Hispanic-Latinx Fellows Program

Dr. Nancy Bedford, Georgia Harkness Professor of  Theology

Nancy Elizabeth Bedford, Dr. theol. (Tübingen, 1994), was born in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. She has been the Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (Evanston) since 2003. Previously she taught theology at Instituto Universitario ISEDET and Seminario Internacional Teológico Bautista (both in Buenos Aires). She has written or edited eight books and written over 70 book chapters and journal articles, which have appeared in five languages.

Her latest book is Galatians, A Theological Commentary forthcoming summer 2016 from WJK in the Belief series. Her current project is on the Christology of the marvelous exchange from a Latin American and Latino/a perspective. Her research interests focus on global feminist theories and theologies, Latin American theologies, Latino/Latina theologies in North America, theologies in migration, liberating readings of Scripture, hermeneutics, and the rearticulation of classical doctrinal loci from the perspective of critical, artistic and poetic reason.

She is a member of Reba Place Church (Mennonite) in Evanston, where she is on the preaching rotation. She is married to Daniel Stutz, with whom she has three daughters, Valeria, Sofía and Carolina.

Dr. Débora Junker, Assistant Professor of Christian Education

Dr. Débora Junker is the Director of the Hispanic-Latinx Center and Assistant Professor of Christian Education at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in education and congregational studies from Garrett-Evangelical; she also holds a Master of Arts in Christian education from Christian Theological Seminary and a Master in Religious Science (practical theology) degree from the Methodist University of São Paulo - Brazil. She also received post-graduate specialization in the psychopedagogy of early childhood and adolescence from the Methodist Institute of Higher Education of São Paulo – Brazil and a licentiate in letters from the Methodist Institute of Higher Education of São Paulo – Brazil. Junker has published numerous articles, chapters, and books in the field of Christian education. She is currently working on a new book, Religious Education for Global Citizenship: Embracing Compassion and Solidarity.

Dr. Luis Rivera, Associate Professor of Theology

Dr. Luis Rivera is Associate Professor of Theology. He served as the Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Garrett-Evangelical from 2014-2019. Prior to joining the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in 2014, Rivera served as faculty member and academic dean and vice president for academic affairs and the James G. K. McClure Professor of Theological Education (2009-13) at McCormick Theological Seminary (PCUSA) in Chicago. Rivera started his teaching career in 1986 when he joined the faculty of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (1986 -1995).

Rivera holds degrees from the University of Puerto Rico (B.A.), the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (M.Div.), and Harvard University, the Divinity School (Th.M., Th.D.). His research and teaching focuses on the theological and hermeneutical challenges posed by the experiences of global migrations and the formation of diaspora communities and congregations amidst multicultural societies in a globalized world.

He is co-editor of Diccionario de Intérpretes de la Fe (2004; also in Portuguese (2005) and English (2006) and contributor to the following works, among others:  Encyclopedia of Religion and Violence (Routledge, 2004), Shaping Beloved Community (JKWP 2006), Character Ethics and the Bible (JKWP, 2007), Feasting on the Word (JKWP, 2008), The Encyclopedia of Hispanic American Religious Cultures (Baylor University, 2009), and Jesus in the Hispanic Community: Images of Christ from Theology to Popular Religion (2009).

Rivera has served Hispanic theological education and the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in several ways. He has been a teacher, workshop leader, and Board member for the Hispanic Summer Program. He served as mentor and is the current chair of the Member Council of the Hispanic Theological Initiative. He was a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism, San Diego University. Rivera was chair of the program committee of ATS Chief Academic Officers Society and a consultant for the Committee on Race and Ethnicity. He has also contributed to the work of the Forum for Theological Exploration and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

Rev. Dr. Osvaldo Vena, Professor of New Testament Interpretation

Born in Azul, Argentina, on October 29, 1950, Osvaldo Vena attended the Buenos Aires Bible Institute of the Christian and Missionary Alliance from where he graduated in 1975 with a Th.B. He came to the U.S. in August of 1976 to attend Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he obtained a M.Div in 1980. During his time at Bethel, he served as a minister in an independent Hispanic congregation in Minneapolis.

In 1980 he entered Princeton Theological Seminary, from where he graduated in 1981 with a Th.M. Back in Argentina he was ordained in 1985 by the Reformed Church and was appointed to serve in two different congregations of the Presbyterian Church, first as interim minister and later as senior pastor. From 1983 to 1989 he completed his Th.D. in ISEDET (Instituto Superior de Estudios Teológicos) in Buenos Aires. Invited by the Church of Scotland, he spent nine months in New College, University of Edinburgh, doing post-doctoral research.

From Scotland he came to the U.S. where he served as an interim minister in a UCC congregation in Joliet, Illinois and as a bilingual teacher in two different school districts in the Chicago area. He was called in 1995 to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary as an assistant professor of New Testament Interpretation and director of the then Center of Hispanic Ministries. He was promoted to associate professor in June of 2000 and granted tenure in October of 2001. In May of 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Full Professor.

Apart from many articles and essays, written both in English and Spanish, he has published numerous books including The Parousia and Its Rereadings. The Development of the Eschatological Consciousness in the Writings of the New Testament, Peter Lang, 2001, Apocalipsis (Revelation) (Augsburg Fortress, 2008), Evangelio de Marcos: Comentario para Exegesis y Traducción (Mark: A Commentary for Exegesis and Translation) (United Bible Societies, 2008), and Jesus, Disciple of the Kingdom. Mark’s Christology for a Community in Crisis (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2014).