Santa Clara University

Being a native English speaker at meetings like this is definitely an advantage, given most of the procedures take place in English. There is simultaneous translation (with little headsets like the UN) to French and Spanish, and periodically at this meeting to Greek and German, but mostly we work in English.

Over time, we develop what we tenderly refer to as “ecumenical English” – a mishmash of different accents and idioms, and the gradual learning that when we use words like “evangelical,” “liturgy,” or even “church,” we don’t always mean the same things.

And we also learn new words, occasionally through simultaneous translation offered by people for whom English may or may not be a first language. Yesterday, while listening to translation of a presentation given in Greek, I smiled when the translator, struggling to keep up and trying to express the intent of the speaker, offered the word “fructiforous.” I’m guessing he meant “fruitful.”

But here’s hoping that our work here might not just be fruitful, but “fructiforous.”