From Sewanee, Tennessee, Canon Andrew Wright shares his experience taking a course in Latino Ministry Cultural Competency and reflects on how deeper cultural understanding can strengthen ministry across the Diocese of Newark. (Time: 3:35.)
Video Transcript
I’m Canon Andrew Wright, and I’m filling in for Bishop Hughes, who is on sabbatical, for her vlog. And I’m speaking to you from Sewanee, Tennessee. I’m here to take a course on Latino Ministry Cultural Competency, not Spanish language per se, but really focused on background and history, identity, celebrations, traditions, to better understand the very very diverse groups of people that are under that Latino ministry umbrella. This is a course provided by the Office of Latino Ministries in Episcopal Church. They’ve been doing this about 10 years, and have done many many iterations of this course in lots of different locations. Have really impacted Latino ministries all across the church, and I’m excited to be here from the diocese of Newark for this week ahead. And joining me here from our diocese is Barbara Monahan, who is a candidate for Holy Orders for the Priesthood from Christ Church, Ridgewood, and together we’re here to learn, to gather resources and ideas, inspiration, stories. We’re very excited to see what unfolds and what may be helpful and useful and inspiring, to bring back to the diocese of Newark.
Our diocese is one of the most diverse and densely populated parts of the country, which means there are people with all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of identities and ethnicities. And to be able to minister more and more effectively to all the different people groups in our diocese is a real gift. And at the heart of that really is about learning – learning each other. Learning more about each other. Trying to understand each other more fully. And when we do that, then we have the opportunity to enact God’s love, mercy, and justice more and more effectively, and to receive that from others as well. To seek and serve Christ in all persons. That of course means Christ is already there in the other person, somebody who may be very different from ourselves. But learning more about each other is a great way to begin seeing the beauty, the value, and the joy that God has already put in each of our neighbors. And especially right now during a time of immigration crisis, a time of overt and virulent racism and prejudice, to be able to minister more effectively to those who are being pushed to the margins, to understand more and more effectively all of our siblings in Christ, that only makes us all stronger. And so I think it’s a really important, you know, journey to take right now.
And so we’ll bring back what we can that may be helpful, and at least to know more about this resource that exists. And so, please be praying for us here, taking the course together, and we’ll be praying as well for the ministries of the Diocese of Newark and all across the church, especially ministries to Latino and Hispanic populations. Keep in mind, of course, that Jesus came to show us who God is in our midst, understood us from the inside out, and calls us to do the same with each other, to understand each other better, that we may truly love and serve one another in His name.
God bless.
