THE LANGUAGE OF COMMUNITY

An interview with Erin Vandergriendt

At our last congregational meeting, we heard a bit about the importance of TELL, New City’s ESL ministry, and its place within our church’s strategy for boosting our engagement with the neighbourhood. After a hiatus of several years, TELL—which stands for Talking with English Language Learners—was re-energized last year under the capable leadership of Erin Vandergriendt, alongside long-time TELL champion Miranda Lee. A high school French teacher by day, Erin has a passion for, well, teaching languages, and we were eager to learn more about her year with TELL. Read on for more about Erin’s international experience, how the ESL ministry fosters belonging, and ways that you might participate in the future.

How did you get involved with TELL? Did you have previous experience teaching ESL?

Before I started with TELL, I was doing ESL Sunday school with Miranda Lee. She asked me to join this ministry because I shared with her that it was something I would be interested in supporting. I am a high school French teacher, so I have experience teaching French as a second language. She asked me if I’d be interested in starting up TELL again because there had been a pause since the pandemic. I jumped at the opportunity. 

I have some experience teaching ESL abroad. A few years ago, I taught English at a middle school in France for a year. It was with a program called TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France). I enjoyed it and continued to seek out opportunities to teach English. This summer I will be teaching ESL in the Netherlands again for a week at a Christian School in Kampen. I did it last year as well and really enjoyed it. 

I’ve been the ministry leader since I got involved, but I have largely shared this role with Miranda. We are a good team!

What's your favourite thing about TELL?

I love building relationships with new people within and outside of our church community. They have become wonderful friends and are such a big blessing in my life. We also have many opportunities to discuss our faith, deep questions and pray. 

What do you find most challenging?

This year, networking was the most challenging. Particularly in the cold winter months, there are many people who’d rather not make the trek outside on dark, cold evenings.  

What's something that might surprise people to learn about TELL?

TELL is less about practising English and more about building a community. There are many people who attend that are looking for connections and creating friendships. 

What are your current ministry needs? How can the church come alongside you to meet these?

As we come to a close for this season, we are considering what TELL will look like next year. It would be great to have more volunteers who could teach and create lessons, network or promote on social media, or even be willing to drive some of our participants who are without vehicles.