Catching Up with Hispanics
New census data on the Latinos in our midst presents a reality check for cross-cultural outreach
Rodolpho Carrasco | posted 11/12/2001 12:00AM
Efraim espinoza, Spanish-language editor of Pentecostal Evangel magazine, received a call from a pastor who had planted a church in what was once a predominantly non-Hispanic area: North Liberty, Iowa. "He called for help because of the influx of Hispanics," Espinoza says, noting that many Latin Americans who start out as migrant workers put down roots. In the past decade, Iowa's Hispanic population grew from 33,000 to 82,000.
The 2000 census revelation that the Hispanic population had spurted to 35.3 million stunned even those Christian groups already reaching out to Hispanics. These churches, seminaries, and other organizations—and those in traditionally non-Hispanic areas like Georgia, where the Latino presence quadrupled—are fast learning how to catch up.
Census Bureau projections in 1997 had estimated Hispanics would surpass African Americans as the nation's most populous minority group in 2005. But the 2000 census showed the transition had already occurred: Quibbles over how some mixed races identified themselves aside, the census showed that 35.3 million Hispanics make up 12.5 percent of the U.S. population, while 34.7 million African Americans constitute 12 percent.
This news heightened the sense of urgency for Christian groups engaged in Hispanic evangelism and discipleship. Denominations like Evangelical Covenant Church and the United Methodist Church have included Hispanic ministry in their strategic planning, and Christian organizations in the suburbs of major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York have begun considering whether entire churches are called to Hispanic outreach.
At the same time, Hispanic-led church and parachurch groups are ratcheting up their own outreach efforts, as well as expanding their political and academic reach.
Half of all U.S. Hispanics live in just two states, California and Texas, but the census figures caught many churches off-guard with news of dramatic increases during the 1990s in areas not synonymous with Hispanic culture: from 109,000 Hispanics to 435,000 in Georgia; from 98,000 to 214,000 in Indiana; from 76,000 to 379,000 in North Carolina; and from 32,000 to 124,000 in Tennessee. During the decade, California's Hispanic population swelled from 7.7 million to 11 million, and Texas's from 4.3 million to 6.7 million. The next largest Hispanic states by population are New York (2.9 million), Florida (2.7 million), Illinois (1.5 million), Arizona (1.3 million), and New Jersey (1.1 million).
Mexican immigration contributed most to the rise. The U.S. Hispanic population increase from 22.4 million in 1990 to 35.3 million in 2000 amounts to a 58 percent increase (12.9 million). About 7 million of those 12.9 million are of Mexican origin, raising the total number of Mexican-origin Hispanics to 20.6 million.
Among other Hispanic subgroups, Puerto Ricans now number 3.4 million; Cubans, 1.2 million; Central Americans, 1.7 million; and South Americans, 1.3 million. An additional 6 million Hispanics, in filling out the census form, did not specify their national origin.
Complex Subcultures
In the face of such increases, denominations are lending support to church leaders who find themselves thrust into cross-cultural ministry.
At its July triennial meeting, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod extended its cross-cultural Pentecost 2000 initiative for another three years. With a goal to launch 1,000 new cross-cultural ministries beginning in 1999, LCMS counted 444 new ministries as of the middle of this year, including classes in English as a second language, food pantries, Bible studies, or any outreach that shares Christ with people from another culture.
November 12 2001, Vol. 45, No. 14
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