Meet your District Superintendent

Lorenzo Arroyo:
Spanish-language district

Lorenzo & Rita Arroyo

ANTIOCH, California—Lorenzo Arroyo, Spanish-language district superintendent, was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in his teens.

He graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology in 1973. His first career (1974-1981) was that of an adult probation officer with Santa Clara County. He met and married his wife, Rita, in 1977. Shortly thereafter, they both joined a Sabbatarian religious organization.

In 1981, Arroyo was commissioned by that organization to attend their ministerial school in Denver, Colorado. He was ordained in 1982 and became a full-time pastor for the congregation in San Jose.

In 1988, Lorenzo and Rita went to Cuernavaca, Mexico, where they did missionary work for two years. Lorenzo taught theology at a ministerial college, and Rita taught English.

Afterward, they returned and took on another pastorate in Southern California for a brief period, before returning to Denver in 1993. Arroyo was commissioned to teach at the same ministerial school where he had attended more than a decade earlier.

While Arroyo was an instructor at the school, he met Joseph Tkach, WCG president, who visited the school in 1994. Arroyo also did three years of part-time graduate work at Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary in historical and theological studies.

In 1996, Arroyo and several colleagues began a new religious organization targeting Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. This was also a time of painful transition from legalism to a grace-based gospel.

Arroyo’s continued contact with Tkach led him and his pastors to realize the similar journeys of both organizations. This played a significant role in the merger and addition of 11 Spanish-language churches in 2003 to the Worldwide Church of God.

Arroyo now works with Spanish-language churches scattered across the United States from coast to coast, including a church in the Chicago area that also conducts services in English.

Lorenzo and Rita have a 15-year- old son, Lorenzo Paul. They have lived and ministered in California, Denver, Mexico and Texas and now reside in Northern California again. Arroyo’s philosophy of ministry is: “The proclamation of a grace-based gospel must be at the center of all we say and do.”

Following are the congregations and pastors of the Spanish-language district (listed from West coast to East coast):

Hawthorne, California: Manuel and Soledad Ochoa.

Moreno Valley, California: Ines and Cleo Cante; Jesus and Soledad Vazquez.

San Fernando, California: Heber and Xochilt Ticas.

Santa Ana, California: Gildardo De La Rosa.

Santa Fe Springs, California: Ben and Betty Escalante; Jose Luis and Esperanza Escalante.

Westminster, California: Carlos and Ana Ortiz.

Albuquerque, New Mexico: Jesus Acosta.

Denver, Colorado: Antonio and Rocio Almanza.

Cicero, Illinois: Harry and Ruth Kall; Israel and Margaret Hernandez.

Howell, New Jersey: Bernabe and Lucia Roman.

Lakewood, New Jersey: Alejandro and Leonora Alcantara

Rockville, Maryland: Israel and Ursula Martinez.

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