Close Up: Growing Hispanic/Latino presence changes church
9/4/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
"Close
Up" is a monthly UMNS and UMC.org feature on issues and trends.
Sidebars - UMNS stories #428-30 - and art are available with this
report.
A UMNS-UMC.org Report
By Linda Green*
In
the United Methodist Church, Hispanic/Latinos account for 51,871
members (in a total U.S. membership of about 8.4 million), 357
congregations and 506 clergy. Two of the denomination’s bishops are
Hispanic/Latino. A UMNS graphic by Laura J. Latham. Photo number 03-285,
Accompanies UMNS #427, 9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
The
United Methodist Church saw a nearly 30 percent increase in
Hispanic/Latino membership between 1996 and 2001. Hispanic/Latinos are
the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States, according to
the U.S. Census Bureau. “The growth has implications in every aspect of
society in the United States,” says the Rev. Cristian de la Rosa,
Agape’s pastor and former director of continuing education and course of
study at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. A
UMNS graphic by Drew White. Photo number 03-283, Accompanies UMNS #427,
9/5/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
The
Rev. Jose Palos, pastor of La Trinidad United Methodist Church in San
Antonio, says issues of identity are evident in the very language used
to describe Hispanic/Latinos. The term “Hispanic” denotes people from
many nationalities and backgrounds - Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans
and those from Latin American countries. “Hispanic/Latino” is more
acceptable because many identify with Latino cultures or Latin American
countries, Palos says. A UMNS photo. Photo number 03-282, Accompanies
UMNS #427, 9/4/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
The small congregation of Agape Memorial United
Methodist Church is on the leading edge of a quiet revolution
transforming not only the denomination but U.S. society as well.
The
140-member Dallas church is the product of a Hispanic/Latino
congregation merging with a dwindling Anglo one. Based in a neighborhood
that is heavily Mexican, the congregation reaches out to the community
in a variety of ways, such as through an after-school program that it
offers in partnership with an elementary school.
The change in
Agape's congregation is mirrored throughout the denomination, which saw a
nearly 30 percent increase in Hispanic/Latino membership between 1996
and 2001. Hispanic/Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic group in
the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The
growth has implications in every aspect of society in the United
States," says the Rev. Cristian de la Rosa, Agape's pastor and former
director of continuing education and course of study at
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.
The
church's response to that boom is a concern for Hispanic/Latino United
Methodist leaders, de la Rosa says. Many feel that the denomination,
despite what it has done, "is very behind. We are doing more than we
were doing 10 years ago, but the population doubled and we need to be
doing twice as much."
The United Methodist Church signaled the
importance of ministry with Hispanic/Latinos in 1992, when its top
legislative assembly implemented the National Plan for Hispanic
Ministry.
Although the plan is "the best thing I've seen," de la
Rosa says that in addition to tools, resources and information, "the
church needs a commitment that goes beyond a year at a time or four
years at a time. It means a commitment that goes beyond a generation.
"For
the United Methodist Church, we cannot really look at doing relevant
ministry or being a relevant church without being in ministry with the
Hispanic community," she says. "If we choose not too, we will be an
irrelevant denomination."
Increased immigration boosted the
Hispanic/Latino population during the 1990s and into the current decade.
Many are coming to the United States for better jobs, to join other
family members, to receive health care and to escape political
oppression, says the Rev. Justo Gonzales, a United Methodist theologian.
Today, Hispanic/Latinos are the largest U.S. minority, with
38.8 million people or 13 percent of the population. Those Census Bureau
figures don't include an estimated 4 million undocumented Hispanics. In
contrast, blacks number 36.1 million, or 12.7 percent of all U.S.
residents.
In the United Methodist Church, Hispanic/Latinos
account for 51,871 members (in a total U.S. membership of about 8.4
million), 357 congregations and 506 clergy. Two of the denomination's
bishops are Hispanic/Latino.
The United Methodist Church is one
of the few denominations with a fully developed plan to address
Hispanic/Latino concerns, Gonzales says. However, while the church has
them on the radar, it has not decided whether it will work toward
assimilation or allow Hispanic/Latinos to keep their own identity within
the denomination, he says.
Other cultural tensions are
pinpointed in "Called to Joy," a roadmap for a Hispanic/Latino
theological education initiative from the United Methodist Board of
Higher Education and Ministry. "Understandably, persons from European
dissent fear that their customs and traditions may disappear or be
diluted ... or that the growing number of Hispanic/Latino (people) will
deprive them of some of the hard-fought gains they have made in recent
decades, and marginalize them even more than they are at present."
Avoiding pitting populations against one another is important, and building coalitions is the solution, Gonzales says.
Issues
of identity are evident in the very language used to describe
Hispanic/Latinos. The term "Hispanic" denotes people from many
nationalities and backgrounds - Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and
those from Latin American countries. "Hispanic/Latino" is more
acceptable because many identify with Latino cultures or Latin American
countries, says the Rev. Jose Palos, pastor of La Trinidad United
Methodist Church in San Antonio.
A report in USA Today states
that although Hispanic/Latinos are leaving their traditional Catholicism
and joining other churches, the fastest-growing religion of a large
portion "is no religion at all." "The reality is that 40 percent are
non-churched or have no affiliation," Palos says.
A pilot project is under way in San Antonio to determine what attracts Hispanic/Latinos to the United Methodist Church.
Palos
believes the United Methodist Church has a gospel-centered, holistic
message that makes sense to them. "We need to have more passion for
that," he says. "It cannot be budgeted or programmed. It has to come
from the heart."
Gonzales emphasizes that the church must be a
welcoming center for new arrivals to the community. Beyond offering
Spanish-language worship, that means helping people adjust to new
surroundings, learn English, acquire a driver's license, and find
housing and jobs, he says.
"When people arrive into a new
community, they are looking for new ties," he says. "The question is,
(are) they going to be church related?"
Churches do not see the
mission opportunities in their neighborhoods, says Palos, a past
director of the denomination's Hispanic plan. "Annual conferences, from
the top down, need to be intentional in reaching out (and should) be
evangelistic-minded.
"The biggest mistake churches make is thinking of Hispanics as a way of bailing out a dying church," he says.
De
la Rosa agrees that many congregations make that mistake. "They finally
convince themselves to try to do something with the Hispanic community
because they do not want to die as a congregation. But when they reach
that point, it is too late, and most of the time, it does not work."
In
reaching out, the church should learn about the community and resources
available through the Hispanic plan, she says. It also should be
welcoming, overcome stereotypes and avoid isolating itself from the
neighborhood.
Gresham (Ore.) United Methodist Church discovered a
mission field outside its doors after realizing that the local
Hispanic/Latino population grew from 2,069 in 1990 to 10,732 in 2000.
The congregation is reaching out through vacation Bible school, worship
services, Saturday children's play, English-as-a-second-language classes
and immigration seminars.
Next spring, the denomination's 2004
General Conference will consider continuing the Hispanic plan. As of
mid-1999, the denomination had chartered 64 new Hispanic/Latino churches
in 30 annual conferences, started 208 fellowships and 839 outreach
ministries, and revitalized 63 congregations.
"The bottom line is
that there has been significant growth," Palos says. However, he and
others say more must be done. "The annual conferences that have been
slow to respond to the plan are ones with the most Hispanics in them,"
he adds.
"In a few years or in our children's lifetime, this will
be a more varied country than it is now," he says. "We need to think
ahead because we cannot afford not to do anything." # # # *Green is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.
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