Rev. Jorge Acevedo loves Jesus Christ and his Church. Touched by the grace of God at seventeen, he was never the same. Rescued from a life of addictions, his greatest delight is connecting people to Jesus and the Church.
Jorge is the Lead Pastor at Grace Church, a multi-site, United Methodist congregation in Southwest Florida with four campuses (Cape Coral, Fort Myers Shores, North Fort Myers and Fort Myers Central). This church has grown in its weekend attendance from 400 to over 2700 in the past fifteen years. Grace Church is recognized as having one of the largest and most effective recovery ministries in America with over 800 people involved in weekly recovery ministries. Grace Church purchased a former grocery store and opened the Grace Community Center; a holistic ministry center that houses more than 25 compassion ministries. From 1992 to 1996, he served as one of the pastors at Christ Church United Methodist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; from 1988 to 1992, as the Associate Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Kissimmee, Florida; from 1984 to 1988 as Minister of Youth and Children at Trinity Hill United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky.
Jorge is a 1984 graduate of Asbury College where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Bible. He is also a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree. Jorge was ordained as a Deacon in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church in May, 1986, and an Elder in May 1990. He was the 2001 recipient of the Denman Evangelism Award from the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church given to a pastor for excellence in evangelism. In 2007 Jorge was named the Distinguished Alumni of the Year at Asbury Theological Seminary. In 2009, the Foundation for Evangelism named Jorge the 2009 Distinguished Evangelist of the United Methodist Church. He was a 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 delegate to the Jurisdictional Conference and a 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 delegate to the General Conference. Jorge serves on the Southeastern Jurisdiction and Florida Conference Episcopal Committees. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Mission Society. Jorge has been very involved in the Walk to Emmaus in Kentucky, FLorida and the Bahamas.
Jorge co-authored The Heart of Youth Ministry with Hule Goddard, which was published by Bristol Books in January of 1989. He has also written for the United Methodist Publishing House, Circuit Rider magazine, Good News magazine and Our Faith Today. He was also one of three featured pastors on the “Keeping the Passion for Ministry Alive” edition of the Willow Creek Association “Defining Moments” CD with Bill Hybels.
Born in Puerto Rico, Jorge at the age of four months, moved with his family to the United States where he was raised. Jorge was married in November, 1981, to Cheryl Montgomery. Their oldest son, Daniel is married to Courtney who gave them two beautiful grandchildren, Mia and Levi. They also have a younger son, Nathan.
Bishop Kenneth Carter will be the bishop in residence.
Ken Carter of North Carolina has been elected United Methodist Bishop of Florida, replacing Timothy Whitaker, who retired after 11 years. He will be the leader of some 700 churches in the Florida Conference. Carter, 54, assumed his new post Sept. 1. Carter is viewed as someone who can continue efforts of the United Methodist Church to reinvigorate its ranks with younger members after four decades of stagnation, said the Rev. Jorge Acevedo, senior pastor of Grace Church in Fort Myers and one of two head delegates in charge of Thursday's election process.
"He's a voice of reason and a strong voice of growth," Acevedo said. "Our denomination is not doing well and Bishop Carter has been one of those voices of renewal."
Prior to his work as superintendent of the Waynesville district, Carter served for eight years as senior pastor of the Providence United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., a congregation that involved over 5000 each week in worship, small groups and mission. His wife Pam has a deep passion for God’s mission in Haiti, and they have two daughters, Liz and Abby.
In his role as district superintendent, Carter oversaw a children's home campus, two homes for disabled adults, a wilderness trail program, a house church (the Filling Station) and the River of Life rafting ministry and worked with others in the establishment of a missional church network across the eleven western counties of North Carolina.