Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2014 Issue | Page 8

A Spanish-Speaking Service

Multicultural and Ethnic Ministries

In November 2013, Bishop Johnston received a new
group of people into the Episcopal Church at St.
Timothy’s, Herndon. These 11 men and women worship at
St. Timothy’s weekly Spanish-speaking services: a prayer
service on Saturday evenings and a Eucharist on Sunday
afternoons, led by the Rev. Natividad Menjivar. Menjivar
also leads worship at La Iglesia de San Marcos, which
worships out of St. Mark’s, Alexandria.

Photos: Craig Dubishar

ESL and Outreach
What started as a one-on-one English lesson at St. Peter’s,
Oak Grove, has grown – in just six months – to a weekly
English-as-a-Second-Language course with as many as 40
students. It’s a big group effort for the members of St.
Peter’s. Teams of volunteers come to the rural Northern
Neck church every Wednesday evening to teach, to prepare
supper and to provide child care for the students’ children.

The program started when parishioner Julie Hynson
began driving a young, Spanish-speaking woman named
Lourdes to St. Peter’s every week for English lessons with
fellow parishioner and choir member Helen Beverly, who was
a Spanish teacher. “It occurred to us that if we could do it for
one, we could do it for many,” said Duncan Creeman, who
leads a conversation group for the ESL students. So a team
of volunteers got to planning. Hynson obtained supplies and
workbooks from the Westmoreland County ESL coordinator.
Others began advertising, posting flyers in markets,
Laundromats and local businesses.

St. Peter’s is situated in a largely agricultural community,
and most of the students are farm workers from Mexico
looking to improve their English. A recent class included
a visit from a doctor, who practiced how to engage in
conversation with medical professionals. That session was so
popular that a repeat has been requested. And in February,
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Virginia Episcopalian / Spring 2014

Volunteers for the ESL class at St. Peter’s, Oak Grove, enjoy a meal
prepared by the students in February.

the students got together to cook a Mexican meal for the
entire group.

The success of the program is apparent in the numbers.
In the congregation with an average Sunday attendance
of 40, around 20 people volunteer to support the outreach
effort, which continues to grow. t