09/03/2014

Trinity's Midweek Blast for Sept 3, 2014

Speaking Spanish

¡La esperanza, vida y gozo a vosotros en el nombre de nuestro Señor resucitado!

One of the most remarkable developments at Trinity this year is the incredible success of our Spanish for Ministry program. Trinity is the only ELCA seminary to require Spanish for a number of its degree programs, including the Master of Divinity. But that's not all: this year, 29 individuals signed up for the Spanish classes in addition to students taking the class to fulfill their core requirement! These include members of the staff and faculty, student spouses, area pastors, and members of the community at large. And, yes, my wife Harriet and I are among those currently enrolled.

I asked Professor Mark Allan Powell, the program coordinator, to reflect on how this all came about. Here is what he said:

"Someone had a vision that this program was necessary and possible-but it wasn't Trinity's faculty, or administration, or Board of Directors. To give credit where it is due, the vision came from our students. A few years ago, returning interns, recent graduates, and others began insisting that Trinity form them to be leaders for Christ's church at work among all people in the world to which they would be sent, including the 55 million Americans who identify themselves as Latino or Hispanic.

We responded with the best we could muster, getting our students into classes offered by the renowned Speak Our Language organization. That involved an hour-and-a-half round trip in the seminary van and an additional fee of almost $500 per student over-and-above tuition. They paid the money and put up with the inconvenience - such is the caliber of Trinity students!

And then a generous gift from a donor changed everything. We were able to contract with Speak Our Language to develop a unique program just for Trinity, with a strong focus on using Spanish in religious and pastoral contexts. And the organization moved their base to our campus, offering three different levels of immersion classes in "Spanish for Ministry" on Tuesday nights.

The classes have gone over phenomenally. They are now required of our students, most of whom would take them regardless. Since Fall of 2013, six faculty and eight staff members have also taken classes - and we now have to keep a waiting list for people from the community who want in on the excitement. We have augmented the Tuesday classes with a weekly liturgical workshop, an annual trip to Cuernavaca, and free lunches for anyone who wants to join a Spanish book club.

One cannot become fluent in a single semester, but our students do become functional in Spanish in ways that will enable them to minister effectively as leaders in the church. We focus on making hospital calls, leading the liturgy, offering blessings and prayers for important occasions, and being able to engage people in basic conversation that respects who they are and helps them feel welcome.

One ELCA leader talks about 'meeting Hispanics 10 per cent of the way' - many of them have worked very hard to learn a good bit of English, so out of love and respect we should be able to learn a little bit of Spanish. A one-semester course at Trinity definitely fulfills that goal - add the Level 2 or 3 course and you may be able to meet people in the middle.

A pastor said, 'This is good for others, but we don't have any Hispanics in our church.' I just thought about our students, one of whom said, 'That's like saying we don't need to be handicapped accessible because we don't have any members in wheelchairs.' The obvious point would be that disabled people - and Hispanics - are unlikely to look for a church home in a place that doesn't seem aware that they exist.

But as students at Trinity all know, it's not just about 'church membership' in any case. We are a missional seminary forming leaders for a missional church: we want to be able to share love, grace, mercy, and compassion with everyone whether they are members of our church or not. And we want everyone to know: ¡la tumba está vacía!"

In the abiding hope of the empty tomb,

Rick Barger, '89
President
Trinity Lutheran Seminary