Hispanic Leaders Don’t Want to Miss This Missional Moment

The Latino population boom has resulted in more passionate, growing churches in the US. Can pastors keep building on the momentum?

For years, Hispanic pastors in the United States have watched their flocks grow in faith and number. This year, a long-awaited survey confirmed it nationally.

Lifeway Research’s first Hispanic church study, said to be the most comprehensive of its kind, offered leaders lots of reasons to celebrate: pastors who remain committed to Scripture and evangelism, churches that are thriving and drawing in young worshipers.

While Christianity overall ages and declines in the US, Hispanic believers are countering the trends, and leaders are hopeful for the future, as immigration from Mexico and Latin America continues.

“For a long time, the Hispanic Latino church has been invisible to many in the United States and its growth has not received the necessary attention, considering it is the fastest-growing evangelical group in the United States,” said Gabriel Salguero, president and founder of National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC).

“The church has been navigating the reality of the Latino demographic boom. One in four children born in the US are Latino. There are over 60 million Latinos in the country,” he said. “It is important for the church in the United States to pay attention to one of the fastest-growing groups, to notice the missional force that Hispanics represent.”

The Lifeway survey was sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse and conducted in partnership “with two dozen denominations and church networks” including Salguero’s.

Leaders were quick to note commitment to Scripture as a key reason for Hispanic churches’ success. In the survey of nearly 700 pastors of majority Hispanic congregations across denominations, ...

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from Christianity Today Magazine
Umn ministry