Category Archives: Bilingual

Anglos and Latinos

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One and TwoI mentioned on Monday the classes that I’m preparing for the Summer Celebration at David Lipscomb University. (we had a major storm on Monday night which kind of complicated my posting anything yesterday) I mentioned addressing what Anglos and Latinos have to offer one another in a congregation.

I do plan to address the inaccuracies of those terms and the folly it is to try and see those groups as two distinct sets of people. Some thoughts:

  • Anglo is a misnomer. It is used to differentiate from Hispanics, but the term really applies to people of Anglo-Saxon descent. As used, it’s applied to Germans, Italians, etc., even though they are hardly Anglos.
  • Latino is too wide a group to deal with. It includes people of all races and a wide range of cultural backgrounds. It often encompasses indigenous peoples who have nothing Latin about them.
  • These groups are fluid. That is, there are people of Hispanic descent who are completely out of place in a typically Hispanic church and feel quite at home in a predominantly “Anglo” congregation. And there are people like me who often feel more at home in a Hispanic group than one where most people look and sound like me.

Given those limitations, I still think the discussion has merit. Over the next couple of posts, I’ll spell out some of my ideas about what each of these nebulous groups has to offer to the other.

One body, two languages

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bilingualIn a couple of weeks, I’ll be teaching two classes in the Spanish track at David Lipscomb University’s Summer Celebration. I decided to expand on some material that I presented at a church in El Paso, talking about the different contributions that Anglos and Latinos bring to the church. (Anglo is a misnomer, I know. But it’s the most commonly used term)

The title is a phrase that’s a favorite of mine: “One Body, Two Languages.” The topic is a bit awkward in many ways; done poorly, it can misuse stereotypes and border on racism. In some places, especially in places like Florida, Texas or California, the mixing of the two groups has occurred to an extent that such discussions seem out of date. But in many parts of the country, it’s still relevant to talk about these things.

In many of our churches, the Hispanic groups find themselves in a dependent position. They often lack the resources to “pay their way” at church. (At that El Paso church I mentioned, the preacher spoke to me about the costs of maintaining the Hispanic outreach at their congregation, the “economic drag” on the church) In many cases, the leadership of the church is almost exclusively Anglo, with few Hispanic elders and deacons. The Hispanics often meet in a room that is inferior to the main auditorium where the Anglos meet. I’m generalizing, but in many churches, this is the case.

That’s why I want to talk to the Hispanics about what they have to offer. In the second session, I want to talk about what the Anglo church has to offer, besides the things mentioned above. There can be times when Hispanic groups can feel superior to the Anglo part of the congregation. The Hispanic groups may be growing more. They may have more intimate fellowship or a more active group. In places where the Anglo church is aging, Hispanic groups may be younger.

There is a need for both groups to recognize what the other has to offer.

What sort of things come to your mind? What can you see that one cultural group has to offer the other? Or do you think this discussion is completely out of place?

photo from MorgueFile.com

Bilingual ministry: How do we begin?

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spanishJosh asked a good question this weekend about how to begin an outreach with Latinos when the church has little to no interaction with the Latino community. I offered some suggestions, but would like to spend some more time this week exploring that question.

I will say that a monolingual church reaching out to a community that speaks little to no English would be next to impossible. I can’t envision such a scenario, especially given the number of Latinos in the U.S. that are functional in English, but if that scenario existed, I don’t see any immediate solution.

So let’s address a much-more-likely scenario: a church that has few if any Spanish speakers and a community with a growing Latino community. How do we begin to reach out?

I’ve asked that question before and even offered some answers, but would like to hear your ideas again before we proceed.

How does an Anglo church begin a ministry to Latinos?

Partnership, not paternalism

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handshakeOne final thought for now on developing a bilingual church. There is a real danger of developing a host/guest mentality, where one group feels like it is a guest in the other’s church. In many situations, the minority group is less well off financially than the majority group. The natural tendency is for those with more to want to do any- and everything for their brothers. While this is a commendable attitude, it often fosters a situation of dependence.

The same thing often happens on the mission field, where missionaries from privileged nations like ours feel uncomfortable asking their brothers to share economic and physical burdens. We have so much, you have so little — let us take care of everything.

There are several problems with this. For one thing, a welfare state anywhere, especially in the church, is harmful. People need a sense of responsibility, the ability to take pride in supporting themselves. In addition, it’s important that people be given the chance to give. When we make them feel like their gift doesn’t matter, they see no point in giving. This cheats them out of a spiritual blessing.

At the Pepperdine lectures, one Hispanic brother told of the day when they informed the elders that they wanted to pay rent on the space they were using. In order to do so, they would keep their own offering separate. The elders balked at first, but finally agreed. This marked a turning point for that Hispanic congregation, as the brothers took responsibility for the work. The Hispanic group grew and matured at a much faster rate than it had before. They eventually moved to their own rented building. (Yes, I know that isn’t the bilingual model I’ve been talking about. I’m merely using the example to talk about partnership rather than paternalism)

Our brothers shouldn’t feel like guests in their own congregation. They shouldn’t feel like welfare recipients. They should feel that they are sharing in the partnership of the gospel.

Bilingual church vs. bilingual ministry

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futureWhat’s the difference between a bilingual church and a church with a bilingual ministry? Basically it comes down to integration. Many churches have a bilingual ministry that is one of many ministries that they do; a bilingual church has a bilingual ministry that is part of every ministry they do. Benevolence, missions, youth… every aspect of the church includes the minority culture members (Latinos, in the scenarios that I’ve been discussing).

When a church decides to become bilingual, they plan for the day when every ministry in their church will be bilingual. It’s easy to say, “Hispanics are less than 10% of this church; we’ll wait until we have more Hispanic members.” Problem is, it’s hard to get more Hispanic members when they’re being treated as a small subset within a larger whole. The church needs to think and plan as if the ethnic mix were 50-50. That doesn’t mean that all meetings have to be held in Spanish or that every committee must include a Hispanic. What it means is that every group, committee, ministry within the church has to be thinking about how it will operate when the church is fully bilingual. You can’t wait until you get there to lay the groundwork.

Too often congregations have the Hispanic group meet in the basement “until they get more members.” Or they wait to make announcements available in Spanish or print bulletins in Spanish “when the demand is greater.” As long as Latinos are made to feel a secondary group within the congregation, they will be a secondary group within the congregation.

It’s a lot like the old “act as if” technique I learned in school, where you act the way you want to be, not the way you are. To be happier, you act happier. To come to like someone more, you treat them as if you liked them. Etc. To become a bilingual congregation, churches need to act like bilingual congregations.