Conference board creates new Hispanic ministry BY KATHY LAGRATTA
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT One of the new 2002 initiatives of the conferences Board of Congregational Life will be to deploy a a coordinator of Hispanic ministries. The coordinator will develop strategies to meet the needs of the areas rapidly expanding Hispanic population and begin new faith communities. Washington, D.C., is the fifth largest magnet city to which immigrants move within the United States, said the Rev. Ed Delong, an associate council director. According to DeLong, the largest single group of those immigrants is from El Salvador. Through information from the Brookings Institute, Precept and U.S. census data, it was discovered that Washington is the third largest city for Salvadoran immigrants. The two other largest populations are in Los Angeles and San Salvador. El Salvadorans and other Hispanic groups make up approximately 12.5 percent of the population of the District of Columbia. The conference determined that there was a need to have someone on staff to assist in developing and implementing specific outreach programs to this community. Currently there are three Hispanic congregations in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. They are Bethesda UMC, Casa del Pueblo in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore Hispanic. The churches are small, but their programs specifically relate to the Hispanic community and include Bible studies, English as a second language classes and assistance with immigration and naturalization issues for members. There are also childrens ministries and pastoral care programs. The national search for the coordinator, which is expected to last until Jan. 15, calls for a person who is spiritually-centered, bilingual, self-initiating, discerning and able to work with both Hispanic and Anglo United Methodists. The major task of the Hispanic ministries coordinator will be to form Hispanic faith communities as part of non-Hispanic congregations. The coordinator will help churches to understand the various Latino cultures in their communities that could become present in their churches. These faith communities could eventually become new churches, DeLong said. The coordinator will also identify and train pastors and lay speakers to lead Hispanic faith communities, serve as a liaison among different Hispanic groups within the conference and work to help implement the national Hispanic plan. Another role of the Hispanic ministries coordinator will be to partner with area schools of theology such as Wesley Seminary. It is hoped that seminarians will be able to gain a better understanding of the growing Hispanic population in the region by working with the conference Hispanic committee. For more information about Hispanic ministries, contact DeLong at (800) 492-2525, Ext. 432. | 
Login/Register to leave comment