Dr. Sheryl Takagi Silzer

Dr. Sheryl Takagi Silzer is a third-generation Japanese American who has worked as a Multicultural Consultant for Wycliffe Bible Translators offering Cultural Self Discovery workshops for multicultural teams for mission agencies, schools, organizations and churches around the world. Dr. Silzer has her PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller School of World Mission, a Master’s degree each from Biola University and the Talbot School of Theology, and a B.A from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She was an adjunct professor at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California for 20 years, co-teaching the “Asian Church in American Society” class with Dr. Ben Shin. She worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Colombia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia as a Bible translator and has written numerous articles and two books: Biblical Multicultural Teams: Applying Biblical Truth to Cultural Differences (2011) and Tapestry of Grace: Untangling the Cultural Complexities of Asian American Life and Ministry (2016), co-authored with Benjamin C. Shin, which explores Asian vs American cultural identity. Her materials have been translated into Spanish and French. Her own cross-cultural mission stress, related to three bouts of cancer, motivated her to study cultural identity. Dr. Silzer and her husband Peter live in Mount Vernon, WA and have two married sons and five grandchildren.