Living Theology in
the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Volume 12, Number 2
Summer 2007
Hispanic-Latino Theology and Ministry
A Lively & Living Legacy
of Lutheran Latino Ministry
By Keith Forni, Issue Editor
Lutheran ministry in Chicago’s Hispanic-Latino neighborhoods
has been going on for many decades.
Acknowledging initial outreach on the near northwest side in the late
1950’s, we are nearing the fifty-year milepost. Lay and ordained leaders from
many Latin American nations and Puerto Rico, along with many partners from the
U.S.A., have contributed to a remarkable mosaic of Hispanic-Latino ministry in
Lutheran contexts throughout the Chicago area. Significant inter-Lutheran
cooperation also occurred among Chicago’s Hispanic-Latino leaders of various
Lutheran judicatories. The Rev. Gale D.
Schmidt, who served in Lutheran Spanish language ministries on Chicago’s near
west side for over twenty years, recalls that “During the latter part of the
1960’s and the early 1970’s, the Lutheran pastors of (what was at that time)
all three (Lutheran church bodies) joined in a very active and unified
committee called “El Comité Pan-Luterana.” The Rev. Rudy Markwald was called to serve at
Simon Peter Lutheran Church at 1540 N. Spaulding. A building on North Avenue
became a Lutheran Center, offering social ministries and activities. Pr.
Markwald was instrumental in opening a lay ministry training center in
conjunction with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Pastors taught
courses such as preaching, evangelism, doctrine and liturgy for the lay people
of our growing Hispanic congregations. This initiative was repeated in the
1990’s, with a Spanish language diaconal ministry training program offered by a
new generation of ELCA Hispanic-Latino ministry leaders. Chicagoland’s Lutheran Latino leaders –
clergy and laity – have entered into our common life from many points of
origin: The Rev. Abelardo Gonzalez and Nelly Gonzalez (Nicaragua), the Rev.
Julio Loza (Bolivia), the Rev. Samuel Acedo (Argentina), Pablo Martinez and the
Rev. Alberto Garcia (Cuba), the Rev. Pedro & Aura Suarez, the Reverends
Antonio & Neris Cabello (Venezuela), Horacio Sedio-Peralta (Chile), the
Reverends Roberto Navarro, Heriberto Huerta and Hector Garfias-Toledo (Mexico),
the Rev. Ruben Duran (Peru), the Rev. Jaime Dubón (El Salvador), and Miguel
& Aura Simball (Ecuador) are among those who have served or are currently
serving Lutheran Hispanic-Latino ministries based in Metropolitan Chicago.
Puerto Rico needs a chapter of its own to survey the very
significant ties between the isla del
encanto and la ciudad de los vientos
when considering Lutheran leadership and ministries in and around the Windy
City. Lutheran ecclesial ties have grown
closer due to interconnections between our seminaries, families, congregations
and the presence of the ELCA Churchwide offices in Chicago. The Reverends
Edelmiro Cortes, Carlos Torres, +Dimas Planas-Belfort, Jose Miguel
Diaz-Rodriguez, Jose Cortes, Lydia Villanueva, Jose David Rodriguez, Jr., Lydia
Rivera-Kalb, Juan Cobrda, and Myrta Robles as well as lay leaders such as Carmen
Rodriguez, Jennifer DeLeon have collaborated as “Luteranos Latinos.” Our
ministries have been enriched by the gifts and dedication
of lay professional/parish staff members such as +Carmen
Soto (Iglesia Luterana de la Trinidad)
and +Marina Fontanez (Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria / St.
Mary’s Hope). Bilingual pastors and lay
leaders have served faithfully in partnership with Latin American colleagues,
mentors and protégés. Among them, one recalls Pastors Gale D. Schmidt, John
Larson, Robert Alsleben, Gary Mills, John Johnson, Gary Marshall, Susan
Birkelo, Paul Erickson, Anna-Kari Johnson.
All of these and others have served in lively Lutheran congregations in
Latino contexts, in collaborative ministry.
The life and witness of el pueblo de Dios in these Hispanic-Latino,
bicultural and multicultural settings is a gift and blessing. (For a current
listing of Ministerios Latinos in the
Metro Chicago Synod, see http://www.mcselca.org/ministerios3.html.)
Second in a Series
This is the second installment in a two-part series
accenting Lutheran theology and ministry in Hispanic-Latino contexts. Our
opening article, by the Rev. Dr. Ivis LaRiviere Mestre, highlights the
“emergence” of Latino Lutheran voices in Evangelization. She speaks from
pastoral experience and from her current position at the ELCA’s churchwide
office. Her accent is on “accompaniment.”
Accompaniment is evident in many relationships between ELCA Synods and
Lutheran church bodies around the globe. Service-oriented travel provides a
“dual mission trip experience.” Pastor Lou Quetel bears witness to the
transformative power of such international journeys. Pr. Thelma Megill-Cobbler
(“Receiving Guadalupe: An Appreciative Response” to Maxwell Johnson’s essay in
Vol. 12 No. 1) and Pr. Antonio Cabello (“Images and Icons”) view their subject
matter through “incarnational lenses.” Things are not the same ever since “the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Branching out from our issue theme, Gregory Holmes
Singleton, probes a “Diversity of a Different Sort.” Theological diversity, he
notes, “has received significantly less attention.” On behalf of the Let’s Talk Editorial
Council, our author advances a call for dialogue among us and with our ELCA seminary
presidents on this contrast. In his “On
the Way” column, Ben Dueholm anticipates the ELCA’s denominational treatment of
a polarizing issue. “Anxious Exegesis
and Immigration” addresses issues which come to life poignantly in
Hispanic-Latino communities in our region, most notably Carpentersville and
Waukegan. Biblical interpretation and our language for God, both items of
contention in our times, are taken up by Pr. Frank Senn in his “As I See It…”
column and by Pr. Wolf Knappe in his essay.
Both serve to stimulate dialogue among us.
Readers’ Responses are Welcome
For nearly twelve years, Let’s Talk has stirred reflection
and dialogue on critical issues in theology, ministry and the common life of
the Metropolitan Chicago Synod. The impact of the journal has expanded, as
evident in the Readers’ Responses published in this issue. The Editorial
Council encourages such response, whether of essay, letter or note length.
Of Assemblies and Anniversaries…
We anticipate that the next issue of Let’s Talk will feature
coverage of the ELCA’s Tenth Churchwide Assembly at Navy Pier, including
on-location reports and essays from Metro Chicago Synod voting members. Another future issue will feature four
exemplary congregations doing significant community ministries within the Metro
Chicago Synod. Later this year, our
readers are warmly invited to celebrate the first twelve years of Let’s Talk.
Plan now to attend a festive banquet and gathering at the Polo Café 3322 S. Morgan
in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood on Saturday, November 10th, 2007 at 5:30
pm. Tickets will be $50, with proceeds benefitting the ongoing publication of
Let’s Talk. You may reserve your tickets by contacting Pr. Nicholas Zook at
nzook@concordia-chgo.org or by calling him at 773-281-1225. We’ll announce an
engaging guest speaker, the menu and other special features of the evening at a
later time.
Pastor Keith
Forni, S.T.S.
Issue Editor