Hispanic Protestants
Most Hispanics in the United States continue to belong to the Roman Catholic Church. But the Catholic share of the Hispanic population is declining, while rising numbers of Hispanics are Protestant or unaffiliated with any religion. Indeed, nearly one-in-four Hispanic adults (24%) are now former Catholics, according to a major, nationwide survey of more than 5,000 Hispanics by the Pew Research Center. Together, these trends suggest that some religious polarization is taking place in the Hispanic community, with the shrinking majority of Hispanic Catholics holding the middle ground between two growing groups (evangelical Protestants and the unaffiliated) that are at opposite ends of the U.S. religious spectrum.
Recent Pew Research Center data shows that a majority (43%) of the nation’s estimated 35.4 million Latino adults – or about 19.6 million Latinos – identify as Catholic today. 1 About 22% are Protestant (including 15% who describe themselves as born-again or evangelical) and 30% are religiously unaffiliated.
Excerpt from The Shifting Religious Identity of Latinos in the United States, Pew research Center, The Shifting Religious Identity of Latinos in the United States
Atando Cabos by
Decolonizing theological education and restoring agency to the people Latinx Protestantism is a rapidly growing element of American Christianity. How should institutions of theological education in the United States welcome and incorporate the gifts of these populations into their work? This is an especially difficult question considering the painful history of colonization in Latin America and the Caribbean, an agenda in which theological education was long complicit. In this book, Elizabeth Conde-Frazier takes stock of the cabos sueltos--loose ends--left over from the history of Latinx Christianity, including the ways the rise of Pentecostalism disrupted existing power structures and opened up new ways for Latinx people to assert agency. Then, atando cabos--tying these loose ends together--she reflects on how a new paradigm, centered on the work of the Holy Spirit, can serve to decolonize theological education going forward, bringing about an in-breaking of the kingdom of God. Conde-Frazier illustrates how this in-breaking would bring changes in epistemology, curriculum, pedagogy, and models for financial sustainability. Atando Cabos explores each of these topics and proposes a collaborative ecology that stresses the connections between theological education and wider communities of faith and practice. Far from taking a position of insularity, Atando Cabos works from the particularities of the Latinx Protestant context outward to other communities that are wrestling with similar issues so that, by the end, it is a call for transformation--a new reformation--for the entire Christian church.
In Search of Christ in Latin America by
Ten Outstanding Books in Mission Studies, World Christianity and Intercultural Theology for 2019 -- International Bulletin of Mission Research (IBMR) Noted theologian Samuel Escobar offers a magisterial survey and study of Christology in Latin America. Starting with the first Spanish influence and moving through popular religiosity and liberationist themes in Catholic and Protestant thought of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, In Search of Christ in Latin America culminates in an important description of the work of the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL). Escobar chronologically traces the journey of Latin American Christology and describes the milestones along the way toward a rich understanding of the spiritual reality and powerful message of Jesus.IVP Academic is pleased to release this important work, originally published in Spanish as En busca de Cristo en América Latina, for the first time in English. Offers theological, historical, and cultural analysis of Latin American understandings of Christ Discusses the sixteenth-century Spanish Christ, popular religiosity, and developed theological reflection Covers the full spectrum of theological traditions in Latin America Examines the figure of Jesus Christ in the context of Latin American culture of the twentieth century Places liberation theology within its social and revolutionary context
Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America by
This is one of four projected volumes to emerge from a massive, Pew-funded study that sought to answer the question: What happens when a revivalist religion based on scriptural orthodoxy participates in the volatile politics of the Third World? Is the result a democratic politics of the ballotbox, or is it more like an authoritarian politics of command from on high? Does the evangelical faith of the Bible hinder or promote a politics of the ballot box? At a time when the global-political impact of another revivalist and scriptural religion - Islam - fuels vexed debate among analysts theworld over, these volumes offer an unusual comparative perspective on a critical issue: The often combustible interaction of resurgent religion and the developing world's unstable politics. The present volume considers the case of Latin America, where evengelical Protestantism is increasinglychallenging the historical Catholic hegemony in the religious sphere. In Latin America, Protestant identity was forged in relation to the dominant Catholicism, producing an "adversarial" style of Protestantism. This necessarily colors the role of evangelicalism in Latin America civil society. In hisIntroduction editor Paul Freston offers a historical overview of evangelicalism in the region. The book then offers individual case studies of five countries: Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. The contributors, mainly younger scholars based in Latin America, bring first hand-knowledgeto their chapters and employ both field and archival research to develop their data and analyses. The result is a groundbreaking work that will be indispensable to everyone concerned with the future of the region.
The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity by
Winner of 2014 Book Award for Excellence in Missiology from the American Society of Missiology Winner of the 2015 Christianity Today Award for Missions/Global Affairs Named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Studies as an Outstanding Book of 2014 for Mission Studies Predominantly Catholic for centuries, Latin America is still largely Catholic today, but the religious continuity in the region masks enormous changes that have taken place in the past five decades. In fact, it would be fair to say that Latin American Christianity has been transformed definitively in the years since the Second Vatican Council. Religious change has not been obvious because its transformation has not been, as in Africa and Asia, the sudden and massive growth of a new religion. It has been rather a simultaneous revitalization and fragmentation that threatened, awakened, and ultimately brought to a greater maturity a dormant and parochial Christianity. The rapid growth of Protestantism, especially Pentecostalism, forced Catholics to adopt a more active and dynamic approach to their religion. Although many Catholics left their church to become Pentecostals, many others responded to the Protestant challenge by joining new Catholic movements. Today, Latin American Christianity is so energized that the region is sending missionaries to Africa, Europe, and the United States. In The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity, Todd Hartch examines the changes that have swept across Latin America in the last fifty years and situates them in the context of the growth of Christianity in the global South.
Latino Mennonites by
The first historical analysis of the changing relationship between religion and ethnicity among Latino Mennonites. Winner, 2015 Américo Paredes Book Award, Center for Mexican American Studies and South Texas College. Felipe Hinojosa's parents first encountered Mennonite families as migrant workers in the tomato fields of northwestern Ohio. What started as mutual admiration quickly evolved into a relationship that strengthened over the years and eventually led to his parents founding a Mennonite Church in South Texas. Throughout his upbringing as a Mexican American evangélico, Hinojosa was faced with questions not only about his own religion but also about broader issues of Latino evangelicalism, identity, and civil rights politics. Latino Mennonites offers the first historical analysis of the changing relationship between religion and ethnicity among Latino Mennonites. Drawing heavily on primary sources in Spanish, such as newspapers and oral history interviews, Hinojosa traces the rise of the Latino presence within the Mennonite Church from the origins of Mennonite missions in Latino communities in Chicago, South Texas, Puerto Rico, and New York City, to the conflicted relationship between the Mennonite Church and the California farmworker movements, and finally to the rise of Latino evangelical politics. He also analyzes how the politics of the Chicano, Puerto Rican, and black freedom struggles of the 1960s and 1970s civil rights movements captured the imagination of Mennonite leaders who belonged to a church known more for rural and peaceful agrarian life than for social protest. Whether in terms of religious faith and identity, race, immigrant rights, or sexuality, the politics of belonging has historically presented both challenges and possibilities for Latino evangelicals in the religious landscapes of twentieth-century America. In Latino Mennonites, Hinojosa has interwoven church history with social history to explore dimensions of identity in Latino Mennonite communities and to create a new way of thinking about the history of American evangelicalism.
New Ways of Being Pentecostal in Latin America by
The explosive growth of Pentecostalism has radically transformed Latin America's religious landscape within the last half century or so. In a region where Catholicism reigned hegemonic for centuries, the expansion of Pentecostalism has now resulted in a situation of religious pluralism and competition, bearing much more resemblance to the United States than to the Iberian motherlands. Furthermore, the fierce competition from Pentecostal churches has inspired significant renewals of Latin American Catholicism, most notably the growth of a Catholic Charismatic movement. However, another and more recent source of religious pluralism and diversity in Latin America is an increasing pluralization and diversification of Pentecostalism itself and of the ways in which individual Pentecostals exercise their faith. By carefully exploring this diversification, the book at hand breaks new ground in the literature on Latin American Christianity. Particular attention is focused on new ways of being Pentecostal and on the consequences of recent transformations of Christianity for individuals, faith communities and societies. More specifically, the chapters of the book look into certain transformations of Pentecostalism such as: theological renewals and new kinds of religious competition between Pentecostal churches; a growing political and civic engagement of Pentecostals; an observed de-institutionalization of Pentecostal religious life and the negotiation individual Pentecostal identities, composed of multiple intra- and extra-ecclesial points of identification; and the emergence of new generations of Pentecostals (children of Pentecostal parents), many of whom have higher levels of education and higher incomes than the previous generations within their churches. In addition, Catholic responses to Pentecostal competition are also addressed in several chapters of the book.
The Story of Latino Protestants in the United States by
The first major historical overview of one of America's most vibrant Christian movements This groundbreaking book by Juan Francisco Martínez provides a broad historical overview of Latino Protestantism in the United States from the early nineteenth century to the present. Beginning with a description of the diverse Latino Protestant community and a summary of his own historiographical approach, Martínez then examines six major periods in the history of American Latino Protestantism, paying special attention to key social, political, and religious issues--including immigration policies, migration patterns, enculturation and assimilation, and others--that framed its development and diversification during each period. He concludes by outlining the challenges currently facing Latino Protestants in the United States and considering what Latino Protestantism might look like in the future. Offering vital insights into key leaders, eras, and trends in Latino Protestantism, Martínez's work will prove an invaluable resource for all who are seeking to understand this rapidly growing US demographic.
Latino Protestants in America by
Latino Protestantism is growing rapidly in the United States. Researchers estimate that by 2030 half of all Latinos in America will be Protestant. This remarkable growth is not just about numbers. The rise of Latino Protestants will impact the changing nature of American politics, economics, and religion. Latino Protestants in America takes readers inside the numbers to highlight the many reasons Latino Protestants are growing as well as the diversity of this group. The book brings together the best existing scholarship on this group with original research to offer a nuanced picture of Latino Protestants in America, from worship practices to political engagement. The narrative helps readers move beyond misconceptions about Latino religion and offers a window into the diverse ways that religion plays out in real life. Latino Protestants in America is an essential resource for anyone interested in the beliefs and practices of this group, as well as the implications for its growth and areas for further study.