Wilshire 3rd Ward

The Wilshire 3rd Ward meets at the Los Angeles Stake Center, located near Koreatown. For years the building (and annex) housed three separate wards speaking three different languages: the Wilshire Ward (English), the Olympic Ward (Korean), and the Los Angeles 3rd Ward (Spanish). On September 29, 2024, the three wards were combined into one as part of a larger restructuring that included the consolidation of the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Stakes.

In order to better integrate all of the members of the new ward, it was decided that the new congregation would officially be trilingual, though in practice English functions as the primary means of communication. Most meetings are conducted in English, with interpretation being provided into Korean and Spanish as needed. During sacrament meeting, headsets are made available for non-English speakers to listen to simultaneous interpretation. If a non-English speaker gives a talk or bears their testimony, an English interpreter will join them on the stage, providing consecutive interpretation for the whole congregation into English. The ward has set up three hymn boards, one for each language, and members are encouraged to sing in the language of their choice. They also alternate the language in which prayers are offered, without providing translation into English.

While I appreciate the effort to be linguistically inclusive, it doesn’t really feel like the Spanish and Korean speakers are fully supported. The ward’s approach seems more focused on assimilation into an English-speaking environment than truly embracing linguistic diversity. English remains the dominant language, and despite the presence of interpreters, non-English speakers may still feel like their participation is secondary. I especially worry about the Korean members, as they were the smallest of the three wards prior to consolidation, which makes them the least visible and most reluctant to participate.

For years, the Wilshire, Olympic, and Los Angeles 3^rd wards had a combined youth program that was conducted primarily in English, as most of the children in all three wards were born and raised in the United States and could understand English just fine. Not surprisingly, this practice carried over after the wards merged into one. I can’t be too critical of the ward for this, as it is a fairly common occurrence with foreign language wards in the United States, and many of the parents want their children to get as much English instruction as possible, but I think it’s a sad approach. If the parents don’t speak enough English to attend an English ward, there’s a good chance their home language is not English. Church is often one of the only places where children of non-English speakers get formal instruction in their home language as they almost all go to English-medium schools, so sending their children to an English primary and youth program can widen the gap between children and their parents. It may even put a bit of a burden on the development of the child’s faith, as they won’t build the church vocabulary in their home language making it harder for the parents to reinforce the lessons taught in church at home.

The ward also offers an English class, which may actually be very valuable for those wanting to improve their language skills, but the aesthetic just reinforces the sense that members are expected to integrate into an English-first structure. Seven or eight years ago, there was a short-lived attempt to offer a Spanish class at this church building, but it only lasted about six months. I’m not aware of any attempts to offer a Korean class at the church, but those kinds of efforts, even if largely symbolic, would go a long way toward making the non-English speakers feel like equal members of the congregation.

Overall, this ward is not the best place to immerse yourself in either Spanish or Korean, but it is better than nothing, and if you’re really dedicated to using the language and willing to jump out of your comfort zone, you may make some friends who speak your target language.