As Hispanic population grows, so do ministry opportunities

Posted: 2/05/08

As Hispanic population grows,
so do ministry opportunities

By Nora Frost

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON—Hispanics are a fast-growing population in the country, bringing with them increasing ministry opportunities. But those opportunities aren’t addressed as easily as providing material and training in Spanish, said Frank Palos, Baptist General Convention of Texas director of Hispanic evangelism.

Worship culture for Hispanics is as diverse as its demographic composition. About 1,200 Hispanic congregations are affiliated with the BGCT. Although the majority of those churches worship mainly in Spanish, about one-third of them have bilingual worship services, and about 1 percent of the Hispanic churches worship in English.

Worship patterns also tend to be grouped around generational differences. Grandparents tend to prefer traditional and Spanish worship, parents are comfortable in bilingual worship and children prefer contemporary and English worship, Palos said.

Sergio Ramos, church activation specialist with the WorldconneX missions network, said it is an exciting time to be involved in the Hispanic community regarding ministry, and he particularly encouraged Hispanics to get involved in international missions.

Some of the most valuable traits Hispanics share are being able to adapt, having the capacity to blend in physically with different ethnic groups and the willingness to put passion before comfort, he said. Hispanic culture also places great value on relationships—an emphasis that is also highly regarded in other cultures, he noted.

“We are people-oriented,” Ramos said about the Hispanic culture. “We relate to cultures because we are a mix of cultures ourselves.”

Alberto Mottesi is convinced the next great evangelism movement will be in the Hispanic community.

“The community is growing very quickly, and we have to be able to share (our faith) in the most comprehensive words,” Motessi said.

That is why he said gatherings such as the BGCT’s Hispanic Evangelism Conference are so vital, event organizers agreed.

Plus, with the world becoming more internationally connected, more opportunities to become involved in ministry emerge.

“The world is changing. And if we don’t get on board, we are going to have a lot of people who don’t know Christ,” Ramos said.