Date: January 21, 2025
It is a joy, this week, to welcome to campus instructors and participants for the Episcopal Latino Ministry Competency Course (ELMC). This weeklong intensive course (Jan. 18 – Jan. 24) is led by Director of Ethnic Ministries and Missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries for the Church, The Rev. Canon Anthony Guillén. The class invites students to the vision and practices of a church that is multiethnic, multilingual, and multigenerational.
It is an honor and blessing to partner with ELMC and I am delighted that 14 VTS students are enrolled in the class together with 3 outside participants. Instructors include The Rev. Ed Gomez; The Rev. Yoimel González Hernández (VTS ’19); VTS Associate Professor of Theology and Latin American Studies, Dr. Sharon Heaney; The Rev. Leigh Preston; The Very Rev. Julia McCray-Goldsmith; The Rev. Franklin Morales; The Rev. Al Rodriguez; and Karla Sikaffy duPlantier.
In bilingual worship, diversity of voices, depth of analysis, and practicability, the ELMC course is a lifegiving model of teaching and formation. For the sake of the Gospel, the church, and our nation, this is vital work.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary