FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 7. 2024
GCAH SELECTS REV. EDGAR AVITIA LEGARDA AS 2024 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENT
Award, presented posthumously, recognizes contributions to Spanish-speaking Methodist history
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- The General Commission on Archives and History has selected the Rev. Edgar Avitia Legarda as the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Service Award. The award was given posthumously to Avitia, who died unexpectedly on June 27, 2023.
The Distinguished Service Award is given annually to a person who has made significant academic contributions to the ministry of memory of The United Methodist Church.
Known as the foremost authority on the history of Methodism in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, Avitia spent his life nurturing the faith and ministry of Spanish-speaking United Methodists in the U.S. and building relationships with Methodists across Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Edgar had many gifts,” said Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, GCAH president, as she announced the award. “But it was his relationship capital that was his greatest gift. Whether you were talking about Haiti, Chile or Mexico or Global Ministries or anybody anywhere, Edgar knew somebody who knew them if he didn’t know them himself.
“He was better than Ancestry.com,” Bishop Harvey joked.
Avitia, who grew up as a Methodist in Chihuahua City, Mexico, immigrated to the United States in December 1983. He completed undergraduate studies at the University of Texas in El Paso and in 1991 earned a Master of Divinity degree at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology.
Avitia was ordained in the largely Spanish-speaking Rio Grande Conference and there led local churches and served as chaplain at Lydia Patterson Institute, the United Methodist school in El Paso. He also served as superintendent of the Rio Grande Conference’s Southern District.
In 2001, Avitia began his 22-year career with the General Board of Global Ministries. He led the agency’s Global Mission Relationships unit, a role that included being regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was active in MARCHA, the Hispanic/Latino caucus within The United Methodist Church, and he taught in the Spanish-language Course of Study program at Perkins.
Avitia’s wife, Giuseppina, accepted the award on behalf of her husband.
“We, the Avitia Lauretano family are so very honored that you have chosen our beloved Edgar for this incredible and amazing award. I know that his heart would have overflowed with joy,” she said as she shared of her husband’s passion of studying the past, including stories of how her family often traveled the long way on trips to stop at cemeteries along the way. “I don't think he was not looking for anything in particular, he was looking for everything in general.”
In recognition of Edgar Avitia Legarda's work, the Methodist Church of Mexico has created a new historical archive that bears Avitia’s name, Historical Archive CANCEN Rev. Edgar Avitia Legarda.
“I know that Edgar’s legacy as a pastor, a leader of The United Methodist Church and a historian will inspire and motivate new generations of leaders to continue the mission of our people. Edgar did all of this because he had a passion for "things that we have heard and known" because he knew that "we should not hide them from our children, but tell it to the coming generations," said Giuseppina Avitia, quoting Psalms 78:3-4.
The presentation was made during the Historical Convocation held Sept. 9-13, 2024.
Pictured (l-r): Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, GCAH president; Giuseppina Lauretano Avitia, who accepted the award on behalf of her husband, Rev. Edgar Avitia Legarda; Dr. Ashley Boggan D., GCAH general secretary. Photo by Crystal Caviness.
Media contact:
Crystal Caviness
[email protected]
615.306.3401