Skip to main content

Pastor John Muñiz believes leadership should be shared. That’s why Second Reformed Church in Jersey City opens its pulpit to preachers within the congregation, encourages higher education, and even offers theological classes.

Pastor John Muñiz believes leadership should be shared. That’s why Second Reformed Church in Jersey City opens its pulpit to preachers within the congregation, encourages higher education, and even offers theological classes. It’s all in the name of empowerment.

Years ago, Luis Perez and his wife, Diana, were looking for a church where their separate faith traditions could co-exist. He was Pentecostal; she was Catholic.

They wound up at Second Reformed Church—never expecting that the Reformed tradition would become such a spiritual home.

“Pastor John Muñiz welcomed my wife and me into his congregation when we were praying and searching for a new spiritual home,” Perez says. “His nonjudgmental attitude and spiritual guidance helped us transition into the Reformed tradition.”

The church also provided a foundation for Perez’s eventual call to ministry. When he was ordained at Rhinebeck Reformed Church in New York in 2007, his longtime mentor, John Muñiz, took part in the service.

Perez is just one of the leaders coming out of Second Reformed. The congregation—and its pastor—focus on equipping leaders as a key component of ministry.

The Jersey City, New Jersey, congregation meets in an ornate, gothic church. It has been reimagined several times as new waves of immigrants settled this neighborhood less than six miles from Ellis Island. In the last generation, the city’s cultural smorgasbord has shifted away from its European heritage, into colors and flavors brought by African, Hispanic, Hindi, and Arab peoples.

For 25 years, Muñiz has preached and lived an incarnational gospel from its steps, its pulpit, and its social hall—and beyond the walls of the church into the community. The diverse, 80-member congregation welcomed 20 new members last year. Seventeen nationalities now shape Second Reformed Church into the hands and feet of Jesus as they reach out into their largely Hindi and Muslim neighborhood.

Getting started

When Muñiz first arrived, Second Reformed didn’t grow as quickly as he hoped. So he educated himself on how to reach the various faith and ethnic groups in the neighborhood, mentored potential leaders, and taught people coming into the congregation what it meant to be reformed.

In the early days, he literally walked the streets, talking with people in the neighborhood about how they saw Second Reformed. Then a completely German congregation, they hired the native Puerto Rican pastor because they were faced with either changing or closing. Some in the community called the church “the haunted castle” because of its gothic architecture and lack of lighting. Some thought it was a cult. Muñiz corrected misunderstandings about the church. He explained the historic Reformed faith, gave more information about the church, and invited people to come. He also made simple changes to the exterior, which helped improve impressions.

“I built relationships,” he says. “Some came and stayed, others did not, but the relationships were key to changing perceptions.”

Emphasis on education

Muñiz sees higher education as a way to “shape social change and faith, and expand God’s kingdom,” so he empowers congregants by offering many opportunities to learn right at Second Reformed.

One congregant, Jennifer Finucane, has been deeply impacted by Muñiz’s mentoring. She came to Second Reformed in 2001, as a new Christian searching for a place of good teaching and preaching. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Finucane came to the U.S. as a teen, and was in her mid-40s when she came to Christ. At Second Reformed, Muñiz encouraged her toward a certificate program offered at the church through New York Theological Seminary (NYTS). She completed it, then earned her master’s in religious education at NYTS, and is currently pursuing her M.Div. She leads the adult education class at the church and occasionally preaches as well.

“Pastor Muñiz…treats us like family,” she says. “As he pursues education, he constantly shares what he is learning with us. He makes us part of his learning community, so we are able to benefit as well.”

Unity in diversity

“Coming together and telling stories builds community—koinonia,” Muñiz says. “A lot of ministries miss this. But to hear what it took to be accepted in this country, to share cultural values and what it means to be Christian is a process. I have to deal with my own personal biases—I always thought I was open, but I had to learn to listen.”

This deeper listening has led to a leadership conviction that Muñiz’s voice will not be the only voice heard at Second Reformed. Others preach and teach, and the consistory reflects the diversity of his congregation: men and women from Africa, Asia, and the Americas learn and lead together.

“My focus is on empowerment—intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually—so leaders can empower others,” says Muñiz. “I believe in the discipleship model of Jesus Christ. Not only did he give the disciples theology, he gave them practice. They came back and talked about what went right and what went wrong.

“If something happens to me, the congregation will be all right. Everyone is engaged in ministry. Now we’re getting ideas I never thought of. I welcome that; it’s going to make the church better.”

The church continues its once-a-month potluck where ethnic foods, traditional dress, music, and sometimes cultural dances are shared. Muñiz says it is still the most effective tool in bringing the diverse congregation together. All can taste, share, and literally step to the beat of differing drums. Other practices that unify the congregation include singing hymns and hearing the text in different languages, and taking time for instruction from the Heidelberg Catechism during each service.

“[Muñiz’s] ability to relate to people from different backgrounds has created a vibrant congregation made up of a tapestry of nations, a microcosm of God’s kingdom,” says Perez. “I remember distinctively he would ask us to introspect on the question, ‘Who is our neighbor?’ during worship and the potluck after worship. Through the sharing of meals and storytelling, we were able to discover a kinship with people who we otherwise may not have [connected with].

“Pastor John’s question—who is my neighbor?—has become my question, and the question of my congregation, as I ask them the same during worship.”

Pray for Second Reformed’s outreach efforts into the growing Hindi and Arab communities in Jersey City.

Want to become more culturally open in your church? Join a cultural competency learning community. Email culture@rca.org for details.

Want to strengthen leadership development in your church? Explore an emerging leaders learning community. Email emerging@rca.org for details.