The Rev. Carlos L. Malave is the president of the Latino Christian National Network (LCNN). LCNN is a broad Christian Latino network that includes Pentecostal, Evangelical, and Mainline leaders. Rev. Malave began his ministry in Puerto Rico and served as pastor for several years in Southern California. He holds postgraduate degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary and Loma Linda University, and currently serves as pastor of the Appomattox Court House and New Concord Presbyterian churches in Virginia.
From 2012 to 2021, Rev. Malave served as Executive Director of Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT). In this position, he regularly worked with the senior leaders of more than 30 Christian denominations and organizations. Rev. Malave has served for many years on the steering committee of the Circle of Protection, a hunger advocacy group of more than 50 denominations and Christian organizations. From 2001 to 2012, he served as an Associate for Ecumenical Relations at the Office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
In this conversation, Rev. Malave shares insights into his vocation as a pastor, bridge-builder, advocate, and organizer. He explains how his ecumenical work has evolved over time from a focus on doctrinal issues to the “existential challenges that we have in our lives,” speaks of finding “points of commonality” between the churches, and explores how the concept of “biblical justice” binds our various denominations together. Describing himself as “a Catholic from afar,” he expresses his admiration of Popes Francis and Leo XIV for “shaking the conscience of the world with the principles of the Gospel” and recounts fruitful collaborations with Catholic clergy and laypeople in “the work for the transformation of the kingdom.”
This episode was recorded on September 21, 2026. Rev. Malave references LCNN’s pilgrimage to Springfield, Ohio, on September 29 to minister in solidarity with the Haitian community. The Guardian article referenced in the episode about the LCNN’s legal challenge to the Trump Administration’s reversal of the “sensitive locations” policy for houses of worship is available here.
