Celebrating multilingual spaces

Stephanie Vasquez begins ministry on Monday as Manager of Global Language Resources

by Mark Koenig, Administrative Services Group | Special to Presbyterian News Service

Stephanie Vasquez

LOUISVILLE — “Language hospitality celebrates multilingual spaces,” affirms Stephanie Vasquez, who begins serving as the Manager of Global Language Resources in the Administrative Services Group of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation on Monday.

Language hospitality — providing interpretation and translation — plays a critical role as the church seeks to become the equitable, intercultural community God intends. It facilitates the exchange of vital information. Global Language Resources (GLR) helps make this happens.

Vasquez looks forward to working with the GLR team to “give people the right to communicate in the language in which they are most comfortable.” Language hospitality provides welcome and space for Presbyterians for whom English is not their first, or primary, language.

“Stephanie brings a heart for ministry and a heart for making participation in all things Presbyterian more accessible and relevant to everyone” observes Kathy Lueckert, President of A Corporation. “She will work with her team toward the goal that everyone is seen, everyone is heard, and everyone has appropriate resources.”

Lueckert said she’s excited about the experience Vasquez brings. Vasquez has worked for the PC(USA) as a translator and interpreter since 2013, most recently serving as a Senior Translator for GLR.

“Her knowledge, coupled with the relationships she’s built, will help us extend language hospitality,” Lueckert said.

Vasquez intends to continue strengthening relationships within the GLR team by uplifting the gifts of her colleagues. She also plans to nurture relationships with the ministry areas of the church. “Community building with ministry areas allows us to improve our services,” she notes.

Those services enhance the community, life, and witness of the church. They will have a significant role in the 225th General Assembly (2022). The GLR team is already at work providing translation for the many complex business items that will come before the Assembly.

The GLR team will provide interpretation and translation during the Assembly. For the first time ever, there will be simultaneous  interpretation from Spanish to English in a committee meeting. The moderator of the Environmental Committee is Spanish- speaking and will moderate the meeting in Spanish.

Vasquez and her team will remain busy following the Assembly. In addition to translating the documents the Assembly generates, GLR will work with the Office of General Assembly to improve the Spanish and Korean versions of the Book of Order as well as to provide a translation in Portuguese.

“In addition, the GLR team will continue to explore and use technologies to improve our services,” Vasquez said, to which Lueckert replied, “With Stephanie’s leadership, I look forward to GLR expanding language hospitality resources and extending language hospitality to more language communities in the future.”

The ministry of GLR will result in more multilingual spaces where the church lives as the equitable, intercultural community God intends.