Dr. Valdir França is a member of the Tropical Florida Presbytery, having served lately as Moderator of our Presbytery and has just ended a long journey serving our denomination with the former Presbyterian World Mission – as area coordinator for Latin American and the Caribbean where he served as a bridge between global church partners and U.S. Presbyterians.

Born and raised in Brazil, Dr. França started his faith journey with the Presbyterian Church, in Manaus, Amazon, when he was a teenager. After completing his theological studies, he was ordained as a minister of the Word and Sacraments in the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil in 1984 where he served several congregations. He graduated in theology from Northern Presbyterian Seminary; and has a Master degree in missiology from the Evangelical Center of Mission, both in his native Brazil; and a licentiate in Latin America Theology, from the University of the Americas in Costa Rica and a D.Min. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. Since 2002, when he moved to the United States, he worked with new church development among Portuguese speaking immigrants in Florida. He also ministered to two Spanish-speaking congregations. Dr. França has served with Latin America Mission and the Reformed Church in America as the supervisor for Mission in the Americas. In the late 90s he was a missionary in Birmingham, England, serving in a variety of multicultural urban ministries.