Juntos Como Hermanos

By Jonathan Kindberg

Juntos como hermanos, miembros de la Iglesia, vamos caminando al encuentro del Señor. Together as brothers, members of the church, we are walking towards the Lord.

This first verse of a song entitled “Juntos Como Hermanos” spontaneously arose during the ¡Caminemos Juntos! Consultation on Hispanic Anglican ministry and summarizes the feeling of those gathered together for two days on the outskirts of Chicago. For most, it was the first time they had met each other. Many came to the conference feeling isolated and tired and left energized and united on a common mission. Folks all the way from Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Fresno, California, to All Nations Christian Church in New Haven, Connecticut came to talk about the potential and challenges of Anglican Hispanic ministry.
Our time together began with a charge from Archbishop Bob Duncan to have the Anglican church here on earth look like it will in heaven: diverse! We then heard from Fr. David Roseberry with Anglican 1000 and saw a video by Univision powerfully depicting the “New American Reality” of Hispanics in the United States. The U.S. census bureau estimates that by 2050 Hispanics will constitute 29% of the population of the U.S. and that minorities in general will be over 50% of the population. Another surprising statistic is that currently approximately 60% of Hispanics in the U.S. are English dominant.

Noteworthy was the address from Dr. Roberto Miranda, pastor of the congregation León de Judá in Boston and author of “En La Tierra de Los Peregrinos: La Iglesia Hispana Evangelica y Su Llamado Redentor.” His prophetic message was entitled:  the Hispanic Church as a Transformational Community (“La Iglesia Hispana Como Comunidad Transformadora”) and was based on the story of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. He stated that that Lord always delights to use the weak for his purposes and that, in his sovereignty, he has brought Hispanics with their strong faith to the United States to preserve and transform this country that is going down the path of secularization and materialism. He likened Hispanics in the Unites States to Moses growing up in Egypt unaware of his prophetic calling and invited us to awake to this prophetic responsibility and calling.
The conference ended with an ordination and confirmation service at Iglesia Santa Maria de Guadalupe, presided over by Archbishop Duncan. Catechist Fernando Moreno, from Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, a Greenhouse congregation in Chicago, was ordained a deacon and twelve youth from Iglesia de la Resurreccion and Santa Maria were confirmed.