Summary: Daniel Rodriguez, citing the Pew Hispanic Center states, surprisingly, that 62% of all Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. are native born and that of these only 4% are Spanish dominant. This is the new thing, the generation that the Lord is birthing and that requires new methods to reach. However, this generation is often forgotten within the church and often drop out when they are old enough. The “Silent Exodus” of the 2nd generation (the children of immigrants born in the United States) from immigrant churches requires focused attention upon the challenges and opportunities of “Intergenerational Ministry.” As a movement we want to explore operational, biblical principles in addressing this issue and propose different church models that might embody these principles in different contexts resulting in missions and unity of the Church.
Problem: Every immigrant group in the U.S. struggles with generational issues with the different generations blaming each other for the lack of understanding that is so deep and divisive. Some of the issues include: identity, role reversal, culture preservation, language, parenting challenges, youth violence, suicides, etc. The good news is that there are different models and resources available to help navigate these challenges.
Unity Objective: To create dialogue and understanding between the different generations so that they can team together as the body of Christ where “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28)," and we “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:3)" Through the sharing of others who have navigated such waters other immigrant churches will not have to reinvent the wheel or go through unnecessary hurts.
Mission Objective: That the different generations be disciple and equipped to cross generation lines and minister to each other and together to go cross-culturally to all other people different from themselves.
Recommended Resources for the New Generation:
Books:
Books:
- A Future for the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations by Daniel A. Rodriguez and Manuel Ortiz
- The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity by Dr. Soong-Chan Rah
- Understanding the Coconut Generation: Ministry to the Americanized Asian Indians by Sam George
Articles:
- Reaching the Second Generation: Emmanuel Research Review, Issue #2, 2004, Emmanuel Gospel Center
- Generation Dynamics in Immigrant Churches/Retos Generacionales dentro de la Iglesa Inmigrante by Jonathan Kindberg
- Chicago Ethnic Ministries Summit: Mission On Our Doorsteps
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