Community/Comunidad

This year, Wesley Theological Seminary has been generous to provide five Generación Latinx scholarships to allow newly-admitted students to enroll at Wesley without having to deal with financial stressors related to tuition. The message it sends to us is "welcome," "bienvenidos." Meeting Latinx students during orientation allowed for the building of community at the onset of our seminary experience.

“Hello.” “Hola.” “Good afternoon.” “Buenas tardes.” These simple but welcoming salutations allowed us to meet and greet one another in English, Spanish or Spanglish. From the very beginning, Wesley was intentional about building community with a short worship service outdoors during orientation, but it has continued beyond that day. It has allowed the Latinx students who entered the 2018-2019 academic year to meet those who are wrapping up their studies at Wesley and continuing their ministries in their prospective communities. And now, what were unknown faces are classmates with whom we share classroom time, study groups, worship, meals, and more.

The newly formed Gente Latinx Seminarians Association was approved by Student Council at the November 13, 2018 meeting. This is the first Latinx student association at Wesley. In time, GLSA hopes to celebrate a Latinx-lead worship service and Hispanic Heritage Month in the chapel. We have quickly become proud Wesley seminarians, hopeful and anxious of where the response to our call will lead us.

The biggest challenge for us thus far is not unique to Latinx students: adjusting to assignment due dates and commuting to and from campus. There is plenty of support within the Latinx student community and our fellow seminarians are quick to give advice on how they have adjusted or are adjusting to seminary life.

On a personal level, I have hopes of being an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church. I am definitely a minority with regards to this vocational call in a seminary where many hope to obtain their M.Div. and become pastors. Currently, I am a clinical social worker at a community health center in Baltimore. My hope is to become an ordained deacon and minister through clinical counseling, in addition to my secular career. My motivational bible verse while at seminary is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

I am grateful to the Wesley president, deans, professors, staff, and fellow-seminarians. My prayer for all is an echo of Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of throne of God.”

Alfredo Santiago is a seminarian at Wesley.

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