Dr. Lathem is the Co-Founder and President Emeritus of the Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela (Seminario Wesleyano de Venezuela). www.semwesven.org The Seminary is 21 years old and offers an Associate and a Bachelor Degree. It is located in Barquisimeto, Venezuela and has trained over 1,000 Christian leaders, and in partnership with the International Leadership Institute has trained over 5,000 leaders. The Seminary is the only school of its kind in Venezuela offering academically sound educational/Christian opportunities to pastors and students in an affordable and accessible manner within the Wesleyan Tradition. This is a great opportunity for partnerships by people who want to make a real difference in the lives of people serving Christ in one of the most critical countries in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. Lathem also had the privilege to preside at the founding conference of the Methodist Church of Venezuela in 2007. The conference began with 12 churches and now has 59 churches. He considers this one of the greatest honors of his life.
In 2014 he co-founded the Wesley Medical Center on the Campus of the Seminario Wesleyano de Venezuela. It is the first Protestant Medical Center in Venezuela, employing 100 medical professionals in 5 locations. The work in Venezuela has been accomplished through the support of Venezuela Now, Inc. a non-profit GA corporation he founded in 2002. www.venezuelanow.org
Dr. Lathem is the former District Superintendent of the Atlanta-Marietta District of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church where he supervised the work of 42,000 members. He has pastored churches since 1972. His experience includes numerous seminars, training events, church consultations, mentoring, teaching in 5 seminaries, crusade evangelism, ministry pioneer, camp meetings, and revivals nationally and internationally.
His last pastoral appointment was to the Mount Pisgah UM Church which he served for over 17 years. During his tenure, it grew from 75 in worship to an average of 3,000, the fourth largest UMC (based on average attendance) in the U.S. More importantly, during those years over 60% of the 5000 new members (net) who joined were by Profession of Faith. He has always been committed to reaching the unchurched with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Links:
Venezuela Now, Inc. - www.venezuelanow.org
Evangelism & Church Growth in Methodism