Pictured above: Javier Sotolongo, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Estrella de Belén, receives the 2026 Baptist Heritage Award presneted by Don Hepburn, managing director of the Florida Baptist Historical Society, on August 30th. Photo by Rachel Almaguer.

HIALEAH—Dr. Javier Sotolongo, longtime pastor of Iglesia Bautista Estrella de Belen in Hialeah, received the 2026 Baptist Heritage Award Aug. 30 in recognition of his contribution to preserving the history of the Hispanic Baptist movement in Florida.

Don Hepburn, managing director of the Florida Baptist Historical Society, presented the award during the church’s Sunday morning worship service. As Sotolongo accepted the honor before the congregation he has pastored for more than three decades, church members rose to their feet in a standing ovation.

The Baptist Heritage Award recognizes Florida Baptists who have demonstrated unusual dedication to preserving and promoting Florida Southern Baptist history through research, writing, teaching and other efforts.

The Historical Society selected Sotolongo for research that Hepburn described as providing “a major contribution to the history of the growth and development of the Hispanic Baptist movement within the Florida Baptist Convention.”

Sotolongo’s research also provides “an additional valuable resource on Florida’s Cuban Southern Baptists,” Hepburn said.

The research was part of Sotolongo’s 2023 doctoral dissertation, which examined “reverse missions” among Cuban-American Southern Baptists and the transmission of the gospel to Hispanics in Miami by first- and second-generation Cuban-American Southern Baptists between 1959 and 1990.

Following the award presentation, Sotolongo preached in Spanish from an excerpt of his dissertation, drawing lessons from the history he documented and applying them to the church’s mission today. He challenged the congregation to consider how churches can continue sharing the gospel effectively with the people around them even as their communities change, much as Miami’s changing population shaped the ministry opportunities explored in his research.

Sotolongo’s connection to that history is also personal. A native of Villa Clara, Cuba, he immigrated to the United States at age 18. He later served as a church planter in Buffalo, N.Y., through the New York Baptist Convention before relocating to Florida and beginning his ministry at Estrella de Belen.

He has served as senior pastor of the Hialeah congregation since 1990. Under his leadership, Estrella de Belen has emphasized evangelism and discipleship, equipping members to take the gospel beyond the church’s walls through prayer, personal invitations and intentional engagement with their community.

Sotolongo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Western Cuba Baptist Seminary and later a Master of Theological Studies and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also has served as a professor at Miami Bible College and as an adjunct professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Seminary.

During the presentation, Hepburn connected Sotolongo’s work with a much longer history of Florida Baptists carrying the gospel across cultures. He recounted the early efforts of Florida Baptists to reach Cubans in Key West and Cuba and emphasized the importance of preserving the stories of those who helped advance that mission.

Sotolongo joins 29 previous recipients who have received the Baptist Heritage Award since 1997. Past honorees include pastors, denominational workers, professors and laypeople committed to researching and preserving Florida Baptist history.