wfn.org | A Wake Up Call: Hispanic Ministry

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-131a

A Wake Up Call: Hispanic Ministry

Atlanta, April 16, 2001, Easter Monday

     We, a group of bishops, committed to the mission of the Church specially 
among Hispanic peoples in the USA, meeting in Atlanta on Easter Monday 2001, the 
day after the Easter Sunday, feel compelled to make the following declaration:

     Two recent events have moved us to take this step: the Census 2000, and the 
last General Convention in Colorado. The Census 2000, with its tremendous 
increment in ethnic population, has caught many people by surprise. Such a fact 
has stimulated reflections and headlines in newspapers and magazines nationwide. 
One editorial says: U.S. demographics are evolving, and we must change with 
them.' Specifically, the growth of the Hispanic population has been the greatest 
news. This ethnic group has grown in almost all the states, and in some places, 
as much as 300% to 400%, with a total official population of 35 million people. 
The projection is that by the year 2050 there will be in this country 80 million 
people of Hispanic ancestry.

     At General Convention, the Church was urged to double its membership by the 
year 2020. Perhaps it was a providential coincidence that in the Convention of 
l979 celebrated in Denver, the Church was also challenged to initiate, in a more 
strategic manner, the Hispanic Ministry.

     Since then, this ministry has grown in most dioceses, but we are not 
satisfied. We are not satisfied because it has not grown with the same impetus as 
the Hispanic population. Even more, we could say that in the 80s this ministry 
was dormant, it has been only in the 90s when several bishops and many rectors 
had awakened to this missionary reality. Indeed, how can we be oblivious to the 
Hispanic presence and remain passive in responding to it as a missionary 
opportunity given to us by God. Shame if we do so.

     In the past, the waves of immigrants coming from Europe were assimilated 
sooner or later, especially in terms of language. The Hispanic immigration is 
different for many reasons. Some Hispanics have been in the territory of this 
nation for centuries with a solid culture and preserving their traditions by the 
flux of new waves of immigrants. The proximity of the immigrants with their 
countries of origin keep them in constant relationship with their hometowns.

     The media keeps many homes day and night in a Hispanic environment. And yet, 
this does not mean that second and third generations of Hispanics will not feel 
very patriotic of this country. After all, many of them serve in our Armed Forces 
and actively participate in the life of their communities and nation.

     We can not ignore any longer the presence of the Hispanic people in our 
midst. As a Church with the obligation to carry on the Divine Commission (Mt. 
28:19-20), we can not present defensive excuses of language or of any other kind, 
to avoid being involved in this mission and ministry. When the primitive Church 
started spreading the gospel of our Lord, it faced similar circumstances, and 
yet, they were able to cover the whole Roman Empire.

     We believe that there are some factors that determine the peculiarity of 
this ministry: language, culture, overwhelming immigration, and poverty. 

     a. Language. It is imperative for Latinos/Hispanics to learn English, but it 
is also our obligation to preach the gospel to first generation immigrants in 
their own language. The business world has understood the evidence of this 
reality and is filling quickly the vacuum that existed. When is the Church going 
to awake up and meet the urgency of this challenge?

     b. Culture. Everybody feels comfortable in his or her own culture. This is 
self-evident. The culture has molded our personality. Only a person with a strong 
character and a broad intellectual education might be able to overcome the 
anxiety we experience in an alien environment.

     c. Overwhelming immigration. As we mentioned above, the presence of the 
Hispanic immigration is evident in almost any place and the projections of future 
population is astounding. We need to work with the present and plan for the 
future.

     d. Poverty. The Episcopal Church in the United States is often thought of as 
the Church of the affluent. Traditionally we have helped the poor through social 
agencies, but on rare occasions, we have made an effort to include them into our 
membership. Now, that large masses of poor knock at the doors of our churches, we 
don't know what to do with them.

     Yet, interestingly enough, one of the most significant theological discovery 
in the last fifty years has been the encounter with the poor and oppressed. The 
Conference of the Latin American Episcopate gathered at Puebla, Mexico in l979, 
declared "the need of conversion on the part of the whole church to a 
preferential option for the poor, an option aimed at their integral liberation". 
That declaration has been widely accepted by most Christian denominations as the 
quintessential expression of a true a sincere commitment for the underprivileged. 
We Episcopalians must be blind if we do not see the predilection that God shows 
for the poor.

     Such is the message not only of the prophets but of the Law, which insists 
on the rights of the widow, the orphan and the alien. Jesus during his life 
manifested a clear predilection for the poor and so he declared that had come to 
proclaim "Good news to the poor" (Lk. 4:18-19)

     If the Episcopal Church wants to remain faithful to Scripture it can not 
ignore the presence of the poor in our midst.

     We believe that this is a blessed and providential moment for our Church. If 
we renew our commitment to the Hispanic Ministry, our Church will flourish and it 
will help us to achieve the challenge of the General Convention. We call upon the 
Presiding Bishop to convoke a national Hispanic/Latino Missionary Conference as 
soon as possible and to appoint a representative committee with enough resources 
to plan, organize and prepare such event.

     To overcome certain obstacles we recommend the following:

     Mission attitude. Unfortunately many of our parishes have develop throughout 
the years a sort of "maintenance culture." These congregations of devout 
Christians are resting in their traditions and customs of years past. They feel 
happy in their environment and content with their accomplishments. As a rule, 
they do not face major economical hardships and some live out of their own 
endowments. Unfortunately, these good Episcopalians do not even think of the 
possibility 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.

     This missionary spirit will lead us to the urgent need to form Hispanic 
leaders at all levels and to share with them our rich Anglican tradition in 
theology, liturgy, democratic spirit and freedom of thought.

     Welcoming attitude. We would like to think that there is no racism in our 
Church, however, in l994 the House of Bishops issued a Pastoral Letter on The Sin 
of Racism, in which it recognized that while in the past various resolutions were 
passed inviting people to join the Episcopal Church, it was done with the 
assumption of being assimilated into the system. The message, in essence, has 
been "You are welcomed to become like us." "Such efforts may have represented 
progress in their time, but they are seen by many today as the product of a 
dominant racial attitude, which is at the heart of institutional racism."

     The Episcopal Church must welcome the new Hispanic/Latinos as it has 
welcomed us in the past in our countries of origin. More emphasis must be done to 
foster vocations for the ordained ministry and to provide the new Episcopalians 
with adequate literature for their formation and nurture.

     Commitment. We are glad that the Hispanic ministry continues to be a 
missionary imperative in some dioceses and we are grateful to those bishops who 
have done an outstanding job in supporting it morally, financially and 
pastorally. We believe that we as bishops have a strong moral power among our 
people and clergy. If we strongly urge parishes to initiate and support this 
ministry, many will follow.

     Hope. Those of us who love the Episcopal Church believe that still there is 
hope. And there is hope not only for the Hispanic mission but also for the 
Episcopal Church to grow and flourish. All that is needed is a change in 
mentality. We must abandon our status quo to become a dynamic force impelled by 
the passion of the gospel. In other words, we must become a Church in state of 
mission; that is, a missionary church.

     Let us by the power of the Holy Spirit be once again a truly universal 
Church that like her Lord, welcomed with open arms, all sorts and conditions of 
people for the glory of God. Let us pray that the Lord will grant all of us "a 
new heaven and a new earth" in our firm determination to know Christ and to make 
him known.

Your bishops and friends: Leo Alard, Texas; Onell Soto, Alabama; Wilfrido Ramos-
Orench, Connecticut; Víctor Scantlebury, Chicago; William J. Skilton, South 
Carolina, John Said, Southeast Florida.