The ELCA’s Latino Ministries Association released a report on the situation with Rev. Nelson Rabell González on Nov. 15. Finally, the ELCA will listen to the Latina women.
On Nov. 15, 2022, the Asociación de Ministerios Latinos de la ELCA (Latino Ministries Association of the ELCA) released a report about Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton’s visit to the community of Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina. On Oct. 13, 2022, ten months after the abrupt firing of Rev. Nelson Rabell González by former bishop Megan Rohrer and his removal from Misión Latina Luterana in Stockton, Calif., Bishop Eaton finally decided to listen to the Latina women.
The Backstory
Full disclosure: I am an ordained minister in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and Rev. Nelson Rabell González is my friend and colleague. I am writing this piece to help tell his story so that the truth can be known, and justice can finally come to him and his congregation.
As I explained in this piece, when Rev. Nelson was still serving as Associate Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lodi, Calif., two Latina women shared with him that they were harassed by someone at the church. Rev. Nelson had been called to the congregation to begin a Spanish ministry in 2018 but found the congregation and community increasingly hostile to his efforts to advocate for immigrants and migrant workers, as well as his outspoken stance calling out racism in the community.
When the women confided in Pastor Nelson that a particular individual was harassing them, he reported this to the senior pastor.
But instead of addressing this problem, the leadership of the church intended to fire him, a whistleblower. To make matters worse, they tried to get him to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) which would silence him from talking about his experiences of racism in the congregation and community as well as the women’s stories.
Rev. Nelson refused to sign the NDA and resigned on his own from St. Paul on Feb. 28, 2021.
On March 1, Bishop Mark Holmerud assigned him the role of a mission developer to start a Latiné ministry in nearby Stockton. Less than a week later, St. Paul brought in the former intern, Rev. Frances Le Bas, to replace Rev. Nelson. Simultaneously, Rev. Nelson began Misión Latina Luterana, and the Latiné members of St. Paul left that congregation in order to join the new mission start.
Then in May of 2021, Rev. Le Bas made allegations at the Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly that Rev. Nelson had verbally harassed her. This torpedoed Rev. Nelson’s candidacy for bishop and began a year-long ordeal of unsubstantiated accusations, snowballing rumors of multiple victims, and racist attacks against Rev. Nelson, his family, and his congregation. Rev. Nelson steadfastly maintained his innocence and repeatedly asked to be subjected to a disciplinary process which he insisted would clear his name. He believed that if investigators would listen to the Latina women of his congregation, the truth behind the accusations against him would come to light. However, this request was refused by both Bishop Holmerud and his successor, Bishop Megan Rohrer.
Rev. Nelson’s request for an investigation was also refused by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton in November of 2021.
Rev. Nelson’s lawyer submitted a letter requesting that Bishop Eaton intervene due and investigate Rohrer’s conduct, alleging violations of the ELCA’s Constitution. But the request for an intervention was denied.
The situation came to a head on Dec. 12, 2021, the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
On that day, Bishop Rohrer donned a bullet-proof vest, marched into the sanctuary with two assistants, and took over the worship service. (Bullet-proof vest? Yep, read page 11 of this report.) As described in this piece, Dec. 12, 2021, will live in ELCA infamy as the day an Afro-Puerto Rican pastor was unjustly dismissed from his position and the congregation invaded by a colonialist ecclesial system that demeaned, disrespected, and destroyed a vibrant Latiné congregation. The parishioners left in protest, marching out with the statue of the Virgin, the flowers, and the cross.
Two months later, Rev. Nelson was removed from the ELCA roster without any due process. By March 2022, allies of Rev. Nelson were calling for an investigation of Bishop Rohrer due to multiple allegations of misconduct. Some of these allegations were about Rohrer’s conduct with Rev. Nelson and Misión Latina Luterana. But other allegations had to do with Rohrer’s former congregation, Grace Lutheran, regarding financial malfeasance.
In the midst of it all, the congregation of Misión Latina Luterana was given neither pastoral care by the synod nor pastoral coverage.
The synod stopped financial support of the congregation, effectively snuffing out the church. Nevertheless, the congregation decided to incorporate as an independent Lutheran church in the state of California with Rev. Nelson as their pastor. They chose the name Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina, St. Mary the Pilgrim Lutheran Church, in honor of the Virgin Mary who accompanied them when they were exiled from the ELCA. They began worshiping at a local church which graciously opened its doors to the embattled congregation.
Meanwhile, due to growing pressure to address the situation, Bishop Eaton finally agreed to convene a Listening Panel on March 8, 2022.
Their purpose was to review the actions of Bishop Rohrer with regard to Misión Latina Luterana. As I explain in this piece, among the many egregious actions committed that day, Rohrer threatened a 10-year-old Latina child with a racist verbal assault.
But instead of immediately suspending Rohrer and filing disciplinary charges, Bishop Eaton merely asked Rohrer to resign, which Rohrer refused. Rohrer was allowed to preside at the 2022 Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly with Bishop Eaton in attendance. As I reported in this piece, Rev. Nelson was slandered by multiple people on the Assembly floor, and Bishop Eaton did nothing to stop it. Nevertheless, Rohrer resigned shortly afterward, and Rev. Claire Burkat was assigned as Interim Bishop of the Synod.
The truth begins to emerge
After Bishop Burkat visited the congregation of Santa Maria Peregrina in July 2022 and began listening to the people, the truth began to emerge. As I explain in this piece, the allegations of Rev. Nelson abusing multiple women were not only unsubstantiated, they were, in fact, completely fabricated by Rohrer. According to the Asociación’s Nov. 15 report, Rohrer is currently under investigation for this, as well as multiple other allegations.
The ELCA Apology to Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina
At the 2022 Churchwide Assembly in August 2022, members of Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina were invited to receive an apology from Bishop Eaton on behalf of the ELCA. In many ways, the saga of Rev. Nelson Rabell and his congregation went from a moment to a movement in the ELCA. This resulted in several actions by the Churchwide Assembly to right many of the wrongs within the ecclesial systems and structures that this case revealed or highlighted. (Read: From a Moment to a Movement: Rev. Nelson Rabell’s Saga and the ELCA Churchwide Assembly.)
Then, on Oct. 13, 2022, Bishop Eaton finally went to visit Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina. She was joined by Sierra Pacific Synod Interim Bishop Claire Burkat; the president of the Latino Ministries Association of the ELCA, Roberto Lara; and the senior advisor for New Ministry Development, Christian Community, and Leadership Home Area of the ELCA, the Rev. Ruben Duran. According to the report, the purpose of the visit was to “practice holy listening with the community (including its pastor, the Rev. Nelson Rabell-González, and his family) and continue the reparations affirmed during the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.”
Listen to the Latina Women
During this visit, the Latina women engaged in a pastoral conversation with Bishop Eaton and Bishop Burkat. The women shared that they had reported allegations of harassment to Rev. Nelson. In turn, he had reported this to key congregational leaders, as well as to the synod Advisory Panel, two bishops, and ELCA leadership. However, those reports were neglected and ignored. According to the Asociación’s report, “At the end of this pastoral conversation, Bishop Burkat noted that this information was crucial for the new investigation process and needed to be shared with her new investigation team for close scrutiny.”
“I tried to tell you.”
Let’s be very clear. As soon as he had evidence in the summer of 2020, Rev. Nelson repeatedly told the leadership at several levels of the ELCA about the allegations of harassment made by the Latina women of his congregation against the man at St. Paul. And none of them – not a one – followed up with any investigation. Here is the list of people to whom Rev. Nelson reported the allegations of harassment.
- Rev. Mark Price, Senior Pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lodi, Calif.
- A Council member of St. Paul
- Former Sierra Pacific Bishop Mark Holmerud
- Rev. Anita Warner, chair of the Advisory Panel, and the four panel members assigned by Bishop Holmerud
- Former Bishop Megan Rohrer
- Two Assistants to the Bishop of Megan Rohrer, Rev. Hazel Salazar-Davidson and Rev. Tita Valeriano
- Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
This is 12 — twelve people who Rev. Nelson Rabell asked, begged, and pleaded to listen to the Latina women about what they endured.
In fact, the Advisory Panel relegated the allegations to the dustbin with this sentence: “The Advisory Panel does not have recommendations regarding follow-up on these allegations but feel they should be noted.” This was in the report they submitted in June 2021, which Rev. Nelson was only permitted to see the day before Bishop Eaton’s visit in October 2022. Disturbingly, the Advisory Panel report did not note any interviews with a single member of Rev. Nelson’s Latiné congregation in their “listening sessions.”
Not only is it a travesty of justice that Rev. Nelson became the target of retaliation and the subject of fraudulent accusations, the fact that no one would listen to the Latina women is yet one more indication of the deep racism embedded within this denomination.
Don’t blame “social media”
It is precisely because no one would listen to the Latina women and Rev. Nelson that I have written these blog pieces (23 and counting). I know that some have complained that this situation “should not have been litigated on social media.” But remember, Rev. Nelson tried to address these multiple situations since 2020 within the channels of the ELCA. But no one would listen to him.
Note also that I had asked him to allow me to tell his story as early as May of 2021, but he declined because he truly believed that someone within the ELCA hierarchy would eventually do the right thing and listen to the Latina women. It was only when Bishop Rohrer attacked his congregation on Dec. 12, 2021, that he allowed me to share his story.
Justice delayed is justice denied
Now, here we are, nearly a year later. It has taken hundreds, perhaps thousands of advocates across the ELCA and beyond to raise their voices demanding justice. Finally, the ELCA is listening to the Latina women. The delay in this process is unconscionable. But at least it is slowly moving in the right direction.
That being the case, some may be angry that we are continuing to shine a light on this situation with Rev. Nelson and his congregation. “The ELCA is doing the right thing now, so why keep airing our dirty laundry? You’re hurting the church by doing this.”
Here’s why. The fact is, Rev. Nelson’s situation is but one of many instances where the ELCA has mistreated clergypersons and congregations of color. If we don’t continue to tell the truth and push for justice, there can be no healing now or in the future. And without structural changes, these kinds of injustices will keep happening. Just as there was a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, so there needs to be an equivalent in the ELCA. A key reason for these articles has been to call for that truth-telling to happen, not just for Rev. Nelson and his congregation, but for the whole denomination. (See also: The Corporate Captivity of the ELCA.)
Hurting the church?
As for hurting the church, ask yourself this. Why is the damage caused to Rev. Nelson and his congregation an acceptable sacrifice for the sake of protecting a denomination? Didn’t it already hurt the church to falsely accuse a pastor and assassinate his character? Didn’t it hurt the church when a small mission congregation of Latinés was ripped from the denomination and left to fend for itself?
If we truly believe Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:22-23, then we will honor those that seem to be weaker and less honorable by treating them with respect and dignity. And one of the ways to do this is to listen to them. Listen to the Latina women. Do not silence their story. Do not silence their truth.
As Jesus proclaimed, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 14:6). If we cower from the truth, then we do not actually believe in the words of Jesus. We will continue to love our religious institution and its embedded racism more than Jesus Christ. Certainly, that is a form of idolatry that none of us wants to perpetuate.
Our hope
Our hope is that by the one-year anniversary of that fateful day in December, the investigation will be concluded, and the truth known by all. Rev. Nelson and his congregation are planning a worship service for El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe on Dec. 11 that will serve as a celebration of justice, healing, restoration, and reparations.
In the meantime, we pray for the Investigation Team appointed by Bishop Burkat that they may learn the facts, discern the truth, and share that truth with full transparency.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, she will guide you into all the truth; for she will not speak on her own, but will speak whatever she hears, and she will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Read also:
Sierra Pacific Synod Attacks Rev. Nelson – and Indicts Itself (Feb. 19, 2022)
Accusations and Racist False Flags: Rev. Nelson’s Saga is not Unique (Feb. 20, 2022)
Bishop Rohrer and Rev. Rabell-González: The ELCA’s Double, Triple Standard (March 14, 2022)
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is ordained in the ELCA. She does not speak for the ELCA; her opinions are her own. She is the author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and co-wrote Apocalypse When?: A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts (Wipf & Stock, 2020). Her book, Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation, co-written with Jerry L. Sumney and Emily Askew, will be released by Rowman & Littlefield in March 2023.
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