A letter from Katie Griffin in the U.S., on Interpretation Assignment from serving in Argentina
June 2015 - A New Stage
The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps (Proverbs 16:9).
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24).
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
The above quote from the book of Proverbs has been one of my guiding Scripture passages in the past two years or so. It has appeared often on the header of my newsletters, and today, even more than before, it rings true.
The institute in Buenos Aires, ISEDET (Instituto Superior Evangélico de Estudios Teológicos), where I have been teaching for the past 15 years, has entered into a pause. The Argentine Ministry of Education had told the authorities there a couple of years ago that the organizational structure was not stable enough to sustain their degree programs and suggested that ISEDET cease the accreditation process. The Ministry of Education promised to recognize the degrees of the students who started their degree work by the first semester of 2013.
At the end of May 2015 the Board of Directors of ISEDET decided that it was time to begin phasing the institute out of existence. They will do everything possible to ensure that the current students are able to finish their degrees, and they will start looking for legal solutions to protect the library collection for use by a future Protestant and ecumenical institute of theological education. ISEDET has the largest theological research library in South America, superior even to the libraries of Roman Catholic institutes of theology.
Since the Ministry of Education had told ISEDET’s authorities that the only way to renew the accreditation process was to liquidate ISEDET as a legal entity and start over again with a new identity, there is hope that the closure of the institute will be one step toward something new and better adapted to the current realities of theological education and pastoral ministry in South America.
There is hope
that the closure
of the institute will
be one step toward something new and
better adapted to the
current realities
Some of these new realities include the need to be self-sustainable and less dependent on monies from churches in the North Atlantic countries. Like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), many other church denominations and ecumenical organizations that have been helping to fund ISEDET are receiving less contributions from their membership and thus cannot continue to support their sister denominations around the world. Christians of the Reformed traditions around the world are no longer able to depend on the faithful accompaniment of their wealthier brothers and sisters in the North Atlantic region.
This has an impact not only on theological education, but also on current models of pastoral ministry. In most South American countries pastors must depend increasingly on a “tentmaking” model of self-support. Churches are not able to pay a pastoral salary, so the pastoral position is increasingly a volunteer ministry. Those who feel called to pastoral ministry must also prepare themselves to work outside of the church in order to care for themselves and their families. They need to invest more time and money in careers that put bread on the table and clothes on their backs and pay the rent, and less time and money in theological education.
So Protestant churches in South America have many difficult challenges to face in the near future. Keep this in mind when you read about them and pray for them through the Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study.
The note that ISEDET’s board of directors sent out after the extraordinary assembly of the nine-member churches states that the decision to liquidate ISEDET
…surely marks a stage in the whole history of ecumenical theological education in the River Plate, which is somewhat more than 130 years old, and has taken different forms according to the challenges that the various moments in history have presented to the Church. We do not doubt the wealth that ISEDET has contributed in the ecumenical history of the associated churches. And we give thanks to God for this.
We find ourselves closing one stage, but we are also preparing ourselves for a new one that will gather all that we have received in our ecumenical journey in theological formation. We pray that the Lord of Life give us wisdom, discernment and strength for this new stage that we will begin to construct under God’s grace.
This new stage in the life of theological education in the Southern Cone of South America has also brought on a new stage in my own ministry. Many of you have heard that Presbyterian World Mission (PWM) has had to recall seven mission co-worker families due to a funding shortfall. PWM will not be able to accompany ISEDET in its last efforts to secure the complete studies of the last group of students. Because of the decisions made by the Board of Directors at ISEDET, my family and I have been a fairly obvious choice in the difficult decision that PWM has had to make.
I am in the process of looking for work as an adjunct professor of Church History with seminaries here in the United States that have online study programs for training pastors and lay leaders in the Hispanic communities here. My family and I are hoping to be able to return to Argentina in January, when my position with PWM will officially have ended. Online study programs will allow me much greater flexibility in my own geographical location, and thus I may also be able to continue to accompany students who want to finish their studies at ISEDET with an emphasis in Church History. I may also be able to be of service to the churches in the River Plate region as they try to figure out how to continue preparing new pastors. Please pray for these new ideas as they continue to develop.
The future is unknown, but exciting! I am as convinced as ever that God is guiding me, my family and the churches in South America.
I have enjoyed sharing my experiences with you over the years and thank you deeply for accompanying me with your prayers, your correspondence and your financial gifts for my support and sending. There are still a few mission co-workers who are working in theological education in South and Central America. The institutes where they are teaching are valuable mission partners with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Please consider accompanying Karla Koll, Eli Cook or César Carhuachín. You may read about them and their ministries through the Mission Connections web site: pcusa.org/missionconnections.
Now and always, may the peace of Christ be with you.
Yours in Christ’s mercy,
Katie
Mission Haven, Decatur, Ga.
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 46
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