HTI Alumni

Field of Study: Theology 

The Rev. Javier “Jay” Alanis, PhD, was appointed interim executive director of the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest (LSPS) in July 2009. Prior to that, he had been associate professor of theology, culture, and mission, as well as associate academic dean. His academic interests include liberation theology and ethics from the underside of history; missiology in a multicultural context; and peace and justice concerns as they relate to the role of the church in society, and in particular along the U.S.-Mexican border. He has a particular interest in Hispanic/Latino theology and ethics and the contribution that U.S. liberation theologians bring to the theological round table. He also brings with him training in spiritual direction and formation as a discipline and model for the spiritual life and the vocational discernment process. After graduating from LSPS in 1992, he served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in San Antonio for four years. During that time, he chaired the Southwestern Texas Synod’s Multicultural Committee and Anti-Racism Team. He has written numerous articles on the image of God from a Hispanic/Latino perspective, and is currently working on a borderlands hermeneutics as a lens for understanding and interpreting the ethical response to migration.