When I worked in the Diocese of Texas, I had the privilege
of working with Bishop Leo Alard. He was
very helpful to me as I tried to understand how the Episcopal Church could
reach out to Hispanics. While not all
Hispanics are Roman Catholics, a common misunderstanding, most have been
exposed to the Church in a Sacramental and Liturgical form. This gives the Episcopal Church an advantage
in reaching out to Spanish speakers.
I helped several congregations initiate Hispanic ministry
while in Texas and then in 2005, I became Dean of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in
Dallas that had a substantial and growing Hispanic membership. The Cathedral had done this ministry for
almost 30 years and it had the largest Hispanic membership in our Diocese. Over the years, I have been asked by
congregational leaders if they should consider starting work among Hispanics
and especially the large and growing immigrant population of Spanish speakers
in the U.S.
If you are asking this question, it might help you to
know the models of ministry that seem to be working and the implications for
starting Hispanic work. Of course, a
diocese could begin a new church plant aimed at Hispanics, but few dioceses
have the financial resources and the leadership to do so. Most Hispanic ministry, therefore, begins
when a present English speaking congregation decides to reach out to their
Hispanic neighbors. I see three models
of successful Hispanic Ministry started by present existing congregations.
The critical issue is to decide early on which model the host
congregation intends. Each model takes a different set of strategies.
1.
The
Mother/Daughter Model: In this strategy, the mother congregation
begins a Spanish Service. The intention is to build up a strong
worshipping Hispanic community and when it matures to launch it as a new,
potentially self-supporting, mission Church. The most successful model I
know is Santa Maria Virgen in Houston. Fr. Uriel Osanaya leads this vibrant church. Started by Epiphany Church in West Houston,
the congregation established its own identity and style. Under Uriel’s leadership, they determined
that they should become a separate congregation and relocated, with Diocesan
assistance, to a separate location.
2.
The
Transitional Model: Here a typically Anglo congregation located in a
transitioning community launches a Spanish Service with the intention that the
Spanish speaking members will over time become the majority members. St.
Matthew, Bellaire, Texas became San Mateo in the early 90s and is one of the
largest Hispanic congregations in TEC. In this model, the host members
give the Spanish service a priority place in Sunday worship and see to the
steady development of Hispanic leaders for the Vestry and other ministries.
As part of this transition, a critical step is when a Spanish speaking,
bi-lingual, or Hispanic Priest is called as Rector.
3.
The
Multi-cultural Model: Here a mostly Anglo congregation begins a
service in English with the intention of being a bi-lingual congregation.
This is the model at the Cathedral which remains the Diocese of Dallas’
most successful Hispanic work. The long -term expectation is that with the
growth of second and third generation Hispanic Leaders and greater cultural
sensitivity among the Anglo members a multi-cultural community can emerge with
blended worship. Since most second and third generation Hispanics speak
English, this creates the possibility of a bi-lingual and bi-cultural worship
service. My Canon Pastor for Hispanic
work, Fr. Tony Munoz, helped revitalize the ministry to new immigrants and grew
the 12:30 service at the Cathedral. Being a person from Northern Mexico,
he has a talent for reaching this group. We learned not to refer to our
Hispanic congregation and our Anglo congregation, but rather to our English and
Spanish speakers. Trying to be “One Congregation”
is full of challenges, but it also has great rewards.
I strongly recommend that parish leaders consider these
three models and choose which one is appropriate for their situation. Each model requires a special set of
strategies. When Church leaders are not
sure what they are setting out to do, confusion and conflict can occur between
the two diverse groups. Even when
leaders are clear, tensions can and do occur.
Here are some other things to remember when considering Hispanic work.
1.
The creation of a Spanish service is not a
solution to an English speaking congregation in decline or in crisis. If it draws Hispanics, it will create an
additional set of issues and challenges for the English leadership. For example, the average income of Hispanic
Families in Texas is half that of Anglo and African-American families. The needs of immigrants are very different
from those of the dominant culture and they will require additional programs,
staff, and resources that stressed congregations simply do not have.
2.
ESL
classes (English as a second language) make a great starting place to connect
to Spanish speakers. Hispanic immigrants
are eager to learn the English language and expect their children to do so.
3.
English
speaking leaders will have difficulty identifying Hispanic leadership because
leadership is culturally defined. I have
often heard English speaking Vestry members say that they would have more
Hispanic Vestry members but “they” do not seem to have any leaders in the
Spanish speaking group. Imagine a church
where there are 20 remaining Anglo members and 500 Spanish speakers attending
and yet the Vestry is made up of 90% English speakers. This was the situation at San Mateo until the
Bishop intervened.
4.
Not all
Hispanics are alike although English speakers tend to group and treat them this
way. At the Cathedral, we had over 12
different nationalities represented in our Spanish speakers.
5.
Of those
from Mexico, family is the dominant social group. You will not need a nursery. You will need knowledge of immigration laws
and have a strong connection to social services. The needs of an immigrant population are more
basic and less complex than those of the majority culture, but they are
none-the-less challenging.
6.
Hispanics
with a Roman Catholic background will generally not understanding
“congregation” in the same way as English speaking folks. They are most familiar with fees for services
– the reason most Mexicans are not married in the Church. They are not accustomed to pledging. They are familiar with attending mass, but
not with attending a parish meeting.
Undocumented folks will be reluctant to sign on to membership forms or
sometimes even to list their address.
7.
TEC has
an office for Hispanic Ministry in New York with excellent resources to assist
a congregation in developing Hispanic work.
Of course, the main reason for starting Hispanic ministry
is the Great Commission to make disciples, but this will have to be supported
with the Great Commandment to love one another. My life and ministry was greatly enriched by
the Spanish speaking members of the Cathedral.
While there were cultural and language differences which were personally
challenging, Hispanics are mostly loving, hard-working, family oriented people,
who as Pope Francis said, primarily want a better world for their
children.
The opportunities and potential for TEC in Hispanic
Ministry is tremendous. Bishop Alard
often said that “the border between Texas and Mexico was once 50 miles North of
Laredo, and now it is 50 miles south of the Oklahoma border.” Today we may want to move that line
considerably farther north.
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