Hispanic-Latinx Center Receives $10,000 Grant from North Central Jurisdiction Mission Council
December 7, 2020
The Hispanic-Latinx Center at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the North Central Jurisdiction Mission Council to equip local church leadership for Hispanic congregations in the North Central Jurisdiction. The grant will support a series of webinars focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color, with particular focus on the Latinx community.
“Amid so many stressors that continue to affect the Latinx community, this ‘good news’ comes at a very opportune time,” said Dr. Débora B. Agra Junker, director of the Hispanic-Latinx Center and associate professor of critical pedagogies. “Through the activities that we will organize, we hope to contribute, even in a modest way, with the healing process needed at times like this. We hope that together – pastors, leaders, and seminarians – we can show our empathy in the face of each other’s struggles, offering our genuine solidarity and Christian love so rare during a crisis.”
Understanding that pastors, leaders, and seminarians are called to serve as spiritual leaders amid great suffering while at the same time having to deal with their personal grieving process, the Hispanic-Latinx Center will use the grant to organize webinars covering three topics: coping strategies in times of pandemic; anti-racism; and Latinx spirituality. Although the target audience is the Latinx community, the Center hopes that these urgent issues will appeal to a broader audience and encourage reflection on the implications of these issues on a personal and collective level.
The Hispanic-Latinx Center was established in 1988 to bring Hispanic-Latinx culture and experience into the life of the seminary. The Center’s mission has been to meet the needs of Hispanic-Latinx students, pastors, parishioners, and community leaders in creative, insightful, useful, and organic ways. It also seeks to cultivate a community of friends who have a heart and concern about the realities of Latinx communities across the United States, Latin America, and beyond. To learn more, visit Garrett.edu/HispanicLatinxCenter.
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church, was founded in 1853. Located on the campus of Northwestern University, the seminary serves more than 450 students from various denominations and cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. Garrett-Evangelical creates bold leaders through master of divinity, master of arts, master of theological studies, doctor of philosophy, and doctor of ministry degrees. Its 4,500 living alumni serve church and society around the world.