LeadershipLiderazgo
Who leads this church, and who they answer to.
Christ rules His church through officers He appoints, and those officers rule jointly. No one man is a law unto himself here.
Rev. Marc Omar
Marc is a missionary with Missio Dei Panama. He and Michelle have been married twenty-three years and have three children.
He and Michelle came here with a specific vision: to plant a confessionally Reformed church among the expatriate and international community of Panamá, and to preach the gospel to anyone who will hear it. This church is that vision taking shape.
Marc grew up in Europe and Africa, and mostly in America. He took his degrees at Trinity Bible College and Seminary — a Bachelor of Christian Education, a Bachelor of Theology, and a Master of Theology — and was ordained in the Orthodox Southern Episcopal Church by the Right Reverend Huron Manning, in Nashville, Tennessee.
He is fluent in three and a half languages, grills Texas barbecue with conviction, and the whole Omar family trains in Aikido and Krav Maga.
Pastor John Sawkins
John and Wendy have been married since August 1990. They have three children — Lauren, Karissa, and Caleb — now with families of their own in Ontario, Panamá, and Florida, and a granddaughter. Wendy homeschooled all three from kindergarten through high school.
Before ministry, John served twenty-five years with the London Fire Department in Canada, retiring as a Captain. He holds a B.Th. from Heritage Bible College and Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario.
The Sawkins lived on a hobby farm outside London, Ontario until 2019. They had been visiting Panamá for three years by then, having also weighed ministry opportunities in Florida, Costa Rica, and the Cayman Islands. Panamá is where they landed, and where they stayed.
Other officers
There are none yet. Providence Church is a plant, and at present Pastor Omar and Pastor Sawkins are its only officers. Raising up elders and deacons from within this congregation is work in front of us, not behind us.
Accountability — plainly
Providence Church is an independent Reformed congregation and a church plant. We are not currently under the oversight of a presbytery, classis, or denominational court. We would rather tell you that than let you find it out later.
What we do have is this: two pastors who answer to each other and to this congregation, and a doctrinal standard published in full on this website that anyone may hold us to.
And we are working on the rest. We are engaged in organizing a presbytery in Panamá, in association with the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, for local fellowship and accountability, and we have approached several bodies about oversight. None of that is concluded. Until it is, we will not describe ourselves as being under anyone's authority — because we are not.
If that matters to you — and it should — come and ask us about it.
Contacting us
Write to either pastor at the addresses above. If you need to speak to someone urgently, WhatsApp +507 6507-2030.