June 19, 2006
by Mike Ferguson

BIRMINGHAM, June 19 – Though Hispanics comprise less than 2 percent of Presbyterians – approximately 42,000 in a denomination of 2.3 million members – the National Hispanic and Latino Presbyterian Caucus is optimistic that those numbers are poised to grow in the coming years.

"In a big church, we're a small group," said the Rev. Alfredo Miranda, director of the caucus. "We're here to celebrate ministry."

Former General Assembly moderator Rick Ufford-Chase gave the members reason for their optimism Sunday night during the caucus banquet. Ufford-Chase, who recently accepted the job as executive director of Peacemaking Fellowship, told the caucus – first in Spanish, then translating his words into English – that the church must be ready to ride the nation's incoming wave of immigration.

"There's nothing you can do to stop a movement once it gets going," he said. "The smart money is on riding that wave as far as it'll take you."

There are churches that resist both change and growth – "They want to go back to the church they remember in 1950," he said – but the caucus shouldn't "allow the traditionalists to make decisions that will kill us. We ought to insist that we not demand (immigration status) papers from someone before we treat them like human beings. It is a sin against God."

Growth among the nation's immigrant community will occur in churches that are well grounded in Scripture and willing to take risks. One example is a once-dying Kansas City church that decided to grow by purchasing a set of drums. Nobody at the church happened to play the drums, but church leaders figured God would one day give them someone who did.

"I'd have said that's a stupid way to grow a church," Ufford-Chase said.

But God did send that church a drummer. One day a Guatemalan visited the church and picked up the drumsticks. Today the church has a thriving Hispanic ministry.

"In every church I visit, I preach pretty much the same message: God calls us to relevancy and engagement in the world," he said. "The first step is to open your doors and invite people in. When they do, they'll bring the whole world with them. But it's going to take huge leadership on your part."

The church stands ready, said the Rev. Hector Rodriguez, who works with the denomination's Hispanic Congregational Enhancement program. "Hispanic people can work together," he said. "Our purpose is to let the General Assembly know we're here, and that we're ready to work as partners in mission and not alone."

Presbyterian News Service