Migrant Ministry
Posted: June 24, 2011 Filed under: Context, Ministry, Texas 1 Comment »I’ve been told that in the summer months, worship attendance will go down here at San Lucas. More than a few families from Eagle Pass travel al norte in order to work. People who live in Texas will go to places like Minnesota or Wisconsin to do tough agricultural work like picking sugar beets or working in canning factories. Most leave some time in June, and come back in the Fall. This is one reason, along with scalding heat, that we have Vacation Bible School right away the first week in June. I don’t know numbers for sure, but I’ve heard that a quarter to a third of Eagle Pass residents leave in the summer for work.
I wonder–how can our congregation minister to these people, especially when they are far away? Every Sunday, we’ve been praying for los trabajadores. When I know it is a family’s last Sunday in worship, I have done a special blessing of farewell and godspeed. It’s too late to get something planned for this year, but I’ve been thinking about some sort of special worship service of blessing to send people out with the prayers and support of the community. Maybe this could even be done ecumenically with other local churches.
I’ve thought about sending care packages, but people don’t often know what their address will be until they find a place to live. It would also be ideal to try to connect with other congregations to help our families in diaspora. It’s not like there’s no shortage of Lutherans in the Upper Midwest.
One problem is that people are scattered. It is not the case that people from Eagle Pass all go to the same town; we have people near Moorhead, Rochester, Madison, Green Bay. I’ve asked some of my members who travel if they have been able to connect with Lutheran churches where they go. The common response is that they usually have to work very long hours, even on Sundays, so they don’t get to church easily. Additionally, it is hard to find Spanish-speaking Lutherans, especially in rural areas. One woman told me she went to a Lutheran church in Minnesota that was puro norteamericano. However, one man said that a Lutheran pastor in Wisconsin would bless the cars of the workers before they travel.
When I hear these stories of people traveling for work, I can’t help but think of Biblical narratives, and all the folks that travel in the Bible. Abram and Sarai get up and go to a new place. Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt during a time of famine. In a foreign land, Ruth gleans in the fields of Boaz. Israelites remember Zion by the waters of Babylon. Escaping the tyranny of Herod, the Holy Family finds rest on the way to Egypt. My prayer is that in all of our journeys, Christ might travel with us.
Preaching in Spanish
Posted: May 20, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »These past monts, as I’ve been preparing to preach each week, I’ve noticed that my preaching has changed. The biggest difference is that I am preaching in Spanish. Though still not perfect, it has definitely improved since March. I do sometimes still stumble as I wonder if a verb should be preterite or imperfect. I’m learning vocabularly more appropriate on the border–different from the Iberian textbook Spanish or the Nuevayorquino phrases I picked up on internship.
Most notably, however, preaching in my non-native language has helped me be more biblical. Preaching in English, I have a pretty good command at being creative with words and sentences. I have a grasp at popular culture, and have included quotations and references to all sorts of novels, movies and internet memes. I just can’t do that in Spanish. I don’t know lots of puns in Spanish. I don’t watch enough Univision to make clever connections between some deep thelogical concept and an episode from a telenovela.
If I were preaching this weekend in English, with the story of the stoning of Steven and Peter’s living stones, I would rock. I would make a few geology jokes. It would be gneiss and you wouldn’t take it for granite.
I can’t do that in Spanish. I don’t have the language skills to make puns, and I’m still learning a lot about cultural stuff. If I were to quote a John Denver song or a Morgan Freeman movie, or Dr. Seuss story, my congregation might not have any frame of reference with it. I’m still trying learn the experience here.
The one thing that we do have in common is the biblical story. Rather than trying to fluff up a sermon with cute pop culture references, I simply stay with the Bible. In the ELCA, there’s been lots of talk recently about the Bible as “the first language of faith.” Even though my congregation and I come from very different backgrounds, we share an encounter with God’s word. As we study and proclaim it together, we enter into that old, old story.
More web presence
Posted: May 20, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted here. I’ve been busy with ministry stuff: Holy Week, Synod Assembly, and starting to think about VBS. There are a few more ways to keep connected about life at San Lucas:
Our new web page: www.sanlucaseaglepass.org
Like us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Iglesia-Luterana-San-Lucas/145020762236804
Our own eco-palms
Posted: April 17, 2011 Filed under: Context, Ministry Leave a comment »Hosanna! Today is Palm Sunday. Christians remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem with palm branches strewn in festal preparation. For the last few years, Lutheran World Relief has helped congregations use palm fronds that have been harvested in a more sustainable way.
At San Lucas, we didn’t buy eco-palms for our procession around the block, but I think ours were pretty ecologically sustainable–they were cut from our own church grounds!
VBS already!
Posted: April 12, 2011 Filed under: Bible, Ministry, Spanish 2 Comments »On Sunday we had a meeting to do some preliminary planning for Vacation Bible School. San Lucas has a strong cadre of teachers and helpers, almost all of whom are returning this year. We’ll likely have over one hundred kids! One of my big tasks will be putting together a theme and activities. Traditionally, San Lucas hasn’t used a lot of packaged curriculum. VBS sets are usually rather expensive, and often in English. It’s hard to find theologically sound and financially affordable materials in Spanish, so we’ll do something more grassroots. Maybe I have a new calling as writer of Spanish-language children’s ministry curriculum…
Beforehand, I brainstormed a few possible themes, and among our leaders, there was a strong consensus for Agua Viva! We will be learning all about water. It’s a chance to do some good catechesis on baptism, and to learn some fun Bible stories. VBS is a week long, with a different lesson each day. It’s hard to pick just five water stories. Right now, I’m leaning toward Creation, Jonah, Naaman, the Samaritan Woman, and the Baptism of Jesus. They seem to be core stories, full of lots of action and neat possibilities for arts and crafts. Though I also considered: Noah and the ark, Hagar and the rock, the parting of the Red Sea, Nehemiah and the water gate, and Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and the vision of the river of life from Revelation 21. These might be better choices later on for a youth retreat or adult class. As much as I like to plan ahead, I will probably wait to do more thinking about VBS until after Holy Week.
Singing the Lord’s song
Posted: April 8, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »San Lucas is quite a musical congregation. We sing at worship, before and after Bible study, and even at funeral visitations. On Sundays when there isn’t a guitarist to accompany worship, there’s still a critical mass of strong singers to carry the tunes a cappella.
We use the red Libro de Liturgia y Cántico, a Spanish-language musical resource. Most of the members own their own copies, bringing them along to church—often with hand-stitched fabric covers. We have about a dozen copies for visitors; I’d eventually like to budget for a few more.
Before Libro came out in the late 1990s, the main Lutheran hymnal in Spanish was Culto Cristiano, a nearly-verbatim translation of the 1958 red Service Book and Hymnal. It was full of faith-filled hymns that sing the Christian story, but mostly with German and Scandinavian hymn tunes. Many of these melodies are near and dear to my own Christian journey, but they don’t always musically reflect the heritage of the community.
As the pastor at San Lucas, I have more responsibility in planning worship and choosing music than I have had elsewhere. I put great effort into choosing effort that I think is liturgically and culturally appropriate. Sometimes, however, I am wrong.
I like to pick songs that have origins somewhere in Latin America, reflecting the immense diversity that is Spanish language worship music. Some himnos and coritos I was very familiar with; others I’m learning as I go. Most of the folks at San Lucas can sing all the stanzas of Tú has venido a la orilla or Pues si vivimos without looking at the hymnal at all. This does not surprise me. What has surprised me has been the fervency and gusto with which people sing and request Spanish translations of hymns with more European and white North American origins. Perhaps this is a remnant of worshipping with Culto Cristiano for many years.
Before one worship service without an accompanying guitarist, there was a request for a song called Firmes y adelente. I just looked at the title and said, “I don’t know this one, but if you feel comfortable leading it, surely we can sing it.” During worship, a few measures into it, I realized, “This is Onward Christian Soldiers”!
After Bible study this week, I informally asked a few folks what hymns are favorites to be sung during Holy Week and Easter. Some of the responses: Alzad la cruz, ¿Presenciaste la muerte del Señor?, and El Señor resucitó. These are translations of Lift High the Cross, Were you There, and Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today, respectively.
I heard a song at a funeral visitation that people were singing with much ardor and devotion; I could tell it was quite meaningful to those gathered. The song, Grande gozo en mi alma hoy, was unfamiliar to me, but I instantly recognized the genre. It had the marching rhythm, sentimental lyrics, and chord progression of what can be described 19th century American Protestant evangelistic camp meeting hymns. It’s the kind of stuff on the Tennessee Ernie Ford country gospel albums. It’s not usually my favorite genre, but I know other people find it very meaningful. Looking at the bottom of the page in Libro, I discovered that Grande gozo’s writer, Eliza Hewitt, didn’t have a very Hispanic name. Sure enough, after some googling, I discovered that in English it’s called Sunshine in my Soul. Hewitt wrote the hymn when the cast from a back injury was removed. That’s a powerful image that might work well in my sermon this Sunday with both the stories Lazarus and Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones. God brings new life to weariness.
In the midst of all this, I’m discovering that God’s message cuts across culture. The song of God’s people is polyphonic, with many and various rhythms and timbres. Sometimes it’s new but well-loved; other times it might be ancient, but unfamiliar to me. I think of the Psalmist, looking back on Israel’s captivity in Babylon, “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4). Here I am in a new culture, and many of the beloved songs aren’t foreign at all.
I’m careful to not usurp another’s culture, but maybe it’s presumptuous of me to think that music that I might dismiss from my own white Anglo culture might not have have deep spiritual meaning for people in this Spanish-speaking border culture.
Stevie Wonder has sung, “Music is a world within itself with a language we all understand with an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance and clap their hands …” Yes, even some Lutherans will clap their hands.
Lutherans in Texas?
Posted: April 8, 2011 Filed under: Context, Ministry, Sense of Place, Texas 2 Comments »When driving to San Antonio for a meeting with our bishop and for a hospital visit, I had to stop at the permanent border checkpoint just outside Eagle Pass. The agent had me roll down my backseat window and asked the usual questions: “Where are you coming from? Where are you going? What is your occupation?” When I said, “Lutheran pastor,” he looked at me rather incredulously and said, “Lutheran? Shouldn’t you be in Minnesota or something?” “No, we’re here, too,” I replied. He just shook his head and had me drive on through.
I know the stereotypes about Lutherans: we eat jello and sing boring hymns. We never like to change and we say cutesy things like “ya sure ya betcha.” Here at San Lucas, I love discovering differences to these stereotypes. Here Lutherans cook up enchiladas instead of hotdish. Our music has all sorts of beautiful Latin rhythms.
Being Lutheran is not about what you eat or what kind of music you sing. It’s about God’s grace. As a community of faith, we gather around scripture and share God’s meal together. That’s what makes us Lutheran. Actually, that’s what makes us Christian.
A mysterious powdery substance
Posted: March 22, 2011 Filed under: Mexico, Ministry 2 Comments »
Our church vans get lots of use at San Lucas and Cristo Rey. We pick up a few people for worship, transport donations for our foodbank, run many and various errands, and cross the border into Mexico each week for worship in Piedras Negras. I haven’t had any problems with inspections or danger yet, but I do feel safer using the church van to cross into Mexico, rather than my own personal car.
Last week, in the course of one of our trice-weekly trips to WalMart to pick up food donations, one of the bags of sugar somehow got ripped. When we were loading up the van to drive to Mexico for worship on Sunday, I discovered that the floor and back seat of the van were completely covered with a layer of sugar. I put my guitar case and backpack over some of the powder, trying to cover it up, but there was still sugar everywhere. I knew it was sugar, and anybody with common sense who had ever baked cookies or stirred coffee could tell that it was sugar strewn upon the floor. Nevertheless, I started to worry.
One of the church members going across with me said, “We need to go to the carwash and get that vacuumed right now. The last thing we need to hear on the news is ‘Lutheran pastor arrested for transporting drugs.’” With the sugar vacuumed and with a cleaner van, we crossed there and back across the border with no problem. I am not in jail. Thanks be to God.
Intergenerational multicultural service learning
Posted: March 18, 2011 Filed under: Context, Mexico, Missions, Texas Leave a comment »This past week, we’ve had a group of visitors from two of our mission partner congregations in Iowa. Because the property at San Lucas had been an orphanage many years ago, one of our buildings is perfect for dormitory space. Several congregations have long histories of partnering with San Lucas, both with financial commitments and with sending groups for mission and service learning trips. I see this as an opportunity for San Lucas to be a teaching congregation for the wider church. It’s a wonderful place to learn about Christian community in this border context.
It was a good group for my first time having guests. More than half of the group had been to San Lucas before; a few multiple times. We all worshipped together on Sunday, both at San Lucas and across the border at Cristo Rey, a mission community in Piedras Negras. I’m getting my practice driving a fifteen-passanger van on the bumpy dirt roads on the way to Cristo Rey. I crossed over with the group to Piedras Negras on Monday and Tuesday. They did both health and construction projects. At the heath fair, they checked blood pressures and sugars and distributed health kits. The other half of the group partnered with Hands and Feet to help build a house for a family from a neighboring congregation whose home was recently destroyed in a fire. Later, our Iowa friends spent Wednesday and Thursday at San Lucas, doing a wide variety of helpful property projects and putting on a health fair during the hours our food bank was open.
As wonderful as it is to see some completed tasks, for me it is a joy to see the relationships built. When members of the congregation bring food and share a meal with the group in the evenings, my prayer has been something like: “Dios todopoderoso: Gracias por este día, esta comida, y esta oportunidad de ser la iglesia juntos…” “Almighty God, thank you for this day, this food, and this opportunity to be Church together…”
Sermón: Miércoles de Ceniza
Posted: March 9, 2011 Filed under: Bible, Ministry, Sermon, Spanish | Tags: ministry, preaching, sermon, Spanish, texas Leave a comment »My sermon for Ash Wednesday, 2011.
Con cruces de ceniza en nuestras frentes, empecemos la estación de cuaresma. Tenemos cuarenta días para orar, para enfocar y reenfocar nuestra fe, y para recordar nuestra identidad como hijos e hijas de Dios.
Yo recuerdo una de las primeras personas que recibió cenizas de mí, cuando yo era interno en una iglesia. Este hombre era alto, y tal vez tenía treinta años. No he visto este individual en la iglesia antes. Desde que sepa yo, fui su primera vez.
Como los otros en la congregación, él viene al altar para recibir cenizas. En mis manos, tengo un platito de cenizas de palma, mezcladas con un poco de aceite. Pongo ceniza en mi dedo, y toco su frente, diciendo estas palabras del libro de Génesis: “Recuerda que eres polvo y al polvo volverás.”
Él dice, “Amen.” Y yo también. “Amen.” Después de la misa, quiero conocer este visitante. Me dice, “Necesito recibir cenizas para que mi novia piense que asisto a una iglesia.”
Hoy, acabamos de oír las palabras de Jesús: “No practiquen su religión delante de la gente sólo para que los demás los vean.” Y además, Jesús espera que sus discípulos no sean hipócritas a quienes orar para que toda la gente los vea.
Sí, parece extraño que, en el día cuando oímos Jesús enseñando sobre las buenas obras, tenemos cenizas en nuestras frentes.
Pues, el miércoles de ceniza no es para impresionar a otros. No es para ganar una novia. No es para ser jactancioso ni vanaglorioso. Sino, es para afirmar nuestra condición como seres humanos.
Admitamos que somos rotos. Somos una gente que necesita un salvador. En este día, recordamos nuestra conexión con la tierra, nuestra solidaridad con todas las personas que sufren, y en la misma manera, la solidaridad de Cristo con nosotros.
“Eres polvo y al polvo volverás.”
Oímos estas palabras en el libro de Génesis, cuando Dios sacó a Adán y a Eva del jardín de Edén después de desobedecer a Dios y comer el fruto. Esto es el primer semáforo de mortalidad humana. Sabemos que, algún día, vamos a morir. No vimos por siempre. Volveremos a nuestras origines.
“Eres polvo y al polvo volverás.” Tal vez, una mejor manera de traducir esta frase es: “Eres tierra y al tierra volverás.” La palabra en hebreo es adama’. Significa tierra, como en un campo o en un jardin. Es la tierra donde crecen plantas. Adama’. Entonce, Adan, el primer ser humano, es de adama’. Adan es una creatura de la tierra. Como seres humanos, tenemos conexiones íntimos con la tierra. Cada cosa que usamos, cada comida que usamos, es un producto de la tierra, que he creado por Dios. “Eres polvo y al polvo volverás.” “Eres tierra y al tierra volverás.”
Los campesinos y los geologiotas saben que, en realidad, la tierra está llena de vida. Está lleno de organismos y minerales microscópicos que ayudan el crecimiento de las planta. La tierra que vemos en el paisaje tejano parece muerte y fea y sucia, pero, sin duda, está llena de vida.
Favor de pensar en esta cosa en su frente. Parece muerte y fea, y sucia, pero, sin duda, está llena de vida. Tiene la forma de la cruz, un semáforo de las promesas de Dios.
El miércoles de ceniza, somos marcados con una cruz, pero somos marcados con una cruz en otra manera. Durante el bautizo, oímos las palabras: “Has sido sellado y marcado con la cruz de Cristo para siempre.”
Probablemente llevamos la cruz de miércoles de ceniza por unas horas más hoy. Cuando duchamos y bañamos, esta cruz desaparecerá, pero las promesas de Dios en las aguas de bautizo siempre estarán con nosotros.
La estación de cuaresma empezaba y desarrollaba como uno tiempo de preparación bautismal.
En los primeros siglos de la cristiandad, como hoy mismo, las personas eran recibidas en la iglesia por bautismo. Usualmente solamente era una vez cada año para bautizar—durante la Vigila Pascual. En este servicio, al atardecer, cerca del un fuego nuevo, la gente recordaba historias de los hechos de Dios. Las personas que aprendían sobre la fe por la primera vez fueron bautizadas. Para preparar, estos cristianos nuevos tendrían un tiempo antes para aprender, para estudiar, para orar y practicar hechos de caridad. Otros cristianos maduros querían estar en solidaridad con los nuevos, y entonces, participaron en estas actividades preparatorias. Este tiempo de reflexión y oración ha desarrollado a la estación de cuaresma.
Unas personas usan cuaresma como un tiempo para dejar una cosa. Pero, también, la cuaresma es un tiempo para recordar. Es para recordar que somos hijos e hijas de Dios, sellado por el Espíritu Santo y marcado con la cruz de Cristo para siempre. También, es un tiempo para enfocar y reenfocar su identidad cristiana.
Como cristianos, somos creados en la imagen del Dios. La cuaresma tiene más que ver con nuestra identidad como gente creada en la imagen del Dios, y menos que ver con nuestras imágenes humanas. No estamos aquí para ganar ninguna cosa de Dios.
No estamos aquí para impresionar a nadie. Estamos aquí para reenfocar y para recordar quienes somos–Hijos e hijas de Dios. “Eres tierra y al tierra volverás.” Amén.
