The saga of Rev. Nelson Rabell-González begins with a series of secrets.

As reported in my first post on this story, Rev. Nelson Rabell-González (pronouns: he/him) was fired by Bishop Megan Rohrer (pronouns: they/them) as pastor of Misión Latina Luterana in Stockton, California, on December 12, 2021. The white power structure of the ELCA wants to protect the secrets that have poisoned the relationship between the Hispanic community and the Lutheran church. In fact, it’s done everything it can to silence Rev. Rabell-González who has, in good faith, tried to blow the whistle on these secrets.

But as Jesus has said, “For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light,” (Luke 8:17).

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, because the polity of our churchwide system has shut him down at every turn. There are details about this case that I am not free to share. But I am calling for a full and independent investigation of Rev. Nelson Rabell-González so that the truth can be told and the secret-keeping stopped.

Here’s what I can say based on public events and information available in the public domain, as well as details that have now been made public by members of Misión Latina Luterana.

Before serving as a mission developer for the Latinx...

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