Latino ministry breaching walls in Lodi
Sandra Vargas has been a member of her church for six months, and in that time, she said she’s found what has been lacking in her city: a nurturing environment for Latinos.
Vargas, who’s lived in Lodi for 16 years, joined St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at 701 S. Pleasant Ave. as it introduced a new associate pastor and Latino ministry.
“I love that I felt that I was wanted,” said 35-year-old Vargas.
About six years ago, St. Paul’s Pastor Mark Price and church staff began noticing a demographic shift in Lodi — especially in the Heritage District — that pointed to a growing Latino population, Price said. He began a conversation with his congregation to decide whether to relocate to Lodi’s expanding western edge or to stay at its location and reach out to its neighbors.
The congregation voted: 95 percent of the people wanted to stay.
What it meant was that St. Paul’s would have to adapt and change, Price said. The church needed to embrace and celebrate its new diverse community. And because Lutherans worship in the language of the neighborhood, St. Paul’s also would need to offer services in English and Spanish, he said.
But for the church, it wasn’t just about adding a bilingual pastor. St. Paul’s also wanted to become an advocate for its Latino neighbors.
On March 3, St. Paul’s installed Associate Pastor Nelson Rabell, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Rabell, who is bilingual, came from New Jersey, where he led a parish for 13 years.
“The idea is to have a viable Latino ministry (and) to integrate the community, not to just have segregation — Spanish-speaking people over here and English-speaking people over there,” Rabell said. “The idea is to create a ministry that can help breach those walls: social economic walls, ethnic walls, language barriers.
“It’s challenging, but it’s a beautiful thing to try to do.”
Rabell said already in his time in Lodi he can see some of the challenges Latinos face.
People like to think of the city as a wine destination, but at the same time the reality is that many of the people who work in those vineyards live in poverty and are politically disenfranchised, he said.
“We have a lot of workers who give their all but don’t get a lot from this town as far as respect and recognition,” he said.
In early September, Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce, when asked about crime in Lodi, said the Heritage District is up to 75 percent rental property, which drives crime and blight.
“We’ve got this booming wine industry and booming tourism,” said Mounce, whose district encompasses Lodi’s Heritage District. “And who do you think lives on the east side? Our service workers. Our grape pickers, our agricultural workforce, the people we desperately need to make Lodi successful.”
According to census data, more than threequarters of Latinos, who make up more than 35 percent of Lodi’s population, are living in Lodi’s low-income neighborhoods.
St. Paul’s efforts are not just symbolic, said longtime farmworker advocate Luis Magaña. They come at a time when there’s a big need to help immigrant families in Lodi.
After news came out of the possible closure of the migrant center, Rabell reached out to Magaña to offer him the opportunity to establish the Santuario de Lucha Campesina (Sanctuary for Farm Workers) at no cost. Immigrants and farmworkers, who have been underserved in Lodi, will now have a local place where they can obtain resources, he added.
“They’ve welcomed our fight,” Magaña said. “They opened up their arms to us and (at St. Paul’s) we will have space for migrant workers to have activities, workshops and forums.”
In Rabell’s six months at St. Paul’s, he said he has seen more Latinos visit St. Paul’s.
The Latino ministry is a huge benefit to the neighborhood, especially because the Heritage District feels forgotten, Vargas said. She’s grateful to Price for having the vision to start the ministry and for uniting the community, and to Rabell for leading the charge.
The church is blessed to have Rabell on its staff and teaching St. Paul’s to be a better neighbor, Price said, adding that he wants to see the congregation continue to grow and develop deeper connections with God, each other and its neighborhood.
“One of my favorite things of our church is that we are defined by who we include, not by who we exclude,” he said. “This ministry is part of that.”