La Mesa Ministry and Calendar/Ministerio y calendario de La Mesa
St. Margaret's has multiple ministries under the umbrella of "La Mesa," which means The Table. La Mesa includes two ten-week cycles of English and Spanish classes each year, which give students the opportunity to learn each language and then practice over a shared meal, at the table. La Mesa also includes several bilingual masses throughout the year in which the rector leads much of the mass and the Eucharist in Spanish while lay persons read Scripture and the prayers of the people alternating in both languages. The sermon is pre-recorded in Spanish by clergy from around the Episcopal Church and a brief translation is given in English after the recording is played during the mass. In the summer and holiday seasons, La Mesa hosts conversation circles that allow students to continue to engage in language and cultural activities and special celebrations such as the feast of the Virgin de Guadalupe, Las Posadas, and Tres Reyes.
LA MESA BILINGUAL MASS
OCTOBER 1 at 5 PM
The Rev. Yoimel González Hernández
Associate Rector, St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C. will be the guest preacher (via video) for the 5 PM La Mesa Bilingual Mass on Sunday, October 1 at St. Margaret's
Bilingual Mass at 5 PM
English/Spanish classes and dinner afterwards at 6 PM
Yoimel is originally from Cuba and came to the United States in 2016 after studying Theology and Theater in the island. He became Episcopalian in the United States and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in 2019. He works as an Associate Priest at St. Alban´s Episcopal Church, in DC, where he creates space for multicultural work through worship, formation, and community building. He works also as the Dean of the diocesan Latino Deacon´s School.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
MISA BILINGÜE DE LA MESA 1 DE OCTUBRE a las 17 h
El reverendo Yoimel González Hernández El rector asociado de la Iglesia Episcopal de St. Alban, Washington, D.C. será el predicador invitado (por video) para la misa bilingüe en La Mesa a las 5 p.m. el domingo 1 de octubre en St. Margaret's.
Misa bilingüe a las 5 p.m. Clases de inglés/español y cena posterior a las 6 p.m.
El Reverendo Yoimel González Hernández
Yoimel es original de Cuba y vino para Estados Unidos en 2016 después de estudiar Teología y Teatro en la isla. Él se hizo episcopal en los Estados Unidos, y fue ordenado como sacerdote en la Diócesis de Washington en 2019. Él trabaja como sacerdote asociado en la Iglesia San Albano, en DC, donde crea espacio para el trabajo multicultural a través de la adoración, la formación y el trabajo comunitario. Él también trabaja como Decano de la Escuela Diocesana de Diáconos Latinos
¡TODOS SON BIENVENIDOS!
Fall La Mesa Classes will be held: 17th, 24th; October 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd
Las clases de otoño de La Mesa se llevarán a cabo: 17, 24 de septiembre; 1, 8, 15, 22 de octubre
In February 2022 at our annual retreat, we cast a vision for a ministry that would invite our Hispanic siblings into fellowship with us at St. Margaret's. Our initial thoughts were that this should be something to do with language and cultural exchange, and that food should be involved. Thus, La Mesa (which translates to "The Table") was born. Over the past year we have quietly been laying the foundation for this ministry, which publicly kicked off with our first round of classes on January 15th, 2023.
Some of this foundational work included:
*5 people received training via the Episcopal Latino Ministry Competency Course during 2022 and 2023!
*Multiple meetings with Elmer Romero, from Houston, to learn more about teaching language classes and think about curriculum development.
*Multiple meetings with our larger leadership team to decide on the format for the classes and handle details such as advertising, food, childcare, etc.
*Using the Beer and Hymns event as our first fundraiser to have some seed money.
*Ultimately raising $12,000 (praise God for people's generosity!) for our first full year of ministry (2023).
*Planning and carrying out cultural exchange activities for our church family including the altar for the Day of the Dead and bilingual masses and feasts for Our Lady of Guadalupe and Las Posadas. More than 40 people attended each of our bilingual masses in December, and a group of 20+ put together the altar, which remained up for a couple of weeks in October/November.
We began meeting and learning English and Spanish on January 8th.
*We meet at St. Margaret’s on Sundays from 6-7:30pm for 10-week sessions. Each of the two weeks of class so far have included around 40-45 participants total (a mix of native English and Spanish speakers seeking to learn the other language).
*We continue to seek people who can help prepare meals for La Mesa (plan to feed 50 people). We also need childcare volunteers to help watch children during the classes. We are also looking for language teachers – those with experience teaching ESL / Spanish – interested in volunteering and assisting with ongoing curriculum development.
For more information please contact our co-leaders: Danielle Miembre via email by clicking HERE or Handy Acosta by clicking HERE
