Growing up in a ministerial family, Jeanette felt a deep calling to serve. This calling extends to her family as she co-leads The Gathering Place, a vibrant multicultural church in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and serves alongside her sons. She also passionately advocates on behalf of Latino communities in the U.S., focusing on issues such as immigration, education, and health, through her work with The National Latino Evangelical Coalition.
As she holds many roles, Jeanette emphasizes the importance of prayer, teamwork, and accountability. She and her husband strive to keep their family a priority while doing ministry. She beautifully describes their partnership: “Co-leading a church is a tango. It’s a dance, a beautiful dance. Sometimes we are in sync, and sometimes we step on each other’s toes… It’s not easy work, but we have an abundance of grace and love for each other.”
Listen to learn how integrating faith, family, and community support into your ministry can not only enhance your leadership but also deepen your impact.
Listener Resources:
- If you’re a woman in ministry, we’re here to support you! Explore our curated collection of resources and specialized offerings designed to empower you in your calling. Discover more at transformingengagement.org/womeninministry
- If you are a Christian leader or pastor seeking a space for support, growth, and transformation for yourself or for your team, we invite you to participate in one of our cohort programs, called a Circle. To learn more and to get on the waitlist to be notified when our next Circle is offered, visit transformingengagemeng.org/circles
- Each episode spotlights an organization making a positive impact, and Jeanette highlights her organization, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, which is a network of Latino Evangelical churches, pastors, leaders and not-for-profit organizations committed to Gospel-centered transformation, empowering the church and working towards the common good. You can learn more at nalec.org.
About our guest:
The Rev. Jeanette Salguero is a pastor at the multicultural The Gathering in Orlando, FL, vice president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and director of the Carrion Hispanic Leadership Institute at Southeastern University—is a powerful voice on issues that affect Latino communities in the United States. Focusing on immigration, education, and health, Salguero’s leadership offers an important voice for growing diversity and changing demographics in our country. In addition to her advocacy work, Salguero has provided consulting leadership for governmental agencies such as the Department of Health & Human Services, the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services, and the American Psychological Association around minority health disparities. Recently, she was honored by the Dept of Health & Human Services as one of the top 15 women in the nation for her leadership and work with vulnerable populations. Jeanette served as the Women’s North American Commissioner for the World Evangelical Alliance, and has worked extensively on consulting around issues of multicultural integration and leadership. She is a sought-after public speaker and has published articles on multi-ethnic leadership, faith & public life, and Hispanic women’s leadership. Jeanette earned a Masters in Arts in Leadership & Non-Profit Consulting from Southeastern University (summa cum laude). She is also a graduate of Duke Divinity’s Faith & Leadership Institute. She resides in Orlando with her husband, the Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero and two sons, Jon-Gabriel and Seth.
You can connect with Jeanette on Instagram at @pastorssalguero
Episode Transcript:
Jenni: Welcome back Friends to Transforming Engagement. I’m your host, Jenni Wong Clayville here with Rose Madrid Sweatman. And today our special guest is my good friend, Jeanette Salguero. Now Jeanette is a pastor at the Multicultural Church, the Gathering Place in Orlando, Florida, and vice president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. Now, for those of you who don’t know what NLEC is, they are a powerful voice on issues that affect Latino communities in the United States that focuses in on immigration, education and health. Jeanette and her team offer an important voice for growing diversity and changing demographics in our country. Now, in addition to her advocacy work, Jeanette has provided consulting leadership for governmental agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and the American Psychological Association around minority health disparities. Jeanette is a sought after public speaker and has published articles on multi-ethnic leadership, faith in public life, and Hispanic women’s leadership.
She’s earned a BA in Business administration and her graduate work was in organizational management from the City University of New York and in theology from New York Theological Seminary. Now, Jeanette is also a graduate of Duke Divinity, faith and Leadership Institute. She is so, so wise and so smart. Now, she currently resides in Orlando with her husband, the great Reverend, Dr. Gabriel Salguero and her two sons, John Gabriel, and Seth. And I have the amazing privilege of serving alongside Jeanette in Propel Ecclesia, and I count myself so fortunate that I get to call her friend. In fact, I call her my ride or die. So Jeanette, thank you so much for being here with Rose and me today. I can’t believe you said yes.
Jeanette: Thank you, Jenni. Thank you Rose, for this wonderful opportunity. And hello to the amazing audience that is here to just listen and this is a dialogue amongst friends, right, ladies? So thank you. This That’s
Jenni: Right. Yes. So let’s dive in. Just a few questions for you. But the first one is we really just want to hear a bit about your story and how you came to be in ministry.
Jeanette: Wow. Okay. So we’re starting with the big one. Well, my parents have been ministers there my entire life. I grew up in the church, so in my formative years I saw my parents serve and they still serve. So that was of great impact to my life. But throughout my youth and throughout my young adulthood and now my older age, I’m only 50. I’m still young,
Jenni: Just getting started.
Jeanette: The biblical narratives really have formed who I am today, including historical figures, like Juana Inés de la Cruz, a powerful woman that was a mystic. Mother Teresa. So just from my formative years, my parents, historical figures and the biblical narratives of Esther and Deborah, I mean, they just really light a fire in my heart and in my life to work for others and serve for others. And Jenni, you really read the entire bio. For goodness sake,
Jenni: That’s not even enough words to describe what you do. You’re pretty incredible.
Jeanette:. Well, thank you. Really, I am just the servant of the most high God. And I’m not just saying that to deflect, but I am passionate about people and I am passionate about serving, and I am passionate about loving because I have received that grace and that love as well. So all I do in all of the roles that I have, my main portfolio is to love others.
Rose: So beautiful, so beautiful. When did you actually know? So what I find with many people that end up in a pastoral position, role, call that either they heard that call at some point around and pursued it, or another way that it often happens is you just love Jesus, you love God. So you just keep saying yes until you go, oh my gosh, look at where I am. How did it happen for you?
Jeanette: Yeah, I get asked that question often. I have a lot of people in my pastoral office, well, how do I know my calling? How do I know my vocation? And you know what, Rose, for me, the formula is very simple. It’s where your talent, your passion, meets the needs of the world. Really, that’s all it is. I mean, I take the Bible, literally the great commandment in Mark 16 going to all the world and preach the gospel to all of creation. And for me, that is not a suggestion. That is a commandment, right? That is an explanation point. And my passion, my giftings, administrative giftings, public speaking giftings, they are at the service of the people to meet the needs of the world. At the same time, Rose and Jenni, there was a prophetic calling on my life. I am evangelical. And for the record, for the listeners out there, evangelicalism is not a monolith.
I want to put that out there. But I did receive a holy call through my pastor in my childhood years that said, you are called for the nations. And that word stood in my heart. And with that word, I ran with the education, I ran with the spiritual formation of it to the point where we have a beautiful congregation and I co-lead with my husband and my sons are part of ministry as well. We do this as a family. My kids are not an addendum, a footnote to the calling. I do believe that the calling is a covenant for the entire family, and here we are.
Rose: Wow. Wow. We want to get into asking you some questions about what you just talked about co-leading with your husband, the impact on your family, the kids. But before we go there, Jenni’s going to talk to you about that. I would love to hear your thoughts on what do you see as unique challenges for Latina women, women in ministry? What are the unique challenges they’re facing?
Jeanette: Wow, that’s a very good question, Rose. I wouldn’t say that this is a unique challenge to Latinas, but I think it is a complex and longstanding issue. And that is sexism, right? Sexism is so complex and it has been pervasive for so long, and it has existed for women in ministry as well as for women in the marketplace. We also see the different hermeneutical interpretation of Paul’s. The first Corinthian words, let not women preach or teach or be. And I get it, Jenni and Rose, I get it that there’s a different hermeneutic. So if you know about hermeneutics and text interpretation, people interpret that. Some people interpret that as a universal interpretation where it is a truth, it is gospel for out all times. And some people attribute a particular that is a particular interpretation, and that was in the times of Paul. But what’s important for me is that it doesn’t matter. That does not stop the call of God in my life. It really is watered down my back because I have a relationship with God and I know what God called me to do and who God called me to be. So yeah, sexism is part of that both in the church and in the marketplace. I would say particularly for Latinas, there is an intersectionality of racism and not just Latinos for women of color all around that compounds the oppression, that compounds the marginalization. I would also add that many times I’m called Rose and Jenni, and this was one of the reasons why I said yes to the both of you. Many times I’m just called to talk about immigration or to talk about poverty, but women of color are also able and capable to speak into the life of churches, to speak into the life of the marketplace. Yes, we are endowed with spiritual authority from on high. So we not only are able to speak to certain areas, but to many areas. I said yes to the both of you because I know the work that the both of you do. And kudos to you.
Jenni: Oh, thank you so much. It is important that women see all of us lifting each other up. It’s not competition. We’re doing this together and we’re doing this alongside men. And so diving into that a bit, just like Rose had said, you are co-pastor with Gabriel, and I know your context also looks a little bit different because you are in a diverse church, a multilingual church. So tell us how that looks. And then second part of the question, I just know that you and Gabrielle do this, a lot of work with Congress. And so I want you to dive into those two things a little bit. Would you?
Jeanette: Oh, wow. Sure. Okay. So yeah. I co-lead with my husband a beautiful, multicultural, multi-generational congregation. We say that co-leading a church is a tango. It’s a dance, it’s a beautiful dance. Sometimes we are in synchrony and sometimes we step on each other’s toes. Rose, you’re nodding. You probably know what this is about. Yes, yes, yes. It’s not easy work, but one thing that we have in abundance for each other, and that is grace and abundance of grace and abundance of love. If I step on his toes, I apologize if he steps on mine. We don’t judge each other’s intentions by the outcome. We know each other’s heart. And it’s important to know your spouse’s heart. And my husband is an amazing man of God, and I’m, I’m going to go there. We pray a lot together.
Jenni: Yes,
Jeanette: Yes. There’s no way you can do this for all of our listeners. There’s no way you can be in ministry with your husband if you do not spend time in the word together and spend time in prayer together. So good. And seeking God’s face. Together we are aligned in heart. We are aligned in mind, and we are aligned in seeking God’s for us as individuals, for us, as a couple, for us as leaders of a beautiful congregation. And for us leading a national advocacy organization that takes a lot of work. And Jenni, you asked a little bit about the work that we do. We founded and we lead a national advocacy organization. We are about 3000 churches strong across the United States, and we advocate for the common good. We literally are in the White House. We’re literally on the hill advocating for the last the least, and the loss. And it is the prophetic side of our ministry. It’s not the most beloved side of our ministry. Rose and Jenni, the pastoral side for me in particular is the easier role. But prophets get their heads chopped off. They get their heads chopped off when you feed the poor and the needy and you clothe them. But when you ask, you’re praised, right? You’re applauded. But when you ask why are they naked, why don’t they have food? Come on, then you get critiqued. And that is the side, the prophetic side that we feel passionate about. We feel called to do. And we have been working on this for over 14 years, and it’s all for the common good.
Jenni: Yeah. What’s really crazy is I have seen you and Gabriel don’t come at the same time for many good reasons. So when you’re in DC as I am, you come and visit me, and then you go into your thing in Congress at the White House, and I just go for it. But we rarely see the two of you here together. And so yeah, it’s just how do you manage that? And I should tell the listeners that Jeanette and Gabriel are disgusting on the phone. They call each other and she literally calls him and she’s standing next to me. She’s like, hello, poopoo, you just so, so sweet. No. Oh, I love you. So mom. I’m like, what? Are you talking to your son? And she’s like, no, my husband. It is so gross. And it’s hilarious when she says that they are praying together. They are so in love and they’re so in sync. I’ve seen it in real time. And so my question to you is when you guys come to fight the way that you fight and you separate so that there’s always one of you here, not both of you at the same time, that could be dangerous for you. How do you guys manage that?
Jeanette: Well, thank Jenni, and yes, he is my high school sweetheart. We have been together 32 years and 32 years we have been working in the kingdom of God. Yes. So yes, he is the love of my life and our children. We do a lot of work together, but we do alternate when we do advocacy because first and foremost, we are mom and dad. We have two beautiful sons. John Gabriel is 18. He is studying to become a neuroscientist, of course at U Penn. And Seth is a freshman in high school. He’s 15 years old, and they are our first priority in ministry. They are our ministry. Parenting is a ministry, parenting, raising your children and forming them with a holistic view of what the gospel is. Comes before meeting with the president of the United States, comes before meeting with senators and congressmen. Come on. So we alternate because we have wrestling practice, we have sports practice, we have fine arts practice. So they know that they are a priority. My children never have to feel that they are in competition with the ministry because they’re
Rose: Not important. What you just said. I just want to highlight what you just said. For all of the, I’m in my sixties, I’m past the, but for younger women, women that are still in the season of raising children, what I love that you just said is that for you and Gabriel is a priority, so sometimes he stays home. It’s not just you that stays home with the kids that you negotiate together. And which I love hearing that that is when you said holistic, that your kids are seeing that. And I mean so many things that you’ve just said in the last few minutes that my mind is racing. Because the whole idea about, I think about Ephesians five, when Paul starts out the chapter by saying, submit one to another, you say, in co-pastor, we have learned to defer one to another. And so sometimes he’s right, sometimes I’m right. And then this whole idea of advocacy, which is probably more challenging the work than, well, I don’t know. It’s challenging, but the fact that the way you protect that, your family comes first more. I love that. And I just wanted to highlight for our listeners that are in different seasons with children, or maybe you don’t co-pastor, you don’t with your husband, just the way that you work out, both people being involved with the family and involved in their vocation. I love that. Yeah.
Jeanette: That’s so good, Rose, because you have to know the season that you’re in, right? And Jenni, you know this, we need to fully understand and grasp the season that we’re in. There are moments and seasons that Gabriel are running at a hundred miles per minute, but there are seasons where we hold back for the sake of our family, for the sake of the thriving, our nucleus, the thriving of our home. And that is very important, when to lean in, when to go back. And that leaning in and moving back is very crucial for women to understand because if not, you could be leaning in when you should be pausing.
Rose: So important because we did last year or the year before, we did a whole series on clergy burnout. And what you are saying right now is so important, especially between being pastors and doing advocacy work. You guys could burn out. I mean, the world is on fire. That’s not a surprise to anyone listening. So when doing the work of advocacy, what you just said, knowing when you can lean in, discerning, do you guys have people that you pray with that? Do you have a group? I would love to know how you discern the “yesses.”
Jeanette: Thank you, Rose. We do have our mentors. We do have people that we meet with and that we are accountable to. A lot of pastors and a lot of national leaders do not believe in accountability. But we do have our accountability partners and we also have a team of praying people that are constantly praying for us and seeking God on our behalf and that speak into our lives. And you bring something very important Rose. This is not a lone ranger type of a situation. Whatever role you have in your life, whatever God calls you to do, you must go at it with teams.
This is not a superstar syndrome. This is not for you to be on social media for photo ops and say, Hey, look at what I did. Look at what I’m doing. This takes a team, the Bible throughout scriptures talk about two or better than one. When one falls down, the other one is there to pick him or her up. So the concept of teamwork, and when I talk about the work that Gabriel and I do, please know Jenni and Rose, and to the listeners that are out there, this is a huge team effort. I mean, we were at the White House about two weeks ago. There was a team of about 64 pastors that went with us to speak to the powers that be at the White House. But at the church, we have a group of praying women and men that are interceding for this work. So it takes an entire outfit to be able to get to do this. It’s not that I’m a star or a rock star. No, not at all. And I don’t want to seem that that is the way it becomes successful. No, I’m the opposite. If you do not have a team, you will fall.
Jenni: And I can talk about this team. I have a story for you about Jeanette. So she was with me at this point, and Gabriel was at home with, and I think John Gabriel was home, and Seth was home at the time, but this was before John Gabriel was in college. And so Seth texted and said, Daddy just doesn’t cook the same as you. So yeah, she knows where we’re going here. So she’s like, well, it’ll be fine. You’re going to be fine. Mommy will be home soon or whatever. Seth creates a meal train for himself with all the grandmas at the church so that he is eating so well. He started, oh my gosh, started it. And it was, I know, right? Oh my gosh. He started it and it was kicked in by that evening. So I will say that Jeanette and Gabriel have not only set up this idea of community and setting it up so that you can take care of yourself, but their kids under understand it. And I’m just saying he is a brilliant,
Rose: Oh my God. God, that is the best story ever. I have never with the grandmas in the church. Okay, that is,
Jenni: You know how my grandma know.
Rose: Well done, Jeanette. Well done, Jeanette, oh my gosh, gosh.
Jeanette: I think we were with Christine, one of Theia events, and I get a phone call from one of the grandmas of the church and she says, Jeanette, should I cook rice and beans today or should I cook spaghettis? And I’m like,
Rose: Why?
Jeanette: Whatcha talking about, wow, what are you talking about? And then I start getting a whole bunch of phone calls that Seth arranged this meal train the best while I was gone for a week. So yeah, no, they know how to advocate for themselves.
Jenni: Yes, they do. They do.
Rose: I have to ask one quick question, and then Jenni, I’m going to let you take it a bit. But when you talk about the prophetic mantle, and sometimes that is you get rocks, you get stoned, it’s harsh. I just want to sort of differentiate you from what people are calling the court prophets, the people out there prophesying who should be president, who God’s calling to be. I mean, I just kind of want to differentiate because I don’t want people to put you in that category, and I don’t know that you’re not in that category we’ve just met, but I have a feeling you’re not. So do you want to speak to that?
Jeanette: Yeah. So the prophetic calling is speaking truth to power is the advocacy part. The etymology of the word advocacy comes from the Latin, which actually means to lift up your voice, lift up your voice in particular for the last, the least, and the lost, right? The Bible says in Proverbs 31, lift up your voice for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the destitute, for the poor, for the needy. Lift up your voice so that the righteousness of God can break through. So I’m not talking about this prophetic. Send me $50 and I’ll send you a handkerchief. That’s not the type of prophecy that I’m talking about. I’m talking about being in the courts of power that says, this is unjust. This is not right. This is the defense of the widow, of the immigrant of the educational inequity. This is the criminal justice reform that should happen.
Rose: Okay.
Jeanette: This is the recidivism that we need to address. Come on. Yes, this is the racial marginalization that we need to talk about and highlight. This is the level of work that sticks and stones get thrown at. This is not the level of prophetic work where you make up stuff and read each other’s, I don’t know, kind of like fortune telling.
Rose: Yes, yes, yes. Thank you.
Jeanette: This is not fortune telling. This is speaking truth to power.
Rose: Thank you. Right. Thank you. I just wanted to differentiate you from some of the other stuff that people might confuse the issue with.
Jenni: I just see what Jeanette and Gabriel, what they’re doing is very biblical. It’s what Jesus did, the people that are most forgotten, and it’s so important, the work that you do. And so I really only have one last question for you, which is, as a woman in ministry that is doing this with your husband, and you’re very obviously family forward and family focused, listeners should know that it is a challenge because Seth has some health issues. And so Seth is the baby. He’s funny, he got his whole meal train, but he is also, there’s also stuff that really just tears at your mama’s heart. And I’ve seen you in moments of just pure vulnerability and just trying to figure out, okay, what now God? And so what does that mean for you as someone who is very much called to do kingdom work, but also balance, if that’s even a fair word to say, balance being a mama to a boy that really needs you to advocate for him as well. And just to watch just the health side of things. Can you dive into that a little bit?
Jeanette: Thank you, Jenni, for that important question because I’m sure that the women who listen to this podcast, not only do they lead, but they have everyday challenges that they must absolutely take care of. And one of the challenges in my home family is that our little one, our 15-year-old, our Seth has significant health challenges. He had a stroke when he was about 10 years old. He had abdominal surgery, many, many surgeries, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis. So he has a number of major issues, and he is the most joyful boy that you will ever meet and the most dedicated to the things of God. You hand a microphone over to that boy and he will bring encouragement to the entire congregation. But the question of how do I balance leading and day-to-day challenges, and again, teamwork, right? My husband taking time, but also understanding Rose and Jenni that the gospel that we preach is not a Disneyfied gospel,
Jenni: Right? Right.
Jeanette: We are not exempt from suffering. We are not exempt when God calls us. God does not place us in a bubble and protects us from all of the harm that is out there. On the contrary, we may go through even more challenges and tribulations, but it is through the challenges and the tribulations where our light shines, where our faith is increased, where we become a light on the hill and you grab hold in the times of your darkest moments. It’s where you grab hold of who God is a saying. In our house, we may not always understand God, but we surely do trust his heart. And that saying has made a difference in how we approach challenges and tribulations in our lives.
Jenni: That is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.
Rose: That is really beautiful. Jeanette. I don’t know how much you know about the work that we do at the Center for Transforming Engagement, but since 2017, we have been researching wellbeing in primarily clergy and leaders and healthcare, especially people in helping services because they tend to be the ones that burn out the quickest because we’re helping people. So as I’ve listened to this conversation and because the research that we’ve done has shown some of the things that attribute to wellbeing in a leader’s life, especially clergy, is that they have people around them trusted people. They have practices that they do in order to keep them connected to the heart of God. And then they have purpose. I have heard that throughout this entire conversation, you and your husband have a team of people that you’re accountable to. You’ve got a team of people that pray for you.
You tell me you pray with your husband, you’re in the word together. And I’m sure if we got more into other practices, we could get even out of the spiritual disciplines into practices that you probably incorporated. And then of course, purpose. You’re calling to the church, you’re calling to the kingdom of God, which is almost beyond just the church. It’s to society and the advocacy work that you’re doing to bring God’s purposes of justice to the earth. So I am so grateful that you spent this time with us. I am so grateful. Thank you. And thank you for the work that you are doing out there in the world for the common good as well as the church.
Jeanette: Thank you, Rose. Thank you, Jenni. And I honor the both of you as well. Rose, we just recently met and I already love you. And Jenni is a woman of God. Jenni’s heart is bigger than her body. I love that. Yeah. Jenni’s love and her ability to help people lean into the heart of God is a gift that not very many people have. So Jenni, I love you, my girl, and I bless you. You
Rose: Bless You too. That’s beautiful. Well, as we end our conversation, Jeanette, we want to give you some space to shout out to an organization that you see doing good work. And it can be one that you lead. It doesn’t matter who you want to name or what organization. And we will make a donation and we’ll put a link in the episode notes and ask our listeners if they would consider making a donation as well.
Jeanette: Thank you, Rose and Jenni, I am not going to say that this is selfish, but I am going to put the organization that we founded lec, and I can give you all of that information. But we do a lot of work, a lot of good work, a lot of leadership development, capacity building, not just advocacy. We do congregational capacity. We love to see people thrive, especially pastoral leaders and lay leaders and congregations thrive. I am of the belief that if congregations are healthy, our families are healthy. If our families are healthy, our cities, our regions, and our nation and our world will be healthy. So yeah, I’ll put that information for you all to help in whatever way you can.
Rose: Thank you so much.
Jeanette: Thank you. We just love you. Thank you. Love you ladies.
