September 25 Worship Materials
Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Hispanic Heritage Month falls on independence days intentionally as a means of bringing together Latin Americans around national celebrations.
Independence days also carry negative implications for Indigenous peoples. Independence days mark the drawing of colonial borders on Indigenous land and the creation of the settler states that make up Latin America today. For many Indigenous peoples, this is a time of mourning. Some feel that this time of national recognition does little to address the issues their communities face, while others look forward to celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month every year. The truth is that for many, Hispanic Heritage Month isn’t straightforward. In today’s service, we try to hold these tensions together.
Yenny Delgado is a native American descendant from Peru and has a deep appreciation of her cultural roots and spiritualities. She is the founder and director of PUBLICA, a forum where theology, psychology, ethnicity, and politics meet in thoughtful and timely reflections, articles, and poems. She encourages active international theologians to distill thoughts into written works for sharing and discussion.Yenny earned two Bachelor’s degrees and Licenses in Psychology from Federico Villarreal University (Peru) and theology from Biblical Latin America University (Costa Rica). Additionally, she has earned two master’s degrees, one in Cooperation and International Development at Jaume I University (Spain) and Public Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary (United States). She is currently a Ph.D. student within the Institut de sciences sociales des religions (ISSR) Psychology of the Religion led by Prof. Dr. Pierre-Yves Brandt. Pastor Matt and Yenni met as fellow learners in the Sojourners/Howard Divinity School Cohort on Racialized Policing in 2020. Please offer Yenny our warmest CCC welcome as she shares with us today!
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Meeting ID: 119 508 399