I know a pastor who leads a vibrant, growing multicultural church in the southeastern United States. His congregation includes people from more than ten countries, and most of them are bilingual. Members are black, brown, and white. In an age when many evangelical churches strive to break down racial barriers and become “multicultural,” they may be surprised to learn that this diverse body is actually a Latino church, led by a Puerto Rican pastor.
His church is one example of how white evangelicals can learn a lot from the diversity in America’s Latino population. No longer confined to certain areas of the country, US-born Hispanics and Latino immigrants live everywhere from Oregon to rural Wisconsin, from South Bend to Birmingham. Since 1980, the Hispanic population has more than tripled, from 14.8 million to 54 million. Now, more than 1 in 6 Americans is Hispanic.
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