Dr Dinorah Méndez

Dr Dinorah B. Méndez is the visiting scholar at Redcliffe College throughout Autumn 2007. She is Professor of Theology and Christian History at the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary in Mexico City. She is part of the leadership team at the Baptist Church "Estrella de Belén" in Mexico City and regularly writes materials published by the Spanish Baptist Publishing House in Texas.

Because of her areas of expertise she has been able to contribute to Redcliffe's teaching programme with lectures on contextual theologies (specifically in relation to the Latin America context) and Christian history and Spirituality. She has also given a seminar on the characteristics of Mexican religiosity.

Commenting on her time at the College, Dinorah said, "I hope that my participation at Redcliffe will produce a growing interest in the students to be involved with mission in Latin America. Missionaries are still needed there, but it is also necessary to develop a missionary force able to go from that continent to other parts of the world.

"I have been enriched by the experience of sharing with the Redcliffe community because of its cultural and Christian diversity. At the same time, it has been a challenge to present lectures and interact in this environment of plurality. Its focus on mission training has been of special interest for me, because in Mexico we have had controversies about theological training against mission training. It is said that practical training is more useful and valuable than theoretical learning. But the balance promoted in Redcliffe of knowing, being, doing has been very encouraging to me and I hope to share and apply it in my own country when I go back.

"One additional blessing during my time here at Redcliffe has been the opportunity to work on the preparation of my doctoral thesis for publication. The College is a wonderful place to concentrate on study and research."

Dr Méndez finished her doctoral studies through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in 2005. Her thesis was an exercise on theological contextualization entitled, A Theological Analysis of Hymnody Used by Evangelicals in Mexico in Relation to the Mexican Religious Context. The book is expected to be released by April 2008.