A task force looking at the present and future of the translation services provided by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will hold a listening session next week during Big Tent to learn which services Presbyterians would like added to those currently available.

From 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, representatives of the A Corporation Board’s Translation Task Force will be in the Carroll Room at the Radisson Hotel in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. A Corp Board Co-Chair Bridget-Anne Hampden and one of three members of the Translation Task Force, JoAnne Sharp, who’s also an A Corp Board member, will be on hand to update attendees on the work done to date and listen for ideas on additional services that can be provided.

Assigned by the General Assembly with providing translation services to all six agencies of the PC(USA), the task force has been working to identify the needs of the agencies, PC(USA) members and those attending PC(USA) events, as well as the staff and resources that are needed to offer translation and interpretation services at the national level. Sharp and Hampden plan a brief presentation before hearing ideas from anyone willing to share them. Light refreshments will be served.

The A Corp Board is evaluating resumes for a new position, manager of Global Language Resources, a skill set Sharp described as “a unicorn.”

“That person will be multilingual and will have experience with having staff work with them,” she said. “The person must also speak the Reformed language and be able to manage various projects at one time.”

“We are praying that we find that unicorn quickly — not just for our sake but for our staff’s sake,” she said. “It is our daily prayer. We want to provide the very best for the congregations of the PC(USA).”

The A Corp Board created the task force in December, appointing Sharp as well as Julie Cox, who chairs the task force, and Thomas Priest. A Corp Board Co-Chairs Hampden and Christopher M. Mason frequently attend the task force’s monthly meetings, as does Debra Avery from the Moving Forward Implementation Commission. Mike Kirk, acting general counsel for the Administrative Services Group of the A Corp, provides staff support to the task force.

The A Corp has engaged a consultant, Prof. Lluís Baixauli-Olmos, who teaches in the Classical and Modern Languages Department at the University of Louisville. Kirk said the consultant has been providing the task force with information about standards in the translation and interpretation industry and helped create the job description for the Global Language Resources manager position.

Sharp said she looks forward to hearing from Big Tent attendees.

“The need is great, and the desire is also great to achieve equity and inclusion” through the church’s translation services, Sharp said. “We want to grow in equity and inclusion, and language makes that possible,” both through written and spoken communications, she added.

“Add to that how do we serve those who are hearing and visually impaired?” Sharp said. “We want to hear how our vision is fitting into what people need … We have learned to ask the right questions. We don’t want to do anything that isn’t the best we can do and does not glorify God.”

The Translation Task Force isn’t the only group holding listening sessions during Big Tent. As part of its churchwide listening campaign, the Special Committee on Racism Truth and Reconciliation will hold listening sessions at the Lord Baltimore Hotel. The first is from noon-1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, followed by a second from 1-2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1. Both are in Salon E. The final listening session is from 11:15 a.m. through noon on Friday, Aug. 2, in Hanover A.

Attendees’ contributions will be held in confidence and will assist the Special Committee to develop its report and recommendations to the 2020 and 2022 General Assemblies.