Each week, Baptist Women in Ministry introduces an amazing minister. This week we are thrilled to introduce Patty Villarreal.
Patty, tell us about your current ministry role and share with us what it looks like to be in that ministry.
I am currently serving as a social work instructor for the Baptist University of the Américas (BUA). Celebrating my eleven year anniversary with BUA as an adjunct professor, I am privileged to share with the students my knowledge, experiences, and training I have received as a social worker for more than thirty-nine years. Even though they may not all become social workers, it is a joy to see students become enlightened and equipped in their paths on their journey as professional helpers.
I also serve as the development director for the Latina Leadership Institute (LLI). Under God’s guidance and with Dr. Nora Lozano, a systematic theologian and professor at BUA, we started the LLI, a training ministry to equip and nurture Latina leaders in the U.S. and Mexico. We celebrate ten years this year, and we were awarded a 501c3 status last year. This is a new role for me. I am learning so much about the role of development in non-profits.
As a member of Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas, I was surprised to be nominated and then blessed to be ordained in 2013 as the first Latina deacon. I was asked the year before to consider deaconship but my personal cultural biases kept me from seriously considering it. I had been trained that a woman could never be ordained by the church and even less, serve as a deacon or a pastor. My pastor and members of the church, lovingly nurtured me through my biases and helped me accept the call to serve as a deacon. Currently, I am serving as chair of the education committee and as a member of the church choir. I love the professionalism that our music leader expects of choir members. My skill and abilities have increased as a choir member!
Share with us your ministry journey.
My leadership mission statement is : “to maximize the potential of God given abilities and rights in children and women by serving as an agent of change to eliminate barriers that limits these gifts.” My calling and development as a social worker and ministry leader are intertwined.
I was raised in low-income ethnic neighborhoods. As a mission pastor’s daughter, we lived in the community we served. I remember a childhood of playing in unpaved streets, dusty back lots and walking to school crossings into nicer neighborhoods and paved roads. My African-American friends lived nearby, usually meeting up with us as we walked to school. Even as a child, I sensed something unjust in inequality of people and neighborhoods. It was the same situation as we moved several times to various pastorates my dad served.
When I began my university studies at Howard Payne University, I declared a major in elementary education, thinking I would be a classroom teacher. By my sophomore year, I felt a need to make a difference outside of the classroom. I wasn’t sure what a social worker did exactly but the pursuit of a social services career was clearly what I wanted to do. Within a year after graduation, God opened the door to begin my social work journey.
Buckner Baptist Benevolences (now Buckner International) provided a foundation and platform to serve ‘unto the least of these’. Now thirty-nine years later, it is a joy to serve as an agent of change and empowerment for the underserved. It may be a quiet voice or an “outspoken” voice that I use to maximize potential in people or speak out against injustice that creates barriers to their potential. I praise God that He has used me to serve as a leader of many “firsts” – first Latina or first Latina LMSW in a variety of leadership positions or initiatives that have been influential both in the faith and secular community that led to the advancement of others.
Tell us about one person you look up to in ministry and how their ministry has impacted and shaped your ministry.
It has to be my parents who are at the core of my leadership development by showing me that God loved me, wanted the best for me, and gives me the capacity to do whatever He calls me to do. They modeled servanthood and faithfulness in the joys and challenges of ministry. They have supported, encouraged, and motivated me as I have pursued my career and leadership journey. Especially with all the experiences as a social worker, I know I am truly blessed to have been raised by strong, healthy Christian parents!