wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 252-Hispanic ministry gets new boost in California

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Hispanic ministry gets new boost in California

>Jun. 17, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

>By Humberto Casanova*

LOS ANGELES (UMNS)--United Methodists in the California-Pacific Annual  (regional) Conference are determined to boost their Hispanic ministry.

This year, the conference named the Rev. Emilio Müller director for  Latino Ministries. Müller has 30 years of pastoral experience and has  been with the denomination's National Plan for Hispanic-Latino Ministry  since its beginning.

Müller launched his ministry by organizing a consultation May 30-31 at  Maywood (Calif.) United Methodist Church in the Los Angeles area.

The meeting was designed "to gather pastors and lay leaders, as well as  members of the cabinet and the bishop, to grasp together the  comprehensive view of what the NPHLM (National Plan) has to offer and to  engage in a process of envisioning and sharing," Müller said. "This  will enable us to begin the process of recruiting, training and  deployment of teams of lay missioners and pastor-mentors to implement a  new vision for the California-Pacific Conference some time at the end of  this year."

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, who leads the Cal-Pac Conference, said the  meeting was one of "numerous signs of hope" that she is seeing.

"The deep commitment of district superintendents, pastors and lay people  is a sign of hope," she said. "The coming of Emilio to work with us is  another sign of hope. Our whole conference board of congregational  development and their commitment, that's another sign of hope. So there  are several signs of hope of people really willing to invest time and  learning and resources to lead towards the future that we dream of."

The dream includes starting three Hispanic congregations in each of the  conference's eight districts.

Workshops were facilitated by the Rev. Francisco Cañas, national  coordinator for the National Plan for Hispanic-Latino Ministry; Dionisio  Salazar, Board of Global Ministries assistant general secretary for  Hispanic-Latino Ministries; and the Rev. Conrado Soltero, Emmanuel  United Methodist Church, El Paso, Texas.

In his workshop, Cañas explained why reaching out to the Latino  population is a priority for the California-Pacific Conference. "The  evidence is unquestionable," he said. He cited four points:

*	After Brazil and México, the United States is the country with the  largest Latino population in the whole world. As of July 2007, the  United States had a documented Latino population of 45.5 million.
*	The Hispanic population of the Western Jurisdiction exceeds 18  million, which represents the largest concentration of Latinos in any of  the denomination's five U.S. jurisdictions. 
*	The state of California has the largest concentration of Latinos (13.2  million) within the Western Jurisdiction and more than any other state  of the union. More than a third of California's population is  Hispanic/Latino.
*	California-Pacific has only 25 Hispanic elders in full connection and  13 local pastors (six only part-time), creating a large ratio of members  per minister.

>'Unbelievable' growth

It is impossible to exaggerate the need for an aggressive ministry among  Hispanic people in California, according to Müller. "The numbers are  staggering, and the growth is unbelievable. At the present time, the  city of Los Angeles, to use an example, is 53 percent Hispanic. There  are areas where Hispanics make up 70 to 80 percent of the population.

"Hispanics are here in very large numbers," he continued. "And this  growth, by the way, is not out of people crossing the border. The growth  we see is caused primarily by birth rate."

The conference believes it has a good witness to offer, Bishop Swenson  said. "We know this has to be a priority of the annual conference, and  we are ready to do that. It's also a priority of mine as the bishop."

The large number of Latinos indicates the need for more intentional  efforts in reaching out to that community, said the Rev. Cathleen A.  Coots, Santa Barbara District superintendent. In her area, the San  Fernando Valley has many cities where the majority of the population is  Hispanic.

"Certainly, we have fewer ministries overall within the Hispanic  community than we had approximately 15 years ago," she said. "I'd say we  have more now perhaps than we had even a couple years ago because there  is a new resurgence going on right now. We have just done a poor job of  reaching out to our Hispanic brothers and sisters."

Another obstacle has been that Hispanic churches quickly become family  churches. "You have just a few families who gather together to enjoy one  another's company, and it doesn't become a solid community that keeps  reaching out to new people."

>New energy

The effort to boost Hispanic ministry is the result of renewal within  the whole conference, Coots said. "Overall, our conference as a whole  has a tremendous new energy and enthusiasm for congregational  development. In the last six years, the board of congregational  development has poured training and resources to pastors and  congregations. Bishop Swenson is determined to make the conference  better in witnessing to the community."

Coots noted that, three years ago, the Rev. Jim Conn was appointed to  lead the conference's New Ministries office and is working closely with  Müller. The New Ministries office reflects the emphasis on starting  and revitalizing congregations.

The conference is establishing a new strategic committee, Swenson said.  "We'll be using lay missioners and doing leadership training and  leadership development with lay missioners. We are also having Course of  Study efforts, and we are developing a training center and place for  doing training. So we are hoping that, over the next four years, we can  have three new Hispanic congregations in every district."

With eight districts, that would equal 24 new Latino congregations for  the conference.

Swenson concluded with words of hope. "As I work in our dream for  Hispanic and Latino congregations and the development of this ministry  in our region, I really believe (this) is all about planting seeds of  hope, nurturing seeds of hope, pruning, flowering-all in order to really  bear good fruit."

*Casanova is associate editor of Spanish resources at United Methodist  Communications.

News media contact: Humberto Casanova, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5490  or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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