WCC Recognized for Bridging Cultural Gap for Spanish Speakers

Warsaw Community Church was recently recognized for its efforts to bridge the cultural and linguistic gap with Spanish speakers in the community. The church was recognized at the City of Warsaw’s Spanish Services and Outreach Collaboration meeting April 15, which was led by Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose. The meeting was the first of a series of gatherings of area organizations assembled to foster collaboration and seek ways to better serve the ever-growing Spanish-speaking population in Warsaw.

Presenter Lucas Fonseca, CEO of Language Matters and a state-recognized cultural consultant, raved about WCC’s all-Spanish worship services, its Community Life ESL (English as a Second Language) initiative and the church’s Hispanic Ministries web pages, calling the efforts “exemplary” and “models for cultural connections.”

“WCC’s all-Spanish worship services are not translated,” said Lucas. “They are contextually in Spanish — from the communications and announcements to the service itself. The church’s Hispanic webpages are an effective and proper way to communicate with the area’s growing Spanish-speaking community. These pages speak directly to the Hispanic individual, not just someone who can read Spanish.”

“It was awesome to be recognized and listed as one of the top organizations in our area working to bridge the cultural and linguistic gap for Spanish-speaking individuals,” said Sam Peña, pastor of Hispanic Ministries at WCC. “Our efforts to enhance our website have made a difference. In the past three months, eight new Hispanic individuals have joined WCC and are attending regularly after searching for ‘Hispanic Church Warsaw Indiana’ online or seeing a Spanish post on social media. This is a testament to our outreach efforts and the importance of making our presence known to those searching for a Spanish-speaking faith community.”