OUR STAFF

Dr. Jesse Miranda

Dr. Jesse Miranda is an international Christian leader with a firm commitment to the Latino church, community and civic engagement.  He is a noted community leader and religious educator with expertise and extensive background in the areas of leadership, social ethics, reconciliation and theological education.

Dr. Miranda has served as President of Alianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales (AMEN) and as a Professor at Vanguard University and Azusa Pacific University.  Presently, he serves as an Executive Presbyter of the General Council of the Assemblies of God and as CEO of (NHCLC) National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

Dr. Miranda has written two books, The Christian Church in Ministry and Liderazgo y Amistad (Leadership and Friendship), co-director of the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life research project, co-editor of Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States and contributor to Realidades Hispanas Que Impactan America.

Email: jesse@mirandacenter.org

Rev. Fernando Tamara

Rev. Fernando Tamara is the Director and Research Assistant of The Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership, where he first began working in 2001. An Assemblies of God ordained minister who planted a church, The Way Christian Center, after he earned a BA from Vanguard University (2001, Pastoral Ministries) and served in multiple positions in ecclesial leadership for more than 15 years. His research and teaching interest focus on the interaction of culture, religion, society, and leadership. Among the issues he explores are theological developments in the Hispanic culture, civic spirituality in the Latino communities, and spiritual movements in religion (particularly the glossolalic phenomenon).

Rev. Tamara's highlighted career took him by surprise when he became the youngest Hispanic pastor to be ordained in the Southern California area. While he studied and completed his master degree (2003, Christian Leadership), he performed missionary work in Guatemala and Peru. He was the recipient of several recognitions throughout his academic life, in both undergraduate and graduate program. His distinctive roles as Teaching Assistant in in the areas of management, leadership, philosophy, literature, and theology at graduate level have consolidated his foundational principles of morality as educator, researcher, and pastor.

Rev. Tamara is also a credentialed school teacher, interdenominational seminary professor, and laity empowerment instructor. He worked as adjunct Spanish professor at VUSC and currently serves as theology professor at The Latin American Theological Seminary and The Latin American Bible Institute (Academic Dean & Spiritual Formation Director, 2007-2009).

Having been born and raised in Peru, Rev. Fernando Tamara is the prototype of a bicultural, bilingual, and bi-vocational leadership, nurtured and shaped in the US.
           
Email: fernando@mirandacenter.org