Report on the Second Annual Coalition of Episcopal Latinos Conference

September 2011

The Duncan Center

Episcopal Diocese of South East Florida

            CEL held its second annual conference at the Duncan Center in Delray Beach, Florida in the Diocese of South East Florida on September 8-11, 2011.  There were 45 in attendance (eight from Province VIII) and about 20 commuters at the conference.

            The Rev. Canon Anthony Guillen was our first speaker on Thursday evening.  He provided an outstanding presentation on the various resources available for Latino/Hispanic ministry through The Episcopal Church Center and his office in particular.  He shared that there there are 50.5 million Latinos in the United States, this is 16% of the population.  Therefore, presenting the Church with what I would call the challenge of ministering in a field that perhaps is literally knocking at our door.  California alone has a population of 27.8 million Hispanics/Latinos.  And yet there are only 333 Episcopal congregation in the whole United States.

            On Friday morning, The Rev. Alberto Cutié was our keynote speaker.  He spoke to the group about The Latino Gospel.  “How are we going to evangelize these 50 million Latinos?” was his key challenge.  He further asked “what is the Episcopal Church doing” to address the Latinos in the four major areas of their lives.  With this he proceeded to elaborate on these four major priorities for the Latino/Hispanic.

1. The Family

All things family are the number one priority for the Latinos.  Central core values are formed within the family; it is here that unconditional love is learned; it is here that we value our grandparents and do not send them away during their last days.  It is the family that needs to be vitally considered when we look as issues of immigration.  It is basically within the family that we learn to respect the dignity of every human being.  The Latino Gospel is about sharing the love of Jesus Christ within the whole family in every way possible – birth to death

1. Faith

Latino Gosple is about a tangible faith; it is about what can be felt with the heart.  We must ask ourselves in the Episcopal Church “where are the symbols of our faith as Latinos?”  We must take seriously the popular religiosity of the people, the basic doctrines of the church, and connect this with a practical relationship with God.  Our preaching cannot be boring, we need powerful sermons that reach the heart of the people.  Our sermons must be personal, about daily life; we cannot preach lectures, but rather  connections of practical living and the word of God – we must connect the Gospel to reality.

1. Education

A Latino Gospel is about educating the Hispanics/Latinos about who we are as a Church.  All of our liturgical celebrations can be incorporated within our Book of Common Prayer – we need to be creative in our liturgies.  We were challenged to ask what concept of church are we giving to the people.  Is our concept of church communicating community which is so vital to the Latino. We do not have to water down who we are as Episcopalians.  We are catholic, reformed, and evangelical – that is our richness – do not be ashamed of it.

1. Service

Being able to serve, being of service to others is a key element of the Latino.  They need to know that they are contributing members of the Body.  How is the Episcopal Church making the Latino feel accepted?  Being of service naturally includes finances, but they want to give so much more of their talents and time.  The Latino wants to use his/her hands.  The question is “does my chuch need me”  Does my church invite me?”  “Please don't leave me out.”  We can respond to this by identifying talents and DELAGATING; by developing leaders; engaging them in the political processes of the church, etc.

 

            And then we had a “Cuban Fiesta” on Friday night with a group of Cuban musicians that had the whole group dancing and singing.  There was a feast of Cuban food that was literally overwhelming that was provided by sponsoring churches in the Diocese.

            On the last day Bishop Leo Frade preached at the closing Eucharist and once again we were insipired and challenged as Latinos in the Episcopal Church.  He preached about the vital presence of Latinos in the Episcopal Church.  Without a strong and dynamic Hispanic presence in our Church, it would lose one of the greatest opportunities for growth that it has ever had.  The Latino community is searching for a place to belong, the question is this:  will they find that place in the Episcopal Church?  A place where they can maintain their identity, maintain their heartfelt faith, in their own language, with their own music and sense of celebration of life.

 

All this was accompanied by workshops presented on various topics such as Immigration, Living the Anglican Identity, Leadership Development of Women in the Church, How to establish Local CEL Groups, as well as a workshop for Latino Clergy presented by the Church Pension Fund.

 

            Participants representing Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Spain, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Colombia, and the United States listened, learned, danced, ate, worshipped, and worked together as a coalition of Episcopal Latinos.  There were nine (9) participants from the Eighth Province at this second annual conference.

 

            At the Business Session there were two key pieces of business that resulted.

1. The transfer through election of the Presidency from The Rev. Canon Carmen Guerrero to The Rt. Rev. Nedi Rivera.  Carmen will now be the Executive Coordinator of CEL as of this conference.
2. A Resolution on Immigration was initiated, presented, moved, and accepted.

Thanks to The Rev. Canon Carmen Guerrero, Peace & Justice Cluster Convener for Province VIII