by Kris de Luna ’20
A small 200-year-old Baptist church in the South End is shaking things up thanks to its new pastoral leaders. Originally from Colorado, Joe and Jennifer Guerrero heard a divine call to ministry that led them to Waterville, Maine.
Joe and Jennifer are not your typical pastors: both former tattoo artists, Joe has shoulder-length hair that he keeps in a low pony-tail, and Jennifer has a mesmerizing tattoo collection. Both of them are making history as Jennifer and Joe are the first female and non-white pastors, respectively, in the history of the Second Baptist Church. Due to a prolonged lack of pastoral leadership, Second Baptist had only around 15 members when the Guerreros arrived this summer. The new pastors came in energized and ready to revitalize their congregation, and the church has already grown to 30-40 people.
Jennifer and Joe stressed that one of their main objectives is to make Second Baptist Church a spiritual place where everyone would feel welcomed. “So many people have been hurt by churches—we’ve been hurt many times by churches. We know how it feels to be looked at differently because of how we dress or because of our tattoos,” they explained. They want to create a space where anyone can come in and feel loved and appreciated by their church.
The Guerreros hope to accomplish their goal by making Second Baptist Church an integral part of the Waterville community. “Our big thing is trying to get out into the community. Our mission is to integrate the community into the church because that’s what God’s all about. We want to make sure that there is a way we can be a resource, one way or another, and offer some type of safe haven.”
Though they are still in the process of developing their ministry, one of the first programs Jennifer and Joe started was Operation Winter, a drive specifically for winter clothes. For homeless people and others who struggle financially, buying winter gear can be difficult and expensive. With the help of their congregation and a series of donations, Jennifer exclaimed, “We have all kinds of things: hats, gloves, and coats of all sizes and for all genders!” The Guerreros are in the process of opening up a clothing closet and a food pantry, and hope to partner with different organizations to make their vision come true. They also offer something they call “Emergency Services,” which provides people with immediate necessities.
Joe and Jennifer also have other plans in the works. They want to collaborate with organizations such as the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter or the Waterville Food Bank. The Guerreros mentioned how much they want to create and incorporate different programming to raise social awareness about certain issues. “I’m an ambassador with Shared Hope International, an organization fighting human trafficking,” Jennifer explained. “I want to start incorporating that within our work because it’s very important for people to have that awareness… it’s an uncomfortable situation, it’s not a conversation that most people want to have but that’s okay… because I’ll have it,” she said with a smile.
The Guerreros have only been in Waterville for a short period of time, but they’ve already done so much to create a more inclusive and intersectional church model. Jennifer and Joe are excited to keep challenging and redefining what it means to be a “church” while exploring ways to better engage with their community.