Rev. Camelia Mercado: Spirit-Led, Unapologetically Called

Long before it was acceptable, let alone expected, for women to lead from the pulpit, Rev. Camelia Mercado heard a call that refused to be ignored. Born into the rhythms of Puerto Rican culture and raised within the Spanish Eastern District of the Assemblies of God (SEDAG), Camelia was shaped by both faith and fire. In a denomination where women were often expected to remain in the shadows, she dared to believe that God had separated her for more.

In 1955, she and her husband, Pastor Alex Mercado, planted Iglesia El Calvario (Calvary Church) in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. Together, they nurtured a growing congregation with prayer, perseverance, and Pentecostal power. However, when Pastor Alex passed away in 1990, many assumed the church would seek a new male leader. Instead, Camelia stepped boldly into the senior pastor role, not as a placeholder but a pioneer.

Long before that, in 1978, Camelia made history by becoming one of the first Latina women ordained in South Eastern District of the Assemblies of God. It was a quiet revolution. There were no parades, no press releases, but her ordination echoed through the pews and pulpits of a movement still reluctant to recognize women as full bearers of the gospel. Camelia didn’t just challenge that reality; she faithfully resisted it.

Her ministry was never confined to Sunday morning. She counseled the brokenhearted, taught the curious, encouraged the weary, and stood as a steady anchor in her community. To the women watching her, she wasn’t just a pastor, she was proof that the Holy Spirit calls whom the Holy Spirit calls, regardless of gender, tradition, or opposition.

Camelia stood shoulder to shoulder with other faith matriarchs like Julie Ramírez and Aimee Gárcia Cortese, each woman reshaping what Latino Pentecostal leadership could look like. She may have never labeled herself a trailblazer, but that’s precisely what she was. Her life told a different kind of sermon, one that said women could preach, pastor, and prophesy, and that obedience to God was greater than conformity to man-made structures.

Her legacy is alive in every woman who stands behind a pulpit because she dared to. In every church that opens its doors wider. In every Spirit-empowered leader who refuses to be silenced.

Rev. Camelia Mercado’s story is more than history. It is a living testimony to a gospel that liberates, includes, and empowers. A gospel she not only preached, but embodied.