Washington, DC & Madison, NJ • [email protected]
Central American Studies; Salvadoran post-war collective memory; Cultural Trauma theory, political and religious discourses; Decolonial thought and Indigenous epistemologies; Latin American Liberation theologies.
PhD in Religion and Society (Present)
Drew University Theological School
Expected graduation: 2029
Master in Latin American Theology, cum laude
Universidad Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas”
Thesis: Collective Trauma and Religious Language: Construction of Solidarity with the El Mozote Massacre Victims
2025
Master of Divinity
Fuller Theological Seminary
2020
Certificate in Discipleship and Mission
Comunidad de Estudios Teológicos Interdisciplinarios (CETI)
2021
BA in Architecture
Universidad Albert Einstein
2014
Center for Renaissance Studies – Intensive in Nahuatl/Nawat Language Study
Participant, Newberry Library, Chicago, IL (July 2025)
Hispanic Scholars Program (formerly Hispanic Summer Program)
Course: “History and Spirituality of the First Sanctuary Movement (ca. 1980–1990)”
Participant, MDiv credit, held at Southern Methodist University, (Summer 2018)
Fuller Theological Seminary
Teaching Assistant
Leadership Development (ML530), Spring 2021
Missional Churches and Leadership (PM514), Spring 2023
Bible Formation Institute
Instructor of Introduction to Hebrew Bible
Winter 2020, Fall 2016
“Pentecostalisms and War: Central America and Colombia,” in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism Supplements (forthcoming)
“Migration and the New Testament,” in Upside Down Kingdom Study Bible, Zondervan, September 2024
“Dialogando con la Terapia Cognitiva Conductual,” co-authored chapter in Salud Mental en la Pastoral Universitaria, IFES Latin America, March 2024
“What’s Behind the ‘Peace’ in El Salvador?” Sojourners, July 26, 2023
https://sojo.net/magazine/septemberoctober-2023/whats-behind-peace-el-salvador
“50 Years of Centro Latino,” contributing editor, Fuller Studio – Issue 29, October 2024
https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/issue-29-50-years-of-centro-latino/
American Academy of Religion, Member (November 2023 – Present)
Latin American Studies Association, Member (November 2024 – Present)
Ashoka Spiritual Changemakers Community, Member (February 2024 – December 2024)
The Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH)
Facilitator of ReDET Community of Practice (September 2023 – Present)
Congregation Action Network (CAN), Member (March 2023 – Present)
Lausanne Movement, Member of El Salvador’s delegation to the III Lausanne Congress, Cape Town, South Africa (October 2010)
Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI)
2024–2025 Fellowship
2025–2026 Fellowship
Paper presentation, Graduate Conference in Religion and Ecology, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT, February 2026.
Latine Public Witness in the Wake of Far-Right Movements
Panelist, Roundtable hosted by the Latina/o Religion, Culture, and Society Unit, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, November 2025
Recurrected Collective Bodies: Emergences of Migrant Agency and Solidarity Movements
Paper presentation, Graduate Student Conference, Mygration Christian Conference (MCC), Gordon College, Wenham, MA, October 2025
St. Oscar Romero’s Spirituality and Teachings, Commemoration of Saint Oscar Romero’s Martyrdom by Ministerios Latinos, United Church of Christ (March 2022, 2023, and 2024)
The Theory-Praxis Problem in Holistic Mission: Outline of a Critical Reflection from Ignacio Ellacuría’s Thought
Presenter, Juan Mackay Lectures, Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana, July 2023
Pastoral del Reposo Integral (A Pastoral Ministry of Wholistic Rest)
Guest speaker, Annual Leadership Seminar, Red de Iglesias del Reino, El Salvador, August 2022
Guidelines for Wholistic Mission: From the Local Church to our Latin American Cities and People
Guest speaker, Annual Leadership Seminar, Red de Iglesias del Reino, San Salvador, August 2020
The Cries of the Community
Chapel speaker, Fuller Theological Seminary, February 2020
How about the remnant?: Reflections on the migration experience
Guest speaker, The Bible on the Move Conference, Fuller Theological Seminary, January 2020
The Church’s Response to the Immigration Crisis
Presenter, Missiology Lectures: Migration, Transnationalism and Faith in Missiological Perspective, Fuller Theological Seminary, October 2020
Fuller Theological Seminary | Pasadena, CA
Communications and Recruitment Project Manager (remote)
August 2022 – Present
Recruitment and Retention Specialist
January 2019 – November 2021
Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH)
Intern for Communities of Practice (remote)
March 2025 – Present
Casa Chirilagua | Alexandria, VA
Communications Director
March 2021 – November 2021
Red Letter Christians | Washington, DC
Communications Assistant (remote)
November 2020 – August 2024
Campamento de Dios Church | Los Angeles, CA
Associate Pastor
September 2017 – June 2020
Campamento de Dios Church | San Salvador, El Salvador
Worship & Youth Pastor
January 2014 – August 2017
© 2025 Juan Martínez Benavides · All rights reserved
PhD Student, Religion and Society · Drew University Theological School
Washington, D.C. (Ancestral lands of the Piscataway and Anacostan peoples)
[email protected] | CV