Joyce del Rosario
Theo Adobo: Community Care for Filipino/a/x Pastors and Faith Leaders
2026: After seven years of grassroots gathering through a Facebook community, mini-conferences, and meals at academic gatherings, Theo Adobo is ready to take the next step in becoming a sustainable institutional home for Filipino diasporic theological reflection. Theo Adobo is a community of Filipino American and Filipino diasporic theological scholars, pastors, and practitioners whose threefold rhythm is to gather, research, and write together. This grant will support three intertwined activities: (1) hosting regional, in-person gatherings for Filipino diasporic pastors serving urban congregations, (2) board development — recruiting, seating, and forming a founding board capable of leading Theo Adobo into its next chapter, and (3) developing a more robust digital community beyond the Facebook group, where pastors and scholars can sustain conversation between gatherings. The work matters for urban ministry because Filipino diasporic communities are concentrated in cities, yet pastors typically lead without theological resources rooted in their congregations’ cultural and historical experience. By gathering pastors regionally, building durable governance, and creating a digital home where scholarship and pastoral practice meet, this will strengthen a network that supports urban Filipino pastors, mentors emerging scholars, and produces theological work that will outlast any single gathering.
Joyce del Rosario is a Filipino American practical theologian, pastor, and scholar based in the Pacific Northwest. She has served Filipino American and multiethnic urban congregations and has worked extensively in theological education focused on contextual ministry, urban congregational leadership, and the intersection of faith and culture in the Filipino diasporic experience. She is one of the original members of the Filipino Diaspora Religious Research Collective — the group that became Theo Adobo — and has helped shape its trajectory from a six-person Louisville Institute grant project into the 83-member network it is today. As project director, she brings pastoral experience, academic credibility, and longstanding relationships with the scholars and pastors who make up Theo Adobo’s membership.
Congregations and Communities grants provide support for urban pastors, churches, faith-based community organizations, and theological institutions to share resources, ideas, and practices for life-giving ministry in cities across North America. We are truly inspired by the commitment of these churches, educational institutions, and community organizations.
