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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

A Latino Reformation

I know this is somewhat dated news, but demographic trends don't quickly change. It came across along with the news about the Pope's trip to Rio, and I thought I'd pass it along:

A Latino Reformation:

Hispanics in the United States are becoming evangelicals at a rapid rate Time Magazine reports this week.

"Latino evangelicals are one of the fastest growing segments of America's churchgoing millions," said Elizabeth Dias, the author of the report.

Time calls the phenomenon "The Latino Reformation".

Dias's account is Time's cover story in its April 4 edition.

"They call themselves Evangelicos," Time's managing editor Richard Stengel told MSNBC."They are Latino Americans who have embraced an evangelical form of Protestantism."

"Its changing the church, the country and it's fascinating," said Stengel.

The Time article also indicates that Hispanics are turning to evangelicalism because they believe it gives them a more personal relationship with God than Catholicism. There is no priest as a "middleman".

Currently 62 percent of the approximately 52 millionHispanics in the U.S. are Catholic according to a 2012 Pew poll.

Stengel predicted that by 2050 half will be evangelical.

"It is difficult to track the groundswell of these new Protestants," said Dias in a background story. "They often meet in storefronts or living rooms, and language barriers complicate the census process."

After Dias began noticing a number of Hispanic churches in her travels around the Washington, D.C. area she decided to investigate. She attended two of the largest congregations located in suburban Maryland.

"What I discovered signaled a Latino Reformation", she said."Both churches were doubling in size every few years.

Dias met with many of the people attending and listened to their stories.

"To the mainstream American culture, and even other white evangelical churches, they were invisible", she said. "But they were hiding in plain sight."

"The story of both churches repeats itself across America", added Dias.

This is not huge news, except that Latinos typically are recognized as the largest Roman Catholic demographic group in the country right now.

2 comments:

  1. Misc. stats relative e to Latinos in the US.

    Among Catholics under the age of 30, 47% are white, and 45% are Latino. In contrast, among Catholics over the age of 65, 82% are white.

    Latinos make up about 40 percent of all U.S. Catholics; 70 percent of Latinos are Catholic; 23 percent of Latinos are Protestant or “other Christian;” 37 percent of the U.S. Latino population (14.2 million) self-identifies as “born-again” or evangelical (26% as born again); This figure includes Catholic charismatics, who constitute 22 percent of U.S. Latino Catholics.

    Among registered voters in 2007, 50% of white Evangelicals and 36% of Latino Evangelicals were Republican, 25% of the former and 36% of the latter were Democrats. 23% white Evangelical and 19% of Latino Evangelicals were Independents

    70% of Latino registered voters in 2012 identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 22% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. 81 percent of Latinos with no religious affiliation were Democrats or Democratic leaning.

    Latino Evangelicals are 50% more likely than those who are Catholics to identify with the Republican Party, and are significantly more conservative than Catholics on social issues, foreign policy issues and even in their attitudes toward the plight of the poor.

    The percentage of of Protestants and Evangelicals rose from 1.28% in 1950 to close to 8% of the total population in 2010, (excluding so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons). 5.2 million say they profess no religion.The percentage of of Protestants and Evangelicals rose from 1.28% in 1950 to close to 8% of the total population in 2010, (excluding so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons). 5.2 million say they profess no religion.

    54% of Hispanic Catholics describe themselves as charismatic Christians.

    51% of Hispanic Evangelicals are converts, and 43% are former Catholics. ^

    82% of Hispanics cite the desire for a more direct, personal experience with God as the main reason for adopting a new faith. Among those who have become evangelicals, 90% say it was a spiritual search for a more direct, personal experience with God was the main reason that drove their conversion. Negative views of Catholicism do not appear to be a major reason for their conversion.

    1,000 Mexicans left the Catholic Church every day between 2000 and 2010, a decline that has continued uninterrupted over the past 60 years, from 98.21 of the population to 83.9 percent today.

    The first generation of Latino immigrants is 74 percent Catholic, and 15 percent Protestant. The second generation is 72 percent Catholic, and 20 percent Protestant. The third generation is 62 percent Catholic, and 29 percent Protestant.

    Sources and More (search Latino)

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    1. Thanks PBJ, you are, as usual, a fountain of relevant, useful information!

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