VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 04/14/08) — Rev. Dr. Julio Laporte, former national coordinator for Haitian Ministries at National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA passed away on April 10. He was 73.
A leader among American Baptist Haitian congregations, Laporte served the Haitian American Baptist community through National Ministries from 2000 to 2003. During that time he supported Haitian churches through pastoral training and networking opportunities such as annual conventions, monthly pastoral meetings and more.
National Ministries’ Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III remembers Laporte as an “esteemed elder” among Haitian Baptists in the United States and Haiti. “He was an effective urban pastor,” Wright-Riggins says, “as well as a voice of advocacy for Haitians and a bridge-builder between National Ministries and the Haitian Alliance and congregations.”
Most recently Laporte served Bethel Haitian Baptist Church in East Orange, N.J., as pastor. During the 1980s and 1990s, when there was an influx of Haitian refugees in New Jersey, Laporte provided pastoral support to the resettlement effort and, in some cases, sponsored refugees in conjunction with his church.
Laporte also worked as a social worker for the Essex County Welfare Board in Newark, N.J., and as a health representative in offices of the New Jersey Health Department in Trenton and Newark. Early in his career, he pastored local churches in the Bahamas as well as Haiti.
Commissioned as an American Baptist home missionary in 2001, Laporte was ordained in American Baptist Churches USA in 1958 and held a Ph.D. in Christian education and a master’s degree in theology, both from Lighthouse Christian College in Beebe, Ariz. He also held a B.D. from Theological Baptist Seminary in Limbe, Haiti.
Laporte is survived by his widow, Rev. Dr. Anne-Rose Laporte, who currently serves Bethel Baptist Haitian Church, and six children. Prayers for the family and friends will be appreciated.
Services are scheduled at Bethel Baptist Church, 320 Springdale Ave., East Orange, N.J. 07017-4532; (973) 673-1731: the viewing on April 18, 6 – 9 p.m., and the funeral on April 19, 9 a.m.
