Jesse Miranda, known as the “godfather” of the Hispanic evangelical movement, died on July 12, 2019, at age 81. Miranda provided leadership to an emerging demographic of Latino evangelicals in the United States and has been recognized for bringing Hispanic evangelicals together on theological education, social ethics and racial reconciliation, among other issues.

“Jesse Miranda served on the NAE board. That’s where I first met him,” said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “My initial impressions were to see him as a warm, humble and gracious Christian brother. I didn’t realize what an amazing and influential leader Jesse Miranda was and became. He blessed so many, so significantly for so long.”

Miranda was the founder of the Latino Evangelical Alliance (which later became the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference), a longtime leader in the Assemblies of God denomination, and a past board member of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Miranda also served as founder and director of the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California.

He and his wife, Susan, were married more than 60 years and had three children, Jack, Michael and Cindy.