PraisingGod in Two Different Languages:A Study of the Experiencesof Religrous

Latinos in the United Statesof America

Ann Marie Wilke

Anril20.2006

Latin American and CaribbeanStudies

 It was standingroom only at St. Mary's Catholic Churchin Rome, GA. People

squeezedinto the pews,lined the aisles,leanedagainstthe walls, and clusteredinto the

\
narthexand aroundthe front on either side of the altar. Was this a specialoccasion? \I i

Was it a holy day or was an importantdecisionbeing made? The occasionwas simply

the SpanishCatholic Mass,held eachSundayat 1:00pm. The numberof Latinos in the

United Statesis steadilyrising. Accordingto the 2000 U.S. Census,thereare currently

37 million Latinos living in the United States,surpassingthe African-American

communityas the largestminority (Espinosa7003:11).The Latino NationalPolitical

i
Survey found that Latinos tend to be more religiousthan the populationas a whole
\,/
(Levitt 2002:153).It foundthat while 25 percentof all Anglosclaim to haveno religious /r,
|/"
| ,i'

fit into this category.Of the37 million

only 13 percentof Latino respondents
preference,

Latinosresidingin the U.S., 70 percentclaim to be Catholicand 23 percentprotestant

(Espinosa2003:14).This hasled to quite a bit of interactionbetweenthe Latino I

communityand U.S. Christianchurches.Examplesof this interactioncan be seenin

severalchurchesin Rome,GA. The 2000U.S. Censusfoundthat therearecurrently \

'rttrt \ )
l
almost468,000Latinosliving in Georgia{hat'-s,over five percentof Georgia's
\--:- -- 'il-i''''t:
''i'rc
population(Georgia2006). Due to this large number,many churchesifi'tffi areahave

openedtheir doorsto the Latino community,providing church servicesin Spanish,

classes,and evenhelpingLatino churches

offering ESL (English-as-a-second-language)

branchoff on their own.

I am interestedin learninghow.the Latino populationis interactingwt1hU-.S.

i ''-" ir:il -)
. . ' t ' - ) . , ) c ' 1\
c-h.ylghes,Rarticularly in Rome, GA. My primary questionis: What facetsof Latino

culture are beins broueht to U.S. churchesand how are thesechurchesresponding?My

sub-questionsare: What are U.S. churchesdoing to reachout to Latinos? Are Latinos
, ' I

being incorporatedinto the U.S. churches?Are the United Statesculture and the tu,ino
\ ,,"a
culture learningto balance,or is one dominatingthe other? I

I exploredthesequestionsin severalways. I usedscholarlysources,articles,and

Internetarticles. I also wantedto experienceLatino servicesfor myself, so I visited two /

areaLatino churchesand conductedseveraltelephoneinterviews.

I found that about 74 percenrof Latinosidentify themselvesas Catholic while l8

percentconsiderthemselvesto be Protestant(Espinosa2003:l4). Of thosewho are

Protestant,
85 percentself-identifyas Pentecostals
or Evangelicals(Espinosa2003:14).

Only aboutone percentof Latinosidentifywith anotherworld religionand lessthanone iii

I
percentconsiderthemselvesto be atheistor agnostic(Espinosa2003:14)"Becausethe

vastmajority of self-described
religiousLatinosin the U.S. areeitherCatholicor

Protestant,I decidedto focus on thesepopulationsin my study.

The majority of Latinosliving in the U.S. identify with the CatholicChurch.

Catholic Latinoshave broughtmany distinct featuresof their cultureto the U.S. Catholic

Church. One exampleis Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Accordingto tradition,in 1531,Mary,

the motherof Jesus,appearedto a poor Indianat Tepeyac,a city nearMexico City. She

identified herselfas the Mother of the True God and instructedthe man to havethe

bishop build a temple in the spot where sheappeared.She left her imprint on the man's

tilma, which is a cloth madefrom cactus. The tilma's fabric shouldhave disintegrated

long ago from wear but can be seentoday at Mary of Guadalupe'sBasilica in Mexico

City. Many miracles,curesand interventionsin times of trouble have beenattributedto

Mary. Many Catholic Latinos celebrateher feastday on Decembertwelfth. Eachyear,

10 million peoplevisit her Basilicaand shrinein Mexico City, makingthis the most

visited Catholic Church in the world besidesthe Vatican (Our Lady 2006). In addition to
/,
/
an allegianceto Mary of Guadalupe,Latinostend to show more of a commitmentto
/
Mary in other forms. They are also more opento women acting in leadershiproles.
i
Ir'
Latinos also generallydesiremore democraticdecisionmaking indicating that they are

Iessfocusedon the larger institutionalstructuresof the church (D'Antonio 1999:19).

Thesedifferenceshave causedrifts in someCatholic Churchesacrossthe United States,

./.
/
aboutthe preparationof sacramentsfor Communionand the
including disagreements t/'

failureof U.S. churchesto recognizeholy daysCatholicLatinosdeemto be important

( D ' A n t o n i o1 9 9 9 : 1 9 ) .

Despitedifferences.the U.S. CatholicChurchas a whole hasmadeattemptsto

reachout and welcomethe Latino community. One reasonfor this is that the Catholic
,/
/
Church'swhite-ethnicmembershipis dwindling(Levitt 2002:15l). Plus,many Latinos

are leaving Catholicismfor Protestantfaiths; somethingthat I will addresslater in this

paper. In order to retain membership,the Catholic Churchhasbecomemore

linguisticallyand culturallysensitiveand hasincorporatedseveralfactorsto promote , ,.r.,\

l\r l
Latino participationin the church (Levitt 2002:151). The Bishops' Committeefor the

SpanishSpeakingin the United Stateswas formed rn 1946and wrote a pastoralplan

integratingsacramentalactivitieswith social servicesand religious instruction,meaning

that it got the church involved in social servicesand with teachinghow to apply the

principlesof the religionin everyday life. In 1957,the Cursillomovementwas

incorporated.It was rooted in SpanishCatholicismand emphasizedthe translationof

cultural Catholicisminto practicedand informed everydayfaith. This parishbased

 4

movementresultedin lareenumbersof Latino leaderswho were committedto their

sacramentalroots. In the 1960s.the SecondVatican Council. or Vatican II, wrote a

constitutionwhich repositionedthe churchas an institution of the people. One facet of

this was that the Catholic Churchmust provide the liturgy in the vemacular,or language

of the commonpeople,ratherthan in the traditionalLatin. In the U.S.,this was

parishionerscould celebrateMass in Spanish

interpretedto meanthat Spanish-speaking

ratherthan Latin or English(Stevens-Arroyo

I 998:169). VaticanII alsodemocratized

rituals of Mass to be more accessibleto followers and mandatedgreatertolerancefor

variationsin cultural expressionsof faith (for instancecelebrationsof different feast

days)or in the musicchosenfor Mass. From that point, churchpolicy towardLatinos

. ,'"'

focusedmore on preservingLatino identity, ratherthan "Americanizing" new |.' lr

1\',,t
(Levitt 2002:152).Cunently,approximately80 percentof all diocesesand
congregants

20 percentof all parishesengagein ministryrvith Hispanics(Matovina2000:2).

I
a

masses,evangelization
Developmentsinclude initiativesto increaseSpanish-language

efforts,renewalmovements,and feast-daycelebrations.

St. Mary's CatholicChurchin Rome,GA offersSpanishMasseverySunday.In

( ^,n'
an interviewwith SisterPilar,a nun at St. Mary's, I learnedthat the ministrybeganabout

20 yearsago. SisterPilar saw a needfor a SpanishMass becauseof the large Latino

populationin Rome. She explainedthat at times it hasbeendifficult to organize.because

peoplecoming from different countries(e.g.Guatemala,Mexico, Colombia)have

different traditionswhen it comesto things like the preparationof the sacramentsfor

totalingaround400. She
Communion. However,eachserviceis full, with attendance

has found the Rome community, and the predominatelywhite-ethniccongregationat St.

 6

definitely can begin to understandwhy a personlooking for more personalrelationships

could feel alienatedin this environment.

SomeCatholic Latinos experiencea lack of interactionbetweenthe Spanishand

Englishspeakingcongregations.The day that I attendedSpanishMassat St. Mary's, a

woman from the English-speakingcongregationspokeat the end of the servicethrough a

translator.Shespokeon behalfof the AmericanCancerSociety,encouragingeducation

and medicalcheck-ups. She shareda personalstory of her battle with breastcancerand

handedout information aboutthe upcomingRelay for Life, inviting everyoneto come

enjoy the food and free information. Everyoneappearedto listen and even applaudedat

1',
the end. However, accordingto Genny Castillo who regularlyattendsthe SpanishMass

at St. Mary's, this type of interactionis rare.and when it doesoccur.it usuallyis as a

public servicetype announcement.Shealso explainedthat Latinos usually have minimal

say in churchpolitics and decisions. Sheknows this to be the caseat her home church in

Suwanee,GA. Sheexplainedthat it is simply easierfor the English-speaking

hierarchy

to make decisionson their own, ratherthan trying to coordinatewith the Spanish-

speakingcongregants.Sheis not for sureif this is the caseat St. Mary's, but sheexpects

it to be so. Thereis generallya lack of Latino leadershipin the U.S. CatholicChurch.

As of 2001,only 7 percentof Bishopswere Latino (Levitt 2002:154).

Becauseof thesedifferencesand the desirefor community and personal

,, l|
relationships,many Latinos are turning to the Protestantchurches.Researchby

sociologistAndrew Greeleyshowsthat around60,000U.S. LatinosleaveCatholicism

eachyear and that many haveembracedProtestantism,with the majority of growth in the

Pentecostal (Espinosa1999:597).SmallerProtestant
and Evangelicaldenominations
 7

congregationstend to provide a strongersenseof family and fellowship, a strict moral

code basedon clear biblical principles,an emphasison mission,more indigenous

pastors,and worship servicesin which Latinos can pray in their own

Spanish-speaking

languageand cultural style (Matovina 2000:19). It is importantto note that while many

Catholic parishescreatewelcoming environments,more autonomousProtestant

congregationsallow Latinos, including women,to stepinto leadershippositions(Murray

2006:4).

The majority of Latino protestantsin the U.5., Z/fercent, considerthemselvesto

tl
be Evangelical,or "born again," meaningthey have had a "personalconversion

experiencerelatingto JesusChrist" (Murray 2006:3). They also seeimportancein

sharingtheir faith through activeproselytizingand missionarywork" An exampleof this

type of congregationcan be found at PrimeraIglesia Bautistaof Rome, GA. This Latino

congregationwas organizedby First Baptist Churchof Rome around20 yearsago

startingwith Bible studiesthat grew into a regularservicein SpanisheachSunday.

According to Phil Smith, Studentand MissionsDirector at First Baptist Church,in the

(n"\ r
and English-
beginningtherewas significantinteractionbetweenSpanish-speaking

speakingcongregants.PrimeraIglesia Bautistaoriginally met at First Baptist Church at

the sametime as the English-speakingcongregation.However.due to the successof the

Latino congregation,their numbersgrew and they outgrewtheir spaceat First Baptist

Church. Also, there is a larger concentrationof Latinos living in southemRome (the

currentlocation of PrimeraIglesia Bautista)than in downtown Rome where First Baptist

Church is located. Sincethe transition,First Baptist Churchhasmainly had contactwith

the leadershipof PrimeraIglesiaBautistaonly, but the two congregationsstill come

togetherfor celebrationssuchas Christmasand Easter. Smith also said that the

congregationswork togetheron outreachprojects.althoughit shouldbe notedin many

cases.the English-speakingcongregationis working to addressneedsin the Latino

congregation,ratherthan the two populationsworking togetherto reacha more neutral

goal. For instance,at Christmas,First Baptistdoesan Angel Tree where the namesof

needyfamilies are placedon a tree. Congregantscan then choosenamesfrom the tree

and buy gifts for the family. Each year,the Latino congregationidentifieseight or ten

l,atino families to be placedon the tree. English-speakingmembersof First Baptist

Churchalsooffer ESL classes.

I spokewith PastorEstebanGuerra,the ministerof PrimeralglesiaBautista,and

he indicatedthat the relationshipbetweenthe English-speaking

and Spanish-speaking

congregations
was good. The Latino congregation
continuesto grow. He saidabouthalf

of his congregationwere Protestantin their home country,and half have convertedsince

comingto the U.S. The congregation

is very activein outreachas well as in supporting

its individual members. When I visited the congregationI was met at the door with much

warmth and welcoming,a contrastto the polite inattentionat St. Mary's. One woman i\

offered to translatethe servicefor me. She is a native English speakerwho began 0'f,,'t
playing the piano for the Spanishserviceeight yearsago, and hasover the courseof that (t' ;\i
time, leamedSpanish.Most of the peoplein the congregation
of around150people

knew eachother and spenttime beforeand after the servicechatting. PastorGuerramade

a point of walking aroundbeforethe serviceand speakingto eachindividual, often for

severalminutes,welcoming newcomersand inquiring aboutthe well-being of church

members. After the service,many membersof the congregationcameover to welcome

 9

me. Many peoplewere very opento chattingand answeringquestions,both in English

and in Spanish.

PrimeraIglesia Bautistais also active in politics. Announcementswere made

during the serviceencouragingpeopleto pay attentionto new laws being proposed

regardingimmigration and the sendingof money earnedin the U.S. back to home

countries. I found this to be interesting,becauseaccordingto studiesdone by the

University of Notre Dame's Institutefor Latino Studies,62 percentof Latinos want their

to becomemore involvedwith social,educational.

churchesor religiousorganizations

and political issueswith 74 percentapplyingthis to stanceson immigrantsand

immigration. However, only 22 percentof Latinos cited being askedby their churchto

engagein thesetypes of activities(Espinosa2003:17).

to plan eventsand
At this service,I witnessedthe autonomyof this congregation

outreachprojectsapart from an English-speakingcongregation.A basketofdiapers.

blankets,baby wipes, baby food, etc. was presentedto an expectantsingle mother in the

congregation.After the service,I was graciouslyinvited to attenda baby showerthat the

churchwomenwere throwingfor the expectantmom. Somemembersof the congregation

madeplansto get togetherand organizea choir to sing at a bi-lingualEasterservice.

After the service,the Guerrastook me by the site of their new churchbuilding. Their

congregationhas grown so much that within the next few weeks,they are planningon

moving into a renovatedfuneralhome, wherethey haveplansto offer not only a

Protestantservicein SpanisheachSunday,but English and Spanishlanguageclasses.

computerclasses,and sewingclasses.
 10

Becausemany ProtestantLatinos in the U.S. attend

PentecostalChurches,I feel
that I shouldbriefly discussthis experience.Unfortunately,
I was unableto visit a Latino
Pentecostalchurch in Rome, but I was able to gatherpertinent
informationthroughother
research' PentecostalChurchesare ProtestantChristian
Churches,so they are in many
ways like otherProtestantChurches(like Primera
IglesiaBautista).For example,thereis

a lack of a strict hierarchicalstructurewhich allows

more lay-leadershipopportunities in
the ordainedministry (Murray, 4). And like other Protestant
churches,the pentecostal
denominationplacesan emphasison evangelism(sharing
one's faith with others)and the
one-tinreconversion
experience.

one major differencebetweenPentecostals

and other Protestantdenominationsis

that Pentecostals
believein the activeengagement
of the Holy Spirit in everyday life.
They believethat their bodiescan be inhabitedby
the Holy spirit, andthat the Spirit is

manifestedthroughhealings,speakingin tongues,and
divinely inspiredprophecies
(Munay' 4)' Many Latinosaredrawnto Pentecostalism
becauseof its healingqualities^
one reasonfor this is that many Latinosliving in the
U.S. havelow payingjobs and little
or no healthinsurance,so they rery on the Hory spirit
to cure them of everythinefrom

cancer,to achesand pains,to the flu (Munay 2006:3).

otto Maduro,a Venezuelansociologistand philosopher

of religionwho currently
teachesat the TheologicalSchoolof Drew university in
New Jersey,notesthat.,thereis
amongPentecostals
a deepenvironmentof freedomand j{
encouragement
of emotional.
sensitiveexpressionof one'sown feelings,beliefs,neecls,
yearnings,pains,frustrations.
which is not presentin Anglo-Catholicism"(Torrens,
1993:19).He goeson to explain
that the most attractivefeatureof Pentecostalgroups
for Latinos is the senseof
 1l

community and the senseof being treatedas an equal. Many Latino Pentecostal

Churchesallow membersto reachout to thoseof their samesocio-economicstatus. As

Daniel Ramirezsaysin his article BorderlandsPraxis; TheImmigrant Experiencein

Latino PentecostalChurches: "Latino Pentecostalchurchesrepresentmarginalized

communitiesin ministry to the fellow marginalized"(Ramirez 1999:592).

'fhrough
my research,interviews,and personalexperiencesI have learneda great

deal aboutthe impact of Latino culture on United Stateschurches. I have learnedof

ways in which the Latino culture and the United Statesculturehave clashedon different

issuessuchas churchleadershipand evenpartsofservices,suchas the preparations

of

the sacraments
for communion. I find it interestingthat my personalexperiences
with

Latino Catholicsand Latino Protestantshave supportedwhat I found in literatule,,that the

N
v.to
Protestantstend to be more welcoming (perhapsbecausetheir congregationJ^fiave smaller
,\
numbers)and that there is lesshierarchyin ProtestantChurches. I think that both

cultureshave a long way to go in integratingreligiouspracticesand that there is a

delicatebalancebetweencompromiseand one culturedominatingthe other. However,I

havefoundmany examplesof eachculturereachingout to the other,as in the

proclamations
of VaticanII and in the smaller,yet still importantexampleof Primera

Iglesia Bautistaplanningto offer Spanishlanguageclassesto the Rome, GA community.

I hope that in the future,the Latino culture and the U.S. culturewill be able to work

Q or'r,-,'
 T2

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/
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 t3

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