Lecture 6 Outline

Latinos and Protestant Churches

1. Approximately 1/4 of U.S. Hispanics profess Protestant affiliation; one study shows that  some 60,000 leave Catholicism each year for Protestant churches (though we have relatively limited knowledge of how long they stay, how many return to Roman Catholicism, and, indeed, whether or not Latinos even see denominational affiliation in the somewhat rigid way presumed by statistical studies).
2. Protestant influence among Hispanics began as early as the Mexican period in Texas – this is not an entirely new phenomenon.
3. Protestant outreach has been abetted by Roman Catholic lack of attention and mistreatment of Hispanic Catholics. For example, it is no surprise that the first Hispanic Protestant ministers and churches among Hispanics in the United States were in New Mexico at the time Padre Martínez and other native priests were in conflict with Bishop Lamy (as we saw in ¡Presente!). Bendigo Cárdenas, a Roman Catholic priest, became first Hispanic Protestant minister in the Southwest in 1853.  He was a Methodist minister.
4. Barriers to Protestant efforts among Hispanics:
1. prejudice in their ranks
2. Americanization and evangelization intertwined – lack of respect for culture
3. second-class ecclesial citizenry of Hispanic members – e.g. “two tiered” system for ministers, lack of representation in denominational leadership and boards (first Hispanic Methodist bishop was not until 1984, Elias Galvan), segregated churches with unequal financial support, and, at the same time, some resentment at attempts to integrate conferences
4. controversy over “social justice” work, especially in more recent decades – this can go both ways – sometimes activist Euro-American ministers are rebuffed by their people, other times activist Latinos criticize the church for moving too slowly to act for justice and/or even allowing racism and injustice within the church itself
5. Reasons for success of Protestant efforts among Roman Catholic Hispanics:
1. strong fellowship in small, tight-knit communities
2. congregational autonomy
3. services in Spanish (although many congregations now struggle with generational transition and bilingualism)
4. attention to Hispanic worship styles
5. indigenous clergy
6. active outreach efforts
7. people’s love for the Bible
8. clear, unambiguous moral codes
9. emphasis on divine healing and supernatural (in some congregations and denominations)
10. education – attraction of Protestant schools (often countered by founding of Catholic schools)
11. social services
12. some assimilated and then chose Protestant churches since they are often seen as more “American” (however, Catholic stereotypes notwithstanding, this is not the case for all Latino “converts”)
6. Protestant Latinos played some key roles in Chicano Movement
1. Reies López Tijerina, a Pentecostal minister (later came back to the Catholic fold) who led La Alianza Federal de Mercedes in New Mexico
2. Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, a Presbyterian who formed the Crusade for Justice in Denver and was a key leader in the Chicano Moratorium
3. Migrant Ministry of the National Council of Churches, which beat Roman Catholics into the farm-worker ministry in the fields of California (see César Chávez document in ¡Presente!)
4. Sanctuary Movement also largely led by Protestants
5. However, as we saw earlier in the course, unlike the African-American Civil Rights Movement the Chicano Movement had relatively few links with churches
7. Pentecostalism a new and growing chapter in the story of Latino Protestantism in the United States
8. Justo González’s book Mañana begins with a reflection on the social location of U.S. Protestant Latinos (and the author in particular). He points out the following:
1. Hispanic Protestants are “double minorities” in that they are a religious minority among the Hispanic population and an ethnic minority within the United States – this results in various ambiguities and identity struggles, e.g. they don’t practice some ethnic religious traditions of their people, they sometimes point to Protestantism as a religion of progress but they also recognize their own marginal status in many denominations
2. Hispanics in the United States experience a growing sense of unity with one another (note that he doesn’t speak from the perspective of a specific Latino group) – Hispanics in the United States have a common experience of exile, even those who are born here often feel estranged from the land of their birth
3. Hispanics challenge theologians and others to see “beyond innocence.” González responds to question “Who are we?” by saying: “We are those who from the beginning have had to live beyond the myth of innocence” (p. 41).