MacArthur Park Lutheran Church

 Pastor Ricardo Jimenez-Reyes

One of the things I really like and love most about being a Lutheran Christian is that we proclaim we are saved by grace through faith. Because we are freed from the burden of having to save ourselves, we can focus our attention on the needs of our neighbor--not because we need to earn God's love, but simply because others need our care and support. When we recognize that our salvation is God's doing--an act of grace--we can turn our gaze outward and respond to the needs of the world, doing acts of mercy to alleviate pain and suffering, and working out of love for transformation and justice.

I am a native of the archipelago of Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean and a third generation Lutheran. After graduating from Sacred Heart University, Puerto Rico in 1988, I received a Master on Counseling Psychology at Interamerican University of PR in 2003 and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University in Puerto Rico in 2006. I worked as a community clinical psychologist in different organizations in Puerto Rico, California, and Florida. Also, I owned a private practice which provided mental health services -individual, families, couples, and group psychotherapy. I graduated from Luther Seminary in MN where he completed an MDiv in 2021. I was ordained at Christ the King Lutheran Church in August 2021. I was installed at MacArthur Park Lutheran Church in September 2021. I live in Selma with my husband Ramon Rivera-Torres, who works as a Pharmacist at the Veterans Administration. 

A guiding quote for my life and ministry comes from Gustavo Gutierrez. “Neighbor is not ‘the person’ whom I find in my path, but rather ‘the person’ in whose path I place myself, ‘the person’ whom I approach and actively seek.”