In Caribbean Lutherans: The History of the Church in Puerto Rico (Fortress Press, 2024) José David Rodríguez traces Lutheran history in the Caribbean, with special attention to Puerto Rico. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]
Description: Caribbean Lutherans tells the story of the Lutheran church in Puerto Rico from a Caribbean perspective. Rodríguez intersperses archival research with cogent commentary and personal accounts, highlighting the power and agency of Puerto Rican and West Indian Lutherans amid the multifaceted legacy of Euro-American missionary efforts on the island. Readers may not be surprised to learn that the first Lutheran missionary in Puerto Rico was a Swedish American Lutheran; they may not be aware, however, that his welcome and success on the island were dependent on the hospitality of an Afro-Caribbean tailor from Jamaica. A winding journey of interactions among American Lutheran synods and a growing Puerto Rican church generated partnerships, tensions, and possibilities that continue to the present.
Puerto Rico and neighboring islands joined the United Lutheran Church in America as the Caribbean Synod in 1952. Today, they remain part of the current Evangelical Lutheran Church in America while many other Protestant denominations on the island have formed Puerto Rican “national” churches. Rodríguez explores the continuing tensions inherent in this legacy, bringing both academic expertise and personal experience to this first comprehensive account of the Lutheran church in Puerto Rico.
Caribbean Lutherans: The History of the Church in Puerto Rico
José David Rodríguez
Fortress Press, February 2024
228 pages
ISBN 978-1506496184 (pb)
https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781506496184/Caribbean-Lutherans
Interview with author José David Rodríguez:
“Recovering a lost Caribbean Lutheran history”
John G. Potter, Living Lutheran, August 28, 2024
https://www.livinglutheran.org/2024/08/recovering-a-lost-caribbean-lutheran-history
Book reviews:
Clint Schnekloth, The Christian Century, July 2024, https://www.christiancentury.org/books/puerto-rico-both-object-and-subject-mission
Samiri Hernández Hiraldo, H-Caribbean H-Net Reviews, July, 2024, https://networks.h-net.org/group/reviews/20039071/hernandez-hiraldo-rodriguez-caribbean-lutherans-history-church-puerto-rico, https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=60655
In Caribbean Lutherans: The History of the Church in Puerto Rico (Fortress Press, 2024) José David Rodríguez traces Lutheran history in the Caribbean, with special attention to Puerto Rico. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] Description: Caribbean Lutherans tells the story of the Lutheran church in Puerto Rico from a
