Church Planting Initiative Sparks Growth of Urban Missional Churches in Panama

Conexión7 inspires training and expansion efforts to reach secular professionals across the country.

June 22, 2025 | Panama City, Panama | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News

The Conexión7 urban missional church, a congregation overseen by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Panama, recently celebrated its two-year anniversary of impacting a growing community of professionals who have been engaged in discipleship and mission outreach. The steady growth of Conexión7 has prompted top church leaders to involve nearly a dozen pastors in specialized training aimed at reaching secular environments in cities across the country more effectively.

“As the first urban missional church here in the Panama Union, Conexión7 has experienced an incredible season of organic and natural growth—and we praise God for that,” said Demetrio Aguilar, Adventist pastor of Conexión7. The church marked its journey of growth with a special Sabbath program on March 22, 2025, where members and new believers gathered to worship, study the Bible, share in fellowship, and renew their spiritual commitment while engaging in mission initiatives.

Impact on a Growing Community

Church members, participants, and visitors joined in celebrating the milestone by sharing their impressions of the vibrant community of believers they’ve been part of for nearly two years.

For Sara García, a business owner, being part of Conexión7 has been a wonderful experience. A friend invited her to the worship gatherings, and she soon became a Sabbath keeper. “One of the greatest strengths I’ve found in this community of faith,” said García, “is that it has helped me to seek the Lord Jesus Christ at all times.” She recalled a difficult moment when her mother was seriously ill in a hospital abroad, and members of Conexión7 lifted both her and her mother in prayer. “This experience has helped me and my family tremendously. Every moment of community support has helped me to grow—through that human warmth that surrounds you when you’re sick or in need.”

Similarly, Rafael Navarro, who has been attending Conexión7 for over a year, shared how the spiritual support he received made a lasting impact. When his mother was sent home with no hope of recovery, Pastor Aguilar anointed her, and the church community prayed fervently. “She recovered, and today she is open to learning about the gospel message,” said Navarro.

“The church began as a discipleship-trained group of members who reached out to professionals through business and personal connections, inviting them to engage in health and outreach ministries for underserved communities,” said Aguilar. Today, the group gathers more than 130 people every Sabbath at a rented space in a hotel in the capital city.

Discipleship and Community Support to Drive Impact

The key to Conexión7’s slow and steady growth has been its focus on discipleship—paired with active involvement in community ministry and shared worship experiences. “The philanthropic work attracts those in the secular world,” noted Aguilar.

Since its organization, the church has celebrated 52 baptisms, and a new group has been prepared to continue the mission in another part of the capital.

“We are at a point of expanding, growing, and multiplying as we plant the second urban missional church in the northern part of Panama City,” said Aguilar. The new church group, which emerged from Conexión7, had been gathering for months to study the Bible, build relationships through social activities, and serve through community initiatives. The new congregation, called Conexión Norte, has now officially begun holding worship services.

Because of the sound success of Conexión7 and its expanding mission to reach secular communities, the Panama Union has been working with its local fields to train a core group of pastors in urban missional church ministries, in preparation to launch additional urban churches throughout Panama, church leaders said.

Training Pastors to Grow Urban Churches

Earlier this year, 11 Adventist pastors received the initial specialized training in coordination with the Inter-American Division (IAD) and the General Conference. Pastors Brendan Pratt, director of the Global Mission Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission, and associate director Jonathan Contero, led parts of the training modules provided to the group of Adventist pastors.

“What we are working toward is having districts of urban missional churches across Panama,” said Pastor De Gracia, president of the Panama Union. The plan is to establish an urban missional church in each of the six conferences and missions throughout Panama by 2026. “The potential to reach many for the Lord in the densely populated, secular environments across our cities is great, and we must seize this opportunity to reach more people here in Panama,” De Gracia added.

For Pastor Aguilar, everything about Conexión7 feels divinely guided. His deep belief in the urban missional church model led him to complete his doctoral thesis on urban church planting in Panama City. “There are 300 pages to prove that this urban missional church format does work,” he said. Aguilar earned his Doctor of Ministry degree last year.

“There are 500,000 secular people in Panama City,” he explained. “And while there are different types of secular individuals, most are not necessarily atheists. Many believe in God but aren’t affiliated to any religious institution.” That, he said, presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Aguilar dreams of seeing every Adventist church actively involved in reaching secular communities. “I’ve always had a passion for planting churches,” he said. “God has blessed my ministry with the planting of 30 churches over my 22 years of service. This church has been my life and my school. And with this model, growth may not be as fast—but it’s more organic, and now we have scientific data that proves it works.”

“This initiative in Panama marks the first large-scale urban missional church planting effort in the Inter-American Division (IAD),” said Pastor Hiram Ruiz, public campus ministries director of the IAD and coordinator of urban missional church training.

A Proven Model Primed for Growth

“Panama Union is not only working toward establishing urban missional churches in each of its local fields,” said Ruiz, “but its plan is to train pastors and eventually oversee entire districts of urban churches which may inspire other unions to adopt the same format.”

According to Ruiz, there are currently eight urban missional churches operating across the IAD.

“What began as a pilot initiative has now been reproduced in several unions throughout the IAD,” he said. ““Panama is developing a team of pastors trained to serve in secular churches. This is no longer just a project—it’s a proven model ready to be replicated throughout the territory,” Ruiz said.

As the groundwork continues to expand, local leaders remain optimistic about what lies ahead.

“I believe that in the next five years, extraordinary things will happen through this initiative,” said Pastor Aguilar. “We continue to pray and work to be a community of hope for everyone around us.”