Rev. Douglas Avilesbernal

Douglas S. Avilesbernal was brought into this world by God, prepared by God, and called by God to be a bridge between different worlds with many different cultures and languages.

He is the son of missionaries, having been born in Guatemala, Central America. He is married to Anna Wiegner, and they have two sons. His growth in Christian faith has spanned three decades, several continents, many countries, and the requisite number of schools, culminating in his ordination to pastoral ministry in 2010 at Calvary Baptist church in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry in Intercultural Studies at the Berkeley School of Theology.

Among other assignments, Rev. Avilesbernal has led the annual Missionary Children conferences for American Baptist Churches International Ministries. Where issues of life in diversity are lived out in different contexts by all those children, he has also served on the leadership team for the Connect Conference for Young American Baptist clergy. He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader at regional and national conferences, including “Welcome to ABC life.”

He is currently the executive minister of the Evergreen Baptist Association of American Baptist Churches and serves on the boards of numerous institions within the American Baptist community. His published works include Welcoming Community: Diversity That Works (Judson Press, 2016) and Trouble the Water (Nurturing Faith Inc., 2017). His TEDx talk: “Tolerance: The End of the Beginning” can be found here.