Emilio Avilés is the founder and lead pastor of Embassy Church. With over 15 years of pastoral ministry experience, he is a humble and passionate leader devoted to the Great Commission, discipleship, and raising up Kingdom Ambassadors in the local church. He has a deep love for the city of Homestead and a heart to see lives reconciled through the gospel.

Jackie Avilés serves alongside him in the servant leadership of Embassy Church. She is a licensed hope coach, Bible teacher, and published author, passionate about equipping leaders, encouraging women, and helping people rebuild hope through faith and truth.

Emilio and Jackie have been married since 2009 and live in Miami, Florida with their two sons, Emilio IV and Elijah.

In addition to his service at Embassy Church, Dr. Lenny is the President and Co-Founder of The Bard Company, LLC. Over his lifetime, Dr. Lenny has executed digital campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, major Hollywood studios, churches, ministries, congressional and presidential campaigns, and many more. His professional work has been featured in Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, The Wallstreet Journal, The New York Times, The Christian Post, and more.

Dr. Lenny was born to Cuban parents in Paramount, California and moved at an early age to his home city of Miami, Florida. While in Miami, Dr. Lenny received an A.A. from Miami-Dade College, a B.A. in Religious Studies, and a second B.A. in Political Science from Florida International University, where he also served as Chief Justice of the Student Government Association.

On October 2009, Dr. Lenny had the honor of marrying Katrina Lynne Martinez, who serves alongside him in the servant leadership of the church. A native Floridian born in Key West, Katrina is a cum laude graduate of the University of Miami with a B.A. in Religious Studies, focused in ethics and women in religion, and minored in Theater Arts. After getting married and graduating, Dr. Lenny and Katrina felt called to ministry and moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina to attend school at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In August 2011, Dr. Lenny graduated a year early with an M.Div. (Master of Divinity) in Christian Ethics, and Katrina later graduated with her M.A. in Biblical Counseling and served a number of churches as a biblical counselor.

Over this period, Dr. Lenny served as the Grassroots and Digital Director for a campaign to successfully amend NC’s constitution. For his successful efforts, Dr. Lenny was awarded the prestigious Williams-White Award for the Practice of Christian Social Concern. In addition to his public service, he served for half a decade as a pastor of a Southern Baptist church comprised primarily of Filipinos in downtown Raleigh called Glory of God Christian Fellowship.

Dr. Lenny completed his Ph.D. in Theological Studies with a concentration in Christian Ethics & Political Theology in 2018 from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary under Dr. Daniel Heimbach. His dissertation appraised covenant as a model for the origination and constitution of the social institutions of the church, the family, and the state. The 550 page dissertation was written in a month and a half, and was called a “masterpiece” by the committee.

Dr. Lenny lives happily in Homestead, Florida with his wife and four children (Charlotte Ann, Olivia Marie, Leland James, and Reagan Leigh).

His life goals can be found within Mark 12:28-34, & 16:15.