Bishops Urge Church to Get Serious About Hispanic Ministry
Episcopal News Service. May 23, 2001 [2001-131]
James Solheim
(ENS) A group of six bishops committed to the church's mission among Hispanic peoples in this country emerged from an Easter Monday meeting in Atlanta and issued a "wake up call" to the mission possibilities. [Presione aqui para en Español]
Calling attention to the rapid growth in America's Hispanic population--with a total official figure now of 35 million--the bishops pointed to the decision at the Denver General Convention to double the church's membership by 2020 as a tremendous challenge.
Hispanic ministry is growing in many dioceses, "but we are not satisfied because it has not grown" at the same rate as the growth in population, they said, admitting that the ministry among Hispanics was "dormant" in the 1980s. Only recently have church leaders "awakened to this missionary reality," a missionary opportunity "given to us by God."
The statement continued, "We cannot ignore any longer the presence of the Hispanic people in our midst. As a church with the obligation to carry on the Divine Commission, we cannot present defensive excuses of language... to avoid being involved in this mission and ministry."
The statement contended that there are several factors which make ministry with Hispanics special--language, culture, immigration and poverty.
Option for the poor
It is important, the statement argued, to "preach the gospel to first-generation immigrants in their own language, and recognize the importance of the cultural background. An even larger challenge, however, is the church's relationship with the poor.
Invoking a statement by the Roman Catholic Conference of the Latin American bishops in Puebla, Mexico in 1979, the statement said that "a preferential option for the poor" has been accepted over the years as a "sincere commitment for the underprivileged. We Episcopalians must be blind if we do not see the predilection that God shows for the poor." It concluded that the Episcopal Church couldn't remain faithful to Scripture and "ignore the presence of the poor in our midst."
The bishops said that they are convinced that "this is a blessed and providential moment for our church," that a renewed commitment to Hispanic ministry will help the church flourish and to achieve the challenge to double the church's membership. They urged the presiding bishop to convoke a national missionary conference to deal with the issues.
The statement strongly urged the parishes to stop "resting in their traditions and customs of years past" and consider the possibilities of "expanding the kingdom of God with new blood, with new faces, with new people who are different from them. We need to adopt a missionary attitude."
Missionary church
The bishops expressed their hope for the future but added that "we must abandon our status quo to become a dynamic force impelled by the passion of the gospel...we must become a church in a state of mission...a missionary church."
The statement was signed by Bishops Leo Alard of Texas; Onell Soto of Alabama; Wilfrido Ramos-Orench of Connecticut; Victor Scantlebury of Chicago; William Skilton of South Carolina; and John Said of Southeast Florida.
The idea for the Atlanta meeting emerged at a recent House of Bishops meeting, according to Soto. He said that the early response is "very positive," and that he and his colleagues are "very hopeful" about the future of Hispanic mission.
"Hispanic mission is not really new," Soto added, "but actually a continuation of our work for over a century in Latin America. Now it is time for us to get serious about that mission here in this country."
The Rev. Daniel Caballero, Missioner for Hispanic Ministry at the Episcopal Church Center in New York, said that he hoped other bishops would respond to the challenges implicit in the statement. "We need to build a sense of unity and belonging to overcome some of the isolation in Hispanic ministry," he said. For him, the statement represents "the possibility of an exciting new beginning for the whole church." He shares the hopefulness expressed by Soto, adding that "God has given the Episcopal Church a tremendous gift and it is time for us to respond."