Cesar Villafana was appointed senior pastor in 2005 and is still leading the church today. Wesley Hispanic has a very strong and faithful congregation. Our average service attendance is around 100 people, including all ages and we have 14 nations represented in the congregation. Our Sunday services start at 10am with Sunday school for all ages. We then have a 11am coffee break before we go back into the chapel for our 11:30am worship service. The service includes a blend of contemporary and traditional worship styles. Services are bilingual. Every third Sunday at 9:00am Wesley Hispanic has an English contemporary worship service that is directed towards the third generation of Hispanics.
Our History
Our Church was founded in the 40’s in an Anglo community in Coral Gables, Fl. A women named Clara Hall was the first member of this church. Legend said that she went house by house asking people about their religious faith. If they were Protestant then she would encourage them to come to Wesley UMC. In the 60’s after the Communist regime of Cuba began, thousands of families fled the island and sought refuge in Miami. A small Cuban faith community started the mission in the chapel of Wesley UMC. Thru the years and the demographic changes, the Hispanic community grew and the Anglo community shrunk. The Wesley UMC had two churches at the same time, one Anglo and one Hispanic with two pastors appointed. By 2000, only one pastor was in charge of both churches and in 2006, we merged both faith communities and Wesley Hispanic UMC/Iglesia Metodista Unida Wesley Hispanic began. It was the first bilingual UM church in Miami. The transition was hard but fruitful.