Art by Scape Martinez
I wish I could invite you to the Centro Latino Christmas party. Every December, the staff and faculty of the Centro Latino bring dishes representing their families’ and countries’ traditions. It’s beyond delicious, a rich banquet of distinct tastes with common flavors. Of course, as Jesus reminds us in Luke 4, we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In this special issue of FULLER magazine, celebrating our 50th anniversary, we bring you a spiritual Cena de Navidad (Christmas dinner)—our distinct and yet common reflections on the Word of God through Latino/a/e eyes, the Word in the Bible, and the Word as he becomes flesh in our communities. We invite you to taste it all—from the testimonies of our graduates, to the brief papers by our faculty, to the wisdom offered by our friends and colleagues. Our perceptions are not all rosy; we tackle the real issues faced by our churches, ministries, and communities—intergenerational struggles, transnational experiences of injustice and poverty, the daunting global transitions in theological education. However, the vibrancy of Latino/a faith shines through it all.
I believe that this living spirituality is supported by a simple component of our cultural wealth, a common strand across the vastly different forms of Latinidad around the world: Everyone is welcome at our tables. We would say that each of us is not well if our family is not well. The Latina familia goes beyond the bonds of blood, and every member is precious.
You are invited, through these stories and reflections, to come to the family table. We trust that you will leave the table full of inspiration for your own walk of faith.
I also want to take this opportunity to invite you to come back for another kind of banquet. We want to extend an invitation to our in-person anniversary celebration on October 12th (historically celebrated in the United States as Columbus Day but recently used to lift up and honor indigenous people around the world). We would also invite you, whether you can attend in person or not, to send us a brief message for our digital Book of Gratitude and Honor. The donations that accompany these messages will be used for scholarships—to continue to enable all those who are called to Centro Latino to come and be equipped. I am more than grateful for the circle around the world and throughout the ages that is our Centro Latino community; I hope that, after reading this issue, you will feel the same.
Alexia Salvatierra is academic dean for Centro Latino, associate professor of mission and global transformation, and founding developer and coordinator of the Diplomado en la Respuesta de la Iglesia a la Crisis Migratoria (Professional Certificate in the Church’s Response to the Immigration Crisis). An ordained Lutheran pastor, she has over 40 years of experience in local, national, and international ministry, including church-based community development programs, congregational/community organizing, and legislative advocacy. Dr. Salvatierra is the coauthor of Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World and Buried Seeds: Learning from the Vibrant Resilience of Marginalized Christian Communities.
I wish I could invite you to the Centro Latino Christmas party. Every December, the staff and faculty of the Centro Latino bring dishes representing their families’ and countries’ traditions. It’s beyond delicious, a rich banquet of distinct tastes with common flavors. Of course, as Jesus reminds us in Luke 4, we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In this special issue of FULLER magazine, celebrating our 50th anniversary, we bring you a spiritual Cena de Navidad (Christmas dinner)—our distinct and yet common reflections on the Word of God through Latino/a/e eyes, the Word in the Bible, and the Word as he becomes flesh in our communities. We invite you to taste it all—from the testimonies of our graduates, to the brief papers by our faculty, to the wisdom offered by our friends and colleagues. Our perceptions are not all rosy; we tackle the real issues faced by our churches, ministries, and communities—intergenerational struggles, transnational experiences of injustice and poverty, the daunting global transitions in theological education. However, the vibrancy of Latino/a faith shines through it all.
I believe that this living spirituality is supported by a simple component of our cultural wealth, a common strand across the vastly different forms of Latinidad around the world: Everyone is welcome at our tables. We would say that each of us is not well if our family is not well. The Latina familia goes beyond the bonds of blood, and every member is precious.
You are invited, through these stories and reflections, to come to the family table. We trust that you will leave the table full of inspiration for your own walk of faith.
I also want to take this opportunity to invite you to come back for another kind of banquet. We want to extend an invitation to our in-person anniversary celebration on October 12th (historically celebrated in the United States as Columbus Day but recently used to lift up and honor indigenous people around the world). We would also invite you, whether you can attend in person or not, to send us a brief message for our digital Book of Gratitude and Honor. The donations that accompany these messages will be used for scholarships—to continue to enable all those who are called to Centro Latino to come and be equipped. I am more than grateful for the circle around the world and throughout the ages that is our Centro Latino community; I hope that, after reading this issue, you will feel the same.
Alexia Salvatierra is academic dean for Centro Latino, associate professor of mission and global transformation, and founding developer and coordinator of the Diplomado en la Respuesta de la Iglesia a la Crisis Migratoria (Professional Certificate in the Church’s Response to the Immigration Crisis). An ordained Lutheran pastor, she has over 40 years of experience in local, national, and international ministry, including church-based community development programs, congregational/community organizing, and legislative advocacy. Dr. Salvatierra is the coauthor of Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World and Buried Seeds: Learning from the Vibrant Resilience of Marginalized Christian Communities.
David Emmanuel Goatley, Fuller Seminary president, reflects on the legacy of Fuller’s Centro Latino and on what is ahead.
