Fuller Group Will Head to Brazil for Seminary Celebration
Later this month, a contingent from Fuller Seminary will travel to Brazil to celebrate a milestone that marks a long and meaningful partnership. The event on March 21-23 will commemorate the 30th anniversary of South American Theological Seminary (SATS), founded in Londrina, Brazil, in 1994 by two Fuller graduates and now a cornerstone of theological education in Latin America.
“We anticipate the assembly of national and international guests, united in appreciation for SATS’s contribution to nurturing men and women for God’s mission,” said Jorge Henrique Barro, general director of SATS, who co-founded the seminary with his brother, Antonio Carlos Barro. Both hold PhDs from Fuller and Antonio was honored in 2015 with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Fuller Alumni Council.
The vision for the school began in 1989 amid conversations with noted theologian, missionary, pastor, and author Paul Pierson, dean emeritus of what was then Fuller’s School of World Mission (now part of the seminary’s School of Mission and Theology). Today, guided by the motto “Preparing lives to serve God’s Kingdom,” SATS (or Faculdade Teologica Sul Americana) has thrived, graduating approximately 5,000 students and currently educating 1,800 more.
Those attending the March celebration from the Fuller community will be Meritt Lohr Sawyer, a member of Fuller’s Board of Trustees, and her husband, Steve; Paul Pierson’s son, Stan, and his wife, Megan; and Fuller supporters Marcel and Sylvia Pontón. Meritt Sawyer will bring greetings from Fuller Seminary as the event’s keynote speaker.
Paul Pierson, Fuller alum and former Fuller faculty member Charles Van Engen, and current faculty Amos Yong are among those who have either lectured at SATS or spoken at one of its international conferences through the years.
Other Fuller alums who serve on the SATS faculty include Marcos Orison (PhD) and Priscila Barro and Sueli Silva (both Master of Arts graduates). In July 2023, Jorge Henrique Barro returned to Fuller’s Pasadena campus for a sabbatical at the seminary’s Global Research Institute, where he completed significant research for his book, The Mission of God as a Paradigm of Pastoral Ministry.
He recently expressed gratitude for Fuller’s partnership during the past three decades. “Our heartfelt thanks are extended to Fuller for its critical role in our journey, providing a nurturing environment for our aspirations to take root and flourish.”
For more information on SATS, visit https://satsbrazil.org (English) or https://ftsa.edu.br (Portuguese).
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