HISPANIC/LATINO RELIGIOUS LEADERS AGREE
ON WAYS TO STRENGTHEN MINISTRY

DURHAM, N.C. -- Hispanic/Latino religious leaders from across the country agreed on a broad reform agenda to strengthen ministry to the nation's growing Hispanic population, during a three-day summit at Duke University this fall.

Setting aside theological and doctrinal differences, the 33 church leaders --representing 19 denominations from Catholics to Pentecostals to mainline Protestants -- called for new efforts to address a variety of challenges common to all Hispanic/Latino churches. Those include inadequate opportunities for theological education, a lack of lay leadership and declining church participation by second- and third-generation Latino-American youth.

"There is a real need for leadership development across all Hispanic/Latino churches," said Edwin Hernandez, the summit's chief organizer and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Religion at the University of Notre Dame. "This group came together and successfully outlined a set of broad goals that will help mark a new path for Latino Christian communities in this country."

The meeting, held Oct. 1-3, was sponsored by Duke Divinity School and Pulpit & Pew, a research project on pastoral leadership based at the Divinity School and funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. The gathering was the culmination of a major Pulpit & Pew research project on Hispanic pastoral leadership conducted by Hernandez, Father Kenneth Davis of St. Meinrad School of Theology, and Milagros Peña of the University of Florida.

The Rev. Dr. Justo Gonzalez, a Latino theologian and author, said the meeting had accomplished much by helping people of widely different perspectives find common ground.

"Horizons have been shattered," he said. "Whatever their denomination, people discovered at this meeting that the commonality of issues they face is greater than they had thought. People realized that Hispanics in other denominations face many of the same problems."

According to summit participants, formal theological education and training is one of the most pressing needs in Hispanic/Latino ministry. Because of limited income, few would-be Latino pastors and lay leaders are able to pursue seminary degrees that lead to ordination. As a result, Latino pastors are typically unable to serve as full-time pastors and rarely reach the highest ranks within their congregations and denominations.

Although Latinos now account for about 13 percent of the U.S. population, only 3.7 percent of seminary students nationwide are Hispanic/Latino.

At the same time, seminaries also need to do a better job of preparing students for Hispanic ministries. Hispanic students who do attend seminary often find that theological schools are poorly equipped to meet their needs and to prepare them for ministry to Hispanic/Latino parishioners.

In their outline of goals, the summit participants called for an ongoing dialogue among the Latino community, theological schools and churches to explore new models of theological education that can address the needs of Latino students.

The summit participants also recommended efforts to strengthen Hispanic lay leadership and to empower laity to "take ownership" of the church and its ministry.

"There has historically been a real dearth of leadership from the laity in Hispanic churches, whether Protestant or Catholic," said Hernandez. "We need to train more laity to assume leadership responsibilities and to understand the priesthood of all believers."

Many Latinos, especially those in the first generation of family members to arrive in the United States, often believe pastoral leadership is the sole province of clergy, resulting in an ineffective and passive laity. The summit participants recommended that churches educate clergy about biblical and other historical models of leadership involving clergy and laity working together in equally important roles.

The cultivation and development of Hispanic youth was another important priority. As with many ethnic groups, young people in the second and third-generation after immigration are less likely to be active in church. The summit participants called for the creation of "intensive learning experiences," such as summer youth academies, to provide Hispanic young people with opportunities to learn about vocational opportunities in ministry.

The group also called for initiatives in three other areas:

-- helping church leaders play a greater role in meeting and advocating for the social needs of their communities;

-- providing lay and ordained leaders with the practical, administrative skills of leadership, such as budgeting, fundraising, management, and conflict management;

-- creating permanent structures to continue the discussions about Hispanic pastoral leadership.

The summit participants included heads of denominational offices on Hispanic ministries, academicians, representatives of Protestant and Catholic social service agencies and others. They voted to continue their work through a committee that will take their recommendations to various institutions, including seminaries, denominational offices and foundations.

In addition to Hernandez and Gonzalez, other committee members include Elizabeth Conde-Frazier associate professor of religious education at Claremont Theological Seminary, Claremont, Calif.; the Rev. Danny Cortes, senior vice president and director of national programs for Nueva Esperanza, Philadelphia; Renata Furst, administrator of the Ignatian Spirituality Center, Montreal; the Most Rev. Jaime Soto, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Orange County, Calif.; Pablo Jimenez, Disciples of Christ National Minister for Hispanic Ministry, Indianapolis, Ind.; Norma Ramirez, vice president and academic dean, Latin American Bible Institute, La Puente, Calif.; Edward Rivera-Santiago, minister for local church development, United Church of Christ, Cleveland, Ohio, and Rev. Carmen Rodriguez, director for Latino ministries, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago.