Latino Pastoral Action Center

Forthcoming...

José Carlos Montes is a writer, teacher, resourcer, and advocate of Christ-centered holistic ministry.  Presently, he is the Special Assistant to Reverend Doctor Raymond Rivera, Senior Pastor of the Sanctuary Church and Founder/President & CEO of the Latino Pastoral Action Center (LPAC) in the Bronx, New York.  In this capacity, he also is LPAC's Director of Capacity Building Services and the future Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the Holistic Ministry Vision Center.  He also is a candidate for a Master of Divinity in Urban Missions at the Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Currently, he is assisting Rev. Rivera on a book on Ministering in a Situation of Captivity.

Since 2002, José has produced dozens of manuals, guides, workbooks, and other materials on holistic ministry, ministry development, and servant leadership.  He has helped hundreds of churches, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations throughout the United States to develop holistic ministries.  He has served as LPAC’s Chief Operating Officer, Director of Operations, Director of the National Holistic Ministry Development Project, and Director and Life Skills Instructor of the Fatherhood Initiative.  He also assists Rev. Rivera with his sermons, bible studies, seminary courses, and speeches, and has produced the songbook and other literature for the Sanctuary Church.

Before LPAC, José served for four years as the Program Officer for Youth Development at the Edward W. Hazen Foundation.  He managed a $1 million youth development grantmaking portfolio; wrote and spoke extensively on youth development and youth organizing; co-founded the $5 million Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing; and contributed to various funder affinity groups.  Before Hazen, José worked for five years at ASPIRA of New York, a Puerto Rican/Latino youth development and educational advocacy organization, where he was Development Associate, Director of the AmeriCorps Community Education Project, and Coordinator of the Youth Leadership Development and College/Career Advisement Programs.  Prior to ASPIRA, he was a crime prevention organizer at the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago, Illinois.

José holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Yale University.  While at Yale, he was Chairperson of Despierta Boricua, the Puerto Rican Undergraduate Student Organization.  He also was an intern at the Casa Cultural Julia de Burgos, and was a frequent recruiter of students of color in New York, New Haven, and Chicago.  In addition, he was co-founder of ASPIRA of Connecticut in New Haven, through which he helped increase the number of Latino administrators and teachers in the New Haven public schools.

José is a product of the South Bronx and the New York City public schools.  He has written the manuscript for a coming-of-age novel about a Puerto Rican youth from the South Bronx.  Currently, he lives in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, with his wife Isabel, son Danilo, and daughter Sara.