Cabrera sees ‘blessing’ in roles as pastor, professor, and leader

Felix Cabrera considers it a blessing to serve in two or three different positions.

“That’s the only way that I know how to do ministry, is as a pastor, as a professor involved in the academic environment, but also as a leader trying to develop the next generation of leaders, pastors, and church planters,” he explained.

Cabrera is associate director of Hispanic Programs and assistant professor of Christian ministry in the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also is the lead pastor for Iglesia Bautista Ciudad de Dios in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He previously served the Southern Baptist Convention at both in state and national positions. He also served as executive director of the Convención de Iglesias Bautistas del Sur de Puerto Rico from 2019-2022, and vice president and senior director of the Send Network Español of the North American Mission Board from 2019-2023.

Cabrera believes that, while each position is different, “they are connected because we are serving the local church.”

Cabrera grew up in church. “I’m a PK; I’m a pastor’s kid. My father was a church planter,” he said, adding that by growing up in a Christian home, going to church, and “being a good kid,” he assumed he would be saved.

“But at the age of 17, the Lord gave me conviction about my sins, and of course, that was when He saved me,” Cabrera said.

He went on to pursue a business administration degree at Universidad de Puerto Rico, where he combined his studies with playing basketball. Following an injury, he served as general manager of several professional basketball teams in Puerto Rico, including a position as operations manager of National Team divisions.

Serving in that environment helped him realize how the Lord was using that experience to prepare him for ministry, he said, adding that “in 2005, the Lord called me to be a pastor.”

He served as a youth pastor in his local church before moving to Oklahoma City in 2010. The following year, with support from the Oklahoma Baptists and Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, he planted Iglesia Bautista Central.

“I consider myself a pastor,” he said. “That’s my first goal. I love to disciple people, to give counseling.”

Cabrera began his theological education in a seminary in Puerto Rico that closed a couple of years later. After moving to Oklahoma, he earned a Master of Arts in pastoral counseling from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, then went on to earn a Master of Arts in church planting from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He earned a Doctor of Ministry with a concentration in leadership from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Cabrera said the Lord opened doors for him to teach during his studies at Southeastern Seminary and his work as assistant director of Spanish studies at Midwestern Seminary, where he developed the curriculum for the certificate and master’s level programs offered in Spanish. In his classroom, Cabrera said, he encourages questions, debates, discussions, and critical thinking.

Wanda Lluveras, a Puerto Rico native who earned her Master of Theological Studies at Southwestern Seminary in 2022 and currently is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in evangelism and missions, said Cabrera goes step by step through the lessons to make sure his students understand what he is teaching. He also clarifies new concepts and gives students time to ask questions, she added.

He’s also available outside the classroom and responds promptly to students when they call on him for help, she said.

Cabrera is “a very enthusiastic professor” and makes his students feel enthusiastic as well, Lluveras said. She added that when he corrects a student’s work, he does it in a way that makes them feel he knows they can do better and wants them to do their best.

“That’s the way I feel with him,” she said.

Carlos Llambes has been in close contact with Cabrera for almost 10 years and currently is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in evangelism and missions from Southwestern Seminary. Llambes, who was born in Cuba but grew up in Miami, has been a church planter for almost 20 years.

Llambes said that at Cabrera’s invitation, he and his wife went to Puerto Rico “and spent two and a half months there visiting churches, preaching, teaching, and mentoring the younger pastors in his network of church plants.”

Llambes said he knows Cabrera has “a heart to see so many churches planted throughout Latin America. And I know he understands that a big part of that is [to] have men that have a good, solid theological training. And so he invests in that, and he invests in the vision that God has given him for church planting.”

Llambes said Cabrera is “a visionary leader that I as an older person with a lot of years of experience in ministry, … would not hesitate to follow his leadership in either theological training or in church planting.”

Cabrera said he considers it an “honor and privilege and blessing” to be a pastor who has the opportunity to serve as a professor and be part of the leadership of the Hispanic Programs at Southwestern Seminary. He said the administration and faculty have shown a commitment to reach the growing Hispanic community in the United States.

Cabrera said he was pleased to see that Hispanics made up about 44 percent of the seminary’s December 2023 graduating class.

“For me, that’s historical,” he said, adding that it also is “a great way to sense the future of the theological education in our seminaries in the United States.” If seminaries “want to be part of what the Lord is doing in North America,” he said, they need to reach Hispanics, the largest minority group in the country.

“And Southwestern is, in advance, showing commitment and opening doors for the Hispanics in North America,” he said.

When he’s not busy with work, Cabrera enjoys spending time with his wife, Denisse, and their daughters, Andrea and Adriana. He lives on “a beautiful island” and enjoys going to the beach. The former basketball player still has a love for the game and watching the NBA, especially his favorite team, the Golden State Warriors.