In the summer of 2022, a committee sat around a table, discussing an update to the Spanish version of “The Discipline.” Progress had been slow.
Reverend Tony Casey’s role as assistant general secretary includes overseeing changes to “The Discipline.” After the 14th General Conference of The Wesleyan Church, that task involved bringing together a committee of Spanish speakers to make updates to the Spanish version. As the weight of their 2022 printing deadline drew closer, however, the committee came to an agreement.
“It became apparent that the present one was insufficient,” said Rev. Casey. He recalled the team’s stress about getting the 2022 updates done on time when so much editing was needed. Finally, he said, “Let’s just stop stressing about it. We don’t need to get it done … All we’d be doing is putting a Band-Aid on an insufficient translation. Why do that?”
Prior to the attempted 2022 update, the most recent version of the Spanish “Discipline” was from the General Conference in 2016. As an example of the startling inconsistencies in the old translation, Rev. Casey pointed to the Articles of Religion, which appear identically in both the front and the back of the English “Discipline.” But in the 2016 Spanish version, “those two translations didn’t even match. I mean, they should be verbatim. The Articles of Religion are the very heart of your religious organization.”
So the committee put the planned edits aside and set out with a new goal: re-translating the entire document. Their adjusted timeline means that the next hard copy of the Spanish edition of “The Discipline” will be released in 2026.
Now, more than three years into the project, the team is seeing amazing progress. “I think we’re probably about four months ahead of schedule at this point,” Rev. Casey said.
The translation committee comprises seven members in addition to Rev. Casey, representing a variety of nationalities and backgrounds. Kristel Shepherd and Reverends Ileana Flores and Johanna Rugh are from Costa Rica, Rev. Ana Armiger was born in Guatemala, Rev. Edinson Camacho grew up in Colombia, and Rev. Neftali Lopez is from Mexico. Rev. Norman Wilson, who served as a missionary in Peru and Puerto Rico, is also on the team.
During the translation process, each committee member received a section of “The Discipline” to review. For parts that need rewritten, Rev. Casey said the process has two phases. “The first phase is fully understanding the concept, what it’s saying in English, and what is that concept in Spanish? Once we got the concept in Spanish, then the second phase is, what are the best words?”
One of the main challenges has been reaching agreement on the best way to get concepts across in Spanish. “The majority of the time was spent on, what is the concept? There would be times that someone would have a translation, and another person on the committee would say, ‘That’s a great translation, but that’s not what it’s saying in English. The concept’s wrong,’” said Rev. Casey.
Rev. Armiger had similar thoughts. “Translating anything from English to Spanish is difficult, but it is especially challenging when dealing with language found in ‘The Discipline,’ which has its own set of rules and vocabulary. The most challenging part is not just having to translate words but having to translate the context as well.”
But four or five months ago, the team had a breakthrough. Throughout the project, they had occasionally tested AI tools for translation but had no luck. Then, earlier this year, something changed.
“The model that we’re using is Microsoft’s Copilot.” Rev. Casey said. In the last few months, Copilot has developed enough that they can input the English version of an excerpt from “The Discipline,” ask Copilot to translate it into Spanish, and get results that actually capture the concept of the original. The translators can then focus on wordsmithing to get the phrasing exactly right instead of spending huge blocks of time starting from scratch and debating concepts.
“I cannot exaggerate to you how much that began to accelerate our time,” Rev. Casey said.
A highlight of the project for the committee has been working with each other. “It was a joy and an honor to work with such a great group of people. Each member is incredibly gifted by God and talented, and it was amazing to see how everyone’s different gifts and experiences worked together seamlessly,” said Rev. Armiger.
Rev. Casey said, “My only role is to keep them moving and to see when we have come to an impasse.” But he only recalls a couple of instances when he needed to give mild constructive criticism, asking the committee to move on from a debate that was taking too long. His feedback was always well received.
“We just have a good personality mix, and all of us genuinely enjoy being together. So as much frustration as we’ve had at times, there have been times of just absolute, you know, hilarious laughter,” he said.
Committee member Rev. Norman Wilson said, “The investment in a quality translation of our ‘Discipline’ shows that our leaders value the presence and contributions of our Hispanic sisters and brothers. Cultivating greater cultural and linguistic diversity in our churches in North America must please our Lord Jesus.”
Jerah Winn is a writer for The Wesleyan Church. She is passionate about sharing stories with others for the glory of God, and she currently resides in Central Indiana.
