no gender equity yet. We have to struggle against the
established authority. “
“In
my second presentation” – theologian Montemayor continued- “I
was based on the experiences, ideas, points of view; that is, with
hermeneutics, with women’ and men’s interpretations. I think we
need a new reading from the perspective of gender, the bible, reality, Theology
and Ministry. I presented some methodological guidelines for reading with a
gender perspective. I elaborated four points: the body, human beings, daily
experience, the construction and reconstruction of texts, and how to present
the concept of biblical authority: society, the church, the school, the family,
etc. and find out what kinds of patriarchal authority exist in these
institutions.”
As
to the event she added; “It is an unprecedented event in Cuba. This is
very significant because this first meeting fulfilled the objective of knowing
and recognizing all the institutions working from the gender perspective, as
well as the experience of the new generations that are very well trained to
carry out this work. For me, it has been a great privilege to participate and
make my modest contribution to this event. “
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
President of the Board: P.P. Daniel Izquierdo Hernández,
Th.M.
Vice-President of the Board: Bishop Miguel
Tamayo Zaldivar
Secretary of the Board: P. P. Ismael Madruga Sotolongo , Lic.
lll
Rector: Reinerio Arce Valentín, Th.D.
Vice-rector: Pablo Odén
Marichal. Th.M
Dean: Francisco Marrero Gutiérrez, Th.M.
Vice-Dean:
Iván González Tassé, Th.M.
Chaplain: Marianela de la Paz Cot,
Th.D.
Daniel
Montoya Rosales, Th. M.
Clara L. Ajo Lázaro, Th.D, Theology, Sergio Arce Martínez, Ph.D, Theology, Dora E. Arce Valentín, Th.M, Biblical Sciences, Reinerio Arce Valentín, Th.D, Theology, Carlos M. Camps Cruell, Ped.D. Theology, Alina
Camps Iglesias, Lic, Complementary
Courses, F. René Castellanos Morente, Ph.D, Biblical Sciences, Nelson A. Dávila Rodríguez, Sc.M. Practical Theology, Marianela de la Paz Cot, Th.D, Practical Theology,
Iván González Tassé, Th.M. Practical Theology, Adolfo Ham
Reyes, Ph.D. Philosophy and History, Odén Marichal Rodríguez, Th.M. Philosophy and History, Francisco Marrero Gutiérrez, Th.M. Biblical Sciences, Héctor Méndez Rodríguez, D.Min. Practical Theology, Daniel
Montoya Rosales, Th.M. Practical Theology, Ofelia Ortega Suárez, D.D.h.c. Theology.
VISITING PROFESSORS
Prof. Ildefonso Acosta Escobar Music, Prof. Wil Arts, Ph.M. Practical Theology, Dra.
Mercedes Cárdenas Hodelins Complementary
Courses, Carlos Expósito Irarragorri, Lic.
Complementary Courses, Esther Fuentes Oliva, Th.M. Practical Theology, Carlos R. Molina Rodríguez, Lic. Philosophy and History, Sonia
Montes de Oca Castellanos, Lic. Complementary
Courses, Orestes Roca Santana, Th.M. Biblical Sciences, Dr. Min.
Francisco Rodés González Philosophy and
History, Daylíns Rufín Pardo, Th.M. Biblical Sciences, Prof. Hans Spinder Philosophy and
History, Iraida Trujillo Lima, Lic. Complementary Courses.
Reinerio Arce
Valentín, Th.D.
Edition, Design
and typesetting
Elizabeth
González R., Ing.
Writing
Rosa Bahamonde Fernández,
Sc.M.
Elizabeth
González R., Ing.
Photography:
Jesús Martínez León
Calle Dos de Mayo Final,
Apartado 1439, Matanzas, Cuba
(: (53-45) 24-2866 ext. 34
(53-45) 290575
http://www.cuba-theological-seminary.com/
Hinicio