Rafael made a couple of good points yesterday. Let’s use them to move this discussion forward. Rafael said:
I think the first and foremost question is, “does the anglo church want a hispanic ministry?”
Which is close to what I wrote before when talking about beginning a Hispanic ministry:
The first step, I think, is for the congregation to make a conscious decision that they are willing to do what it takes to mix different languages and cultures.
The church needs to address several topics as it considers this:
- Change. People don’t like change. But a church has to change to grow. That’s one of the biggest barriers to church growth, and an especially big one when dealing with a church making a conscious transition. Someone said that we should aim for making the vast majority of the people happy about 80% of the time. That’s not a bad rule of thumb.
- Minority/majority status. Are we willing to let our kids become a minority at church? It’s that simple. For some, it’s unthinkable. As churches change, some will say, “We’re going elsewhere; all of the kids in the youth group are Hispanic.” The church is willing to have the Latinos come participate in an Anglo church; is the church ready to participate in a church that is no longer considered Anglo?
- Leadership. I think the goal of the church should be for the leadership of the church to reflect the racial makeup of the community it’s in. Is the church ready for that?
- Racism. There is discrimination in all of us. We all have some degree of “us/them” thinking. For some, that thinking is based on race. And that will kill a church, even a church that isn’t making a conscious effort to integrate. Racism exists among Anglos, and it exists among Latinos. The fight against racism will be an ongoing one in the church, as new members are brought in.
Those are general thoughts. What other things does a predominantly-Anglo congregation need to think about when considering reaching out to Hispanics?
I think a good starting place for integration is to get rid of the language about “Hispanic ministry.” We don’t have an “Anglo ministry” or an “African-American ministry” we have a church made up of brothers and sisters who are Hispanic, Anglo and African-American. When a whole entire demographic population is relegated to a ministry, they could be seen as just that, another ministry among other important ministries. When we realize that making disciples among every ethnic group is our mission and our raison d’être, we’ll begin treating and providing for our brothers and sisters as we should.
Jonathan,
I agree, to a point. (I wrote a post a while back called “Bilingual church vs. bilingual ministry“)
However, there are some changes that have to be intentional. The greying church has to be intentional about reaching out to younger people. The English-only church has to be intentional about reaching out to non-English speakers. A church made up entirely of Caucasians will have to be intentional about reaching out to minority groups.
What we do need to avoid is the temptation to approach this as some sort of marketing ploy. It’s not about “getting these people to church.” It’s about (a) leading them to know Christ; and (b) forming honest, sincere relationships with them as brothers in Christ.
Grace and peace,
Tim
I produced a story a while back about an aging, urban Anglo congregation in New Orleans. They were down to twenty older adults and couldn’t afford a minister. The neighborhood had changed demographically and was now mostly African American and Hispanic. Appealing to their denomination for help, the Anglo congregation grudgingly agreed to allow a Hispanic ministry to “use” “their” facility in exchange for a part time minister who would serve the Anglo members.
After three months, the Hispanic group was worshiping 300 plus. The Anglo group began to complain about “Catholic” worship styles, children ruining the carpet, etc.
After six months, the Anglo group sold the building to a large, Anglo suburban congregation who quickly flipped the property and used the proceeds to renovate their own suburban building. The 20 Anglo members began worshiping in the suburbs.
The Hispanic group learned of the sale on a Sunday morning when their key didn’t fit in the front door lock. The Hispanic group worshiped in the park across the street that morning and ultimately disbanded.
When I asked one member of the Anglo church why they didn’t sell the building to the Hispanics, the elder said, “They could afford it!”
I wish I lived in the same world that Jonathan H. lives. Unfortunately in the world I live in, it doesn’t work that way. By the way, we do have an “anglo ministry” we just don’t publicize it.
After we decided we really want to reach out to the hispanic community, the second step is to determine what form it will take. This will require a reassessing of the current ministries the church sustains. 1). What is a hispanic ministry? 2). Do we support an existing ministry outside our geographic domain? 3. Do we go around the corner to the predominately hispanic community? 4). Do we start with our hispanic neighbors whom we have chosen to ignore in the past? 5). What hispanic group are we going to attempt to reach? 6). If we reaching out from our current location, do we want an integrated church or are we going to have separate assemblies in the same building? 7). What current resources do we have that will serve us in this ministry or what resources do we need to recruit or incorporate? 8). The language issue has to be addressed (and there is no one formula that fits all). Do not be misled by those amongst us who claim using both languages works. 9). What programs are we willing to support initially to prepare the existing congregation for this ministry and what programs are we willing to support long term. Just a few of the things that need to be talked about openly and not something we do hoping everyone eventually comes around. The nonexistence of these conversations in the past is what has hampered the success of the hispanic ministry in Texas and currently threatens it to extinction.
Good thoughts again, Rafael.
I disagree on #8. Spanish-only churches have limited futures and are dying out as fast or faster than the Anglo churches around them. They leave no options for reaching the teens and children, who will naturally be speaking English. English-only is a possibility, as advocated by Dan Rodriguez; you will still need a separate Spanish service for those in transition.
Bilingual services take a lot of work to do well. I’ve seem them done poorly all too often. But I’ve been involved in bilingual churches for the last 10 years. Don’t be misled by those that claim they can’t work.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Tim,
When we are at Pepperdine this year, I hope we can get some time to talk about this more. The church I serve meets in a neighborhood that is largely Hispanic and although God may change my mind, right now I don’t hear God calling us away from that neighborhood but into it. We have a fairly multi-ethnic church but ironically, no Hispanic members any more.
Any ways, I have some ideas that God is bringing to my mind but I know it will take more than ideas.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
I think ALL churches have limited futures if they don’t respond to their immediate surroundings and that goes for the spanish churches too. I think we need to be very careful in attributing success to any particular formula. The hispanic ministry needs to be both a short term resolve and a long term strategic effort. I would agree that most of our hispanic churches have no future but not for the reasons you quote. I must clarify my language. When I talk about a bilingual church I’m speaking about those that repeat everything said in a second language. For those of us that are fluent in both (myself a former Spanish teacher), it is extremely tiring and burdensome to sit and listen to some of our Spanish preachers who are not so fluent in English do an extremely poor job of translating. Bilingual is more than just language and there I believe you and I can agree. In Dallas, we have a congregation who attempted this and in private conversations with many of the current leaders regret it. I think as you say, it can be done well but many currently claim success where there is none. I would go further than Dan Rodriquez, who by the way is just saying things that the denominational world has known for years, that English only is not only a possibility but a MUST and the spanish only group must exist ONLY for transitional purposes. The second and third generation hispanic, although they continue to use it, do not claim Spanish as their first language. The research is clear on this.
Bendiciones,
-raf
Rex:
Sounds like you may be sitting on a pot of GOLD.
Rafael,
It’s interesting to me that the new Tejano radio station in town only plays music in Spanish, but the DJs and all commercials are in English. That’s the reality of Texas and probably a lot of other places.
When speaking with Hispanic groups, I remind them that the future of the church is in English. Even as I encourage Anglos to think about reaching out to Hispanics, I remind Hispanics that English will be the language of the next generations.
Bingo! I see that mistake made time again. Going back to the radio station, the station owner said, “If we were in El Paso, we wouldn’t to it this way. But this is what works in Abilene.” That’s how our churches need to think. There is no “one size fits all” approach.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Rex,
Looking forward to visiting at Pepperdine. Last year I was escorting a couple of guys around; this year, I should be a bit freer.
Tim
I have to remind myself that any success is organic. Even though some basic principles emerge on how to proceed with any effort in ministry, all have to be tweaked to fit a particular situation. We tend to forget that when we look at the
church in Acts of Apostles.
-raf
Amen brother.