Faithful Foundations
Note from the Editor: The following is the fifth in our 2024 series featuring a president from within the Southwestern Union territory as they explore one Adventist fundamental belief and how it has affected their life, faith and ministry.
Just before Lee-Roy Chacon was born, his parents, farmers who ran a country store in Canon Plaza, New Mexico, became Seventh-day Adventists. They were strong believers in the faith, which they demonstrated for their children in their keeping of the Sabbath, their faithfulness in tithing and their unwavering belief in the soon Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Chacon grew up with his three siblings in the small Northern New Mexican community of fewer than 100 people. They worked hard, waking early to take care of the crops and animals before the school bus came, and then taking care of more chores when they came home from school.
The community was made up of relatives—aunts, uncles and cousins—and those who weren’t Catholic were Seventh-day Adventists, who were notable in the community because of their Sabbath observance.
Chacon remembers his family’s weekend routine. “We would take our baths before the sun went down,” he says. “We made sure all the clothes were taken care of. The store had to be closed an hour before the Sabbath started, and we would not open the store until the Sabbath was over.”
It appears that Chacon’s family was blessed for their faithfulness. Throughout the years, several others tried to open similar stores in the area, but none had success; only his parents’ store remained.
As a teenager, Chacon decided to follow his parents’ example and keep the Sabbath as faithfully as he saw them do. An athletic kid, he played basketball at his high school, but was met with the issue of playing with his team on the Sabbath. “I quit the game,” he says, “quit the team and decided to be faithful to the Lord and not play on the Sabbath.”
Chacon worried about his future as he was finishing high school. What should he do with his life? What were his next steps? He wrestled with the idea of becoming a pastor. This wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he felt he was being led that direction. After discussing it with his parents, he decided he would attend Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU).
Attending SWAU, he found himself drawn to the theology and religion classes. Still, after he graduated from the university, he had what he calls a “Jonah moment.” He moved to California, where he worked for a short time at a bank and also at the local Adventist Book Center, taking business courses at night and ignoring the call to become a pastor.
Then the local conference asked if he would serve as a youth pastor at a church in Los Angeles. He reluctantly accepted. In doing so, he accepted more than just the position, he also accepted the call to ministry. He went on to study at Andrews University for his master’s of divinity before returning to work as the youth pastor of the Los Angeles church.
It was then that he met Nelva, a dentist from Mexico, who was visiting to purchase medical equipment for her practice in Monterey. Chacon knew this was the woman God intended for him. The two dated for three months, and before she was scheduled to return to Mexico, he proposed. They had two weddings: one in the United States and one in Mexico. Then they settled into their lives as a new pastoral family. At that time, the Pacific Union Gleaner published a notice about Chacon’s ordination and return to the Los Angeles area. The notice was read by the then-president of the Alaska Conference, James Stevens, who was looking to hire someone with a unique blend of skills and experiences. Chacon fulfilled all the requirements for a role Stevens was looking to fill. He had a pastoral background, was fluent in both English and Spanish, had strong administrative skills and had a sound understanding of financial management. Chacon was offered, and agreed to take, the position in the Alaska Conference.
Upon moving to Anchorage in 1992, Chacon embraced the wide range of responsibilities that utilized these skills. He started the first Spanish church in Anchorage while also taking on the role of associate treasurer for the conference, managing the local Adventist Book Center and acting as the treasurer for the local school. Throughout his years there, Chacon fulfilled the needs outlined by Stevens and also contributed to the growth of the Adventist Church in Alaska. Meanwhile, Chacon and his wife became parents of a daughter, Melissa.
Being in Alaska gave Chacon a new perspective on Sabbath keeping, with the sun rising and setting at very late or very early times. “It opened a new understanding of keeping the Sabbath. Not just about the day, but about the attitude and how you worship on that day,” he says. “Just the fact that we’re keeping the Sabbath doesn’t necessarily mean that we are actually automatically going to be saved. It is a relationship that we have with the Creator that is built on a daily basis. The Sabbath is the culmination of the weekly relationship. It accumulates, and you then rejoice on the Sabbath when you can be there with your Creator and Redeemer, thanking Him for what He did the whole week.”
After Chacon had been in Alaska for five years, Stevens was elected president of the Texico Conference. It wasn’t long before he called on Chacon, knowing he was from the area, knew the culture well and understood the unique challenges facing ministry workers in the conference. Soon Chacon was elected as the conferences’ executive secretary, taking on the challenge of working in an expansive and rural geography where resources were spread thin. Chacon and the conference began to look at ways to work with what they had while expanding the ministry and reaching the territory for Christ. Some of their solutions included combining districts in efficient ways, providing incentives for evangelism efforts and supporting ministry workers who sometimes felt isolated or without resources.
In 2012, after Stevens’ retirement, Chacon was elected president of the Texico Conference, a role he’s held for the past 12 years. In this role, he has continued to cultivate a close-knit community and family atmosphere within the Texico Conference’s team of ministry leaders and pastors, offering support and opportunities that grow both their faith and their commitment to their calling.
In reflecting on his path through ministry, Chacon remembers his parents’ farm and store, their commitment to keeping the Sabbath, their commitment to the church and how much that influenced and blessed his own path.
In his limited spare time, Chacon enjoys gardening, which allows him to reflect on creation. “I always say, you can take the boy off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the boy,” he says. His gardening now is more focused on peaceful reflection rather than subsistence, and he likens its effect and purpose to those of the Sabbath—a special space for giving thanks for what God has made and reflecting on His creation.
By Jessica Lozano. Lozano is a writer and freelancer based in Northwest Arkansas. Photos by Steven St. John Photography. Lee-Roy Chacon is the Texico Conference president. He lives in Rio Rancho, N. M., with his wife, Nelva. They are parents to one adult daughter, Melissa.
