The Holy Spirit is at work! Of this I am sure.
Thursday's Reflections, Part 1 - "It's In Our DNA"
This is the second movement of my reflections from Thursday at the LSPS intensive.
The discussion that was the catalyst for this reflection was on practicing ministry amongst 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Latin@s (the @ symbol is a way of being inclusive - Latino/a - so I have learned!). Our presenter, Rev. Al Rodriguez, pointed out that these peoples are often left out of the Latin@ ministry discussion. The dominant culture, in this case the anglo church, often only thinks of immigrants or first generation Latin@s. This is not always the case, but the norm according to the presenter, a 4th generation Latino Episcopal Rector.
Rev. Rodriguez's presentation was about the current demographics that we have on the population, specifically on the breakdown of the generations of Latin@s present in the untied states. Certain patterns began to emerge from the discussion. One really caught my attention.
There were three things that kept coming up in the discussion that formed a pattern:
1) There is a fear that the younger generations of Latin@s are loosing their ability to speak Spanish and are not even learning the language.
2) There is a fear that the Latin@ culture is taking on traits of the dominant (american) culture and that the younger generations are beginning to assimilate “too much.”
3) There is fear of the dominant (american) culture and pressure to assimilate because of the negativity (often false) spun by the dominant culture in the media, specifically in politics over issues of immigration and the border - they felt the need to prove they were “american” to avoid persecution.
This is the second movement of my reflections from Thursday at the LSPS intensive.
The discussion that was the catalyst for this reflection was on practicing ministry amongst 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation Latin@s (the @ symbol is a way of being inclusive - Latino/a - so I have learned!). Our presenter, Rev. Al Rodriguez, pointed out that these peoples are often left out of the Latin@ ministry discussion. The dominant culture, in this case the anglo church, often only thinks of immigrants or first generation Latin@s. This is not always the case, but the norm according to the presenter, a 4th generation Latino Episcopal Rector.
Rev. Rodriguez's presentation was about the current demographics that we have on the population, specifically on the breakdown of the generations of Latin@s present in the untied states. Certain patterns began to emerge from the discussion. One really caught my attention.
There were three things that kept coming up in the discussion that formed a pattern:
1) There is a fear that the younger generations of Latin@s are loosing their ability to speak Spanish and are not even learning the language.
2) There is a fear that the Latin@ culture is taking on traits of the dominant (american) culture and that the younger generations are beginning to assimilate “too much.”
3) There is fear of the dominant (american) culture and pressure to assimilate because of the negativity (often false) spun by the dominant culture in the media, specifically in politics over issues of immigration and the border - they felt the need to prove they were “american” to avoid persecution.
These are general observations, but were present throughout the conversation.
When this pattern came to the surface, I began to think of my own community in Fredericksburg, Texas - a historical German community. Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 by German immigrants. Residents spoke prominently German until the mid 1900s.
I have read a great deal of the history of the town. I have listened to long-time parishioners tell me stories of the church and its history. I do not have a total knowledge of the town or its history, but I think I have a good grasp being a native, German-Texan myself and knowing that my own hometown of Brenham developed along some of the same lines.
I argue that the pattern I outlined above happened in Fredericksburg in the middle of the 20th century.
1) There was a fear that the younger generations of Germans (2nd and 3rd generations) were loosing their ability to speak German and are not even learning the language.
2) There was a fear that the German culture was taking on traits of the dominant (american) culture and that the younger generations were beginning to assimilate “too much.”
3) There was fear of the dominant (american) culture and pressure to assimilate because of the negativity (often false) spun by the dominant culture in the media, specifically during the first two world wars - they felt the need to prove they were “american” to avoid persecution.
These observations are general. My hope is that they can open a discussion about how we will live into our future.
Using the previous discussion on our “DNA” as Jesus followers as a model - as a historical German, immigrant people, this experience of immigration and finding our identity in a new culture is in our DNA. I use “our” in this moment to speak from my own identity and my family's legacy, and also as the pastor of a historic German, immigrant community. This story is in our “DNA.”
Our elders in Fredericksburg have a living memory of those times and how they navigated amidst the unknown of the future. They can help us to remember - giving us a living memory - that can help guide us during our times. They are a gift. Their story is important. It’s in our DNA. It is our story.
We (I write here as a historic German, immigrant) have a gift to offer to those we encounter. Not that we need to tell Latin@ folks what to do - but that we can empathize with there experience through listening to their story. We can provide a place of hospitality. We can provide a place to listen. We can provide a place to grieve. We can provide a place of hope. We can walk into the future together.
Remembering our DNA in Acts - our DNA as followers of Jesus - we can affirm that God is at work. We may not be fully aware of what God is doing, but we trust God is present.
Our living memories can help us to build relationships. For my community - recognizing where we have come from as historic German, immigrants, can help us to build relationships with the Latin@ community. Listening, learning, and sharing stories can help us. I do not know what this looks like. It's a journey we will have to take together. The first step is looking around us and recognizing our neighbors as children of God.
The Holy Spirit is moving! This I know to be true - moving us into the future. My hope is that the church can be a companion and not an obstacle. My hope is that we can be neighbors. That we can listen. That we can learn. That my historic German, immigrant community can learn from the Latin@s, who face some of the same challenges they faced in their recent past. That we can create our future together.
La Paz de Cristo,
The Holy Spirit is moving! This I know to be true - moving us into the future. My hope is that the church can be a companion and not an obstacle. My hope is that we can be neighbors. That we can listen. That we can learn. That my historic German, immigrant community can learn from the Latin@s, who face some of the same challenges they faced in their recent past. That we can create our future together.
La Paz de Cristo,
Travis
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