Seminary presidents share their stories and their insights on ‘Leading Theologically’

The most recent installment features the Rev. Dr. José R. Irizarry and the Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

Photo by Alexander Grey via Unsplash

LOUISVILLE — During the episode of “Leading Theologically” that dropped Monday, the host, the Rev. Bill Davis, engaged not one but two seminary presidents — the Rev. Dr. José R. Irizarry, president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo, president of Columbia Theological Seminary. Their 35-minute conversation is here.

Davis, the Senior Director for Theological Education Funds Development at the Presbyterian Foundation, said at the outset the purpose of the conversation was to stress the importance of theological education on forming leaders in their local communities, especially as it relates to the action of the 226^th General Assembly (2024) to address diversity, equity, inclusion and the realities of Hispanic Latino-a-é ministry. Read more about the resolution here.

The Rev. Dr. José Irizarry

Irizarry shared the story of growing up in a small-town church in Ensenada, Puerto Rico. “One thing I valued is the openness of that congregation to nurture and develop leadership skills in children and young people,” he said. “I was preaching and teaching since I was 12. I was given the opportunity to do so — with guidance, of course. I became an elder at 15 and was clerk of session at 18. It was an opportunity offered to every young person who showed an interest in the work of the church.”

Aloyo was raised in First Spanish Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York. “I am a child of the Sunday school. My mother was a Sunday school teacher for 58 years,” he said. Elders and deacons “embraced the young people that were being nurtured in that community,” a congregation that gave birth to seven other Hispanic Latino-a-é faith communities. “That sense of mission, of equipping the saints for ministry, was part of the day-to-day interactions. I was blessed to benefit from that leadership from a very young age. These mentors gave me the opportunity to participate in platforms where I could rejoice in successes and learn from the challenges and the failures.”

“Those experiences and individuals,” he said, “are etched in my heart.”

Davis asked the two presidents how they see theological education shifting “to pay attention to the needs of the different communities your seminaries resource.”

“One of the most important elements we need to acknowledge is migration all over the world, including this country, is real, and it’s happening at a rapid pace,” Aloyo said. Members of these people groups “bring a certain level of spirituality that we ought to take the opportunity to learn from.” The transformation of the church in North America “needs to include within its parameters matters of intercultural intelligence.”

More and more congregations and worshiping communities that are “dynamic, robust and creative are being led by these migrant and immigrant communities,” Aloyo said. “How are we as theological institutions of the church to be preparing servant leader scholars to engage the joys of this transformation that’s taking place — not the burden, but the joys by which the church continues to transform.”

The Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo

“It is incumbent on us to be able to embrace the philosophical thoughts and theological perspectives from the global South” to “incorporate them into our curricular design and learn from that,” Aloyo said. “It is critical we do intentional shifting in our theological paradigm.”

Irizarry said he agreed with “the appraisal that Victor had, especially when it comes to the direction that missionary work has taken — especially that the church that’s showing signs of growth is not the church that used to be dominant.” Seminaries “have to become more nimble, constantly asking questions about the church that’s emerging,” he said.

Davis asked the presidents what the General Assembly action means for the seminaries they lead.

“I am a process person. For Austin as a seminary, we have to communicate where we have been. This is a seminary situated in the context of a borderland,” Irizarry said. Austin Seminary established its first Spanish-speaking program in 1920 and had its first full-time Latino faculty member in the 1940s. Now it has five who are full-time and on track for tenure. “How do we enhance that in a way that responds to actual needs that have been identified by the community?” Irizarry asked. “I am a Puerto Rican. I cannot assume that my experience coming from an island in the Caribbean would translate well in the context of a borderland.”

“Because we are preparing servant leader scholars to engage a variety of communities,” Aloyo said, “the theological conversation in regards to the diversification and inclusion of people groups needs to be front and center, the same way we have seen with Austin and the Hispanic Latino-a-é communities who have already been there.”

“I think it’s important to say we are engaging this conversation as a way to empower institutions to respond to the questions of other groups that have been marginalized. We want to promote engagement of these groups with the larger church,” Irizarry said. “As we lead conversations, we can say, ‘It’s not only about us this time around.’ Let’s start a conversation so we can empower others to be part of this new phase of theological education.”

The Rev. Bill Davis

Davis then asked about the creativity congregations need to cultivate leaders for both today’s church and the future church.

“We can no longer assume that others will do the work for us, particularly in the congregational setting,” Aloyo said. In Decatur, Georgia, the home of Columbia Seminary, the Hispanic Latino-a-é population has grown 172% since 2010, he noted. “We need to assume greater authority as we continue to move forward.”

Citing one tenet Presbyterians treasure — the priesthood of all believers — Irizarry said it’s important to “deploy that important part of who you are in everything you do.”

“I think that’s where we’ve started a creative movement in the church,” he said.

Learn more about the Theological Education Fund at the Presbyterian Foundation here.