Rev. Aimee García Cortese: Called, Undeterred, and On Fire

Long before her name became synonymous with Spirit-filled leadership in the South Bronx, Aimee García Cortese was a young girl in New York City, born on May 26, 1929, to Puerto Rican parents, carrying a name laced with destiny. She was named after Aimee Semple McPherson, the famed Pentecostal evangelist, and perhaps without knowing it, her parents spoke a future into being: one of preaching, pastoring, and pioneering.

Aimee grew up surrounded by the sounds of worship and the rhythms of Puerto Rican life. Her father, a Pentecostal minister, saw something special in her from the beginning and became her first and fiercest advocate. At just fifteen years old, she felt the unmistakable stirrings of a divine call. But when she shared that calling with a local pastor, his response was sharp and dismissive: “Las mujeres no predican.” Women do not preach.

But Aimee did not flinch. She did not fold. That fire inside her only burned brighter.

With her father’s unwavering support, she began her formal theological education at the Hispanic American Bible School in New York City and later at Central Bible College, the Assemblies of God’s training ground in Missouri. In 1951, she was officially licensed to preach—one of the first Latina Pentecostal women to receive such recognition. And still, the road was not smooth. Denominations had ceilings, churches had biases, and pulpits had locks. But Aimee kept walking.

In 1964, she was ordained through the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and in 1974, through the Assemblies of God (although she applied for and was denied ordination in 1958 according to the dissertation submitted by Rev. Dr. Ramon Luis Ortiz, Jr.). However, gaining these two ordinations was a double witness to her relentless obedience to the call of God in a world that tried to look the other way.

But her most remarkable act of ministry came in 1983, when she planted Crossroads Tabernacle Church in the South Bronx, a neighborhood scarred by poverty, drugs, fires, and neglect. Where the city saw brokenness, Aimee saw possibility. What started as a small, faithful gathering in a struggling urban community grew into a thriving multicultural church of over 1,500 people by the 1990s.

Aimee didn’t just build a church, she built a refuge. She was a preacher, yes, but also a mother to the motherless, a counselor to the weary, and a fierce advocate for doing what needed to be done for others. She nurtured leaders, created pathways for the marginalized, and refused to accept a gospel that did not include holistic wellbeing for all.

She was the kind of leader whose power came not just from the mic but from the consistency of her witness. She discipled generations, quietly, faithfully, powerfully.

On December 12, 2021, Rev. Aimee García Cortese transitioned to her eternal reward. But her story, once overlooked by institutions that benefited from her labor, is now remembered, honored, and raised up because her life mattered, her work endures, and her fire still burns.

She taught us that cuando Dios llama, no hay quien lo detenga—when God calls, no one can stop it. And thanks to her faithfulness, the doors she kicked open now stand wide for others to walk through.