‘New Camino’ seminar dispels myths, sparks ideas for Latino/Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Los Angeles
[Diocese of Los Angeles] “Se Habla English” is a new model of ministry that offers a fresh approach to traditional Latino outreach by providing second-, third- and fourth-generation Latinos, or “Later Generation Latinos,” worship in English yet within their familiar cultural context, the Rev. Carlos Ruvalcaba told a recent New Camino gathering at St. Paul’s Commons in Los Angeles.
Later Generation Latinos represent two-thirds of the overall Latino population in Southern and Central California, yet Latino ministry has traditionally been focused on the newly arrived, primarily Spanish-speakers, said Ruvalcaba, chair of the diocesan Program Group on Latino/Hispanic ministries, which hosted the March 22 – 23 gathering.
“Latino ministry is not static; one of the strengths of The Episcopal Church has been to allow each person or group to worship in their own language,” but a downside has been separation and inability to connect with one another, he said. “One role for the church today is to risk intercultural exchange, to risk reaching out across difference, to risk learning a little of another language – but even more, to risk having one’s heart be open to another cultural context.”
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