wfn.org | Seminaries are urged to 'walk the walk' with Latino Christians

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org]

Date: February 21, 1997
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the web: http//www.disciples.org

97b-10                        

      DALLAS (UMR)-- American seminaries had better learn to "walk the walk"
of Christian
discipleship before they make themselves irrelevant to Hispanic Americans,
says a prominent
Latina theologian.

     "It has been a long and difficult walk for Latino Protestants," asserted
the Rev. Daisy L.
Machado, introduced as the first Latina Protestant to hold a theological
doctorate. 

     "Some celebrate being more included, but some feel that denominations
have not
responded enough to the Gospel call to inclusivity." 

 Theological imperialism' 
     Despite massive change going on around them, seminaries maintain a
"theological
imperialism, a misguided sense of religious and cultural supremacy," Dr.
Machado contended. 

     A Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister, Machado delivered the
second annual
Roy Barton Lecture during Ministers' Week at United Methodist-related Perkins
School of
Theology at Southern Methodist University. The Barton Lecture, established in
1996, honors the
founder of Perkins' Mexican-American studies program and focuses on Hispanic
issues in the
church. 

     Machado heads the $3.4 million Hispanic Theological Initiative at United
Methodist-related Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
The project, funded
by the Pew Charitable Trusts, provides scholarships for Hispanics to earn
theological doctorates in
order to teach in seminaries, where they are currently only 1.2 percent of the
faculty nationwide. 

     Machado -- whose vigorous challenge to seminaries drew spurts of applause
and shouts of
"Amen!" from her audience -- cited three ways in which seminaries need to
"walk the walk:" 
     * With congregations; 
     * With the challenge of urban theological education; and 
     * With authentic global perspectives and participation. 

Congregations vital 
     Regarding congregations, "the 1996 research of [religion sociologist]
Nancy Ammerman
shows that congregations are the most pervasive infrastructure we have to meet
civil needs," said
Machado. 

     "Their moral position is far better than any civic organization.
Congregations are vital sites
for both social and personal transformation. Yet most seminaries are so
disconnected from them
that they belittle congregations' contributions and ignore their needs for
leadership." 

     As to urban theological education, she continued, "Seminaries find
themselves surrounded
by the urban poor, but a curious detachment occurs once inside seminary walls.

     "Why is there such resistance in seminaries to providing education in
accessible ways for
those who are already in ministry in urban settings? Why do we cling to the
model of the young,
single male seminarian when it's no longer accurate? And why is there such a
pervasive viewpoint
among faculty that an urban theological education is somehow  intellectually
suspect?'" 

     And in a global context, "people do have valid thoughts about God in
languages other
than German and French," said Machado, citing her longtime struggle to get
Spanish recognized
as an approved language for theological education. 

     "Globalization is about change. It's about human dignity, human rights,
about the place
the Gospel has in our cry for the end to racial struggle. 

     "Liberate the faculty from the prison of specialization! Give seminarians
the tools to
question deeply our Western assumptions about those outside our own races!
Then we will enable
leaders to find complements to who they are in the differences of others." 

     Machado recommended an "action-reflection" model for seminaries that is
"grounded in
the place where Christians are in ministry and believes in academic rigor
placed at the service of
education but in which practical considerations are just as important. 

     "As Jesus looks over the fields ready for harvesting, are we willing to
follow him despite
risks and discomfort?" she asked. 

                           - 30 -

DISCNEWS - inbox for Disciples News Service, Office of Communication,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), PO Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206,
tele. (317) 635-3100, (DISCNEWS.part@ecunet.org) Wilma Shuffitt, News and
Information Assistant; (CLIFF WILLIS.part@ecunet.org) Cliff Willis, Director
of News and Information; (CURT MILLER.part@ecunet.org) Executive Director