The future is Latino - and the nation's places of worship are starting to reflect this truth.

According to 2020 Census figures research supported by EPIC (Exploring Pandemic

Impact on Congregations) and FACT’s (Faith Communities Today) most recent ‘Latino
Congregations’ report, one in four American children now traces their heritage to Latin America
and Spain. On average, children and teens make up almost a third of regular church attendees.
Compare that to just 22.5% in congregations overall, where older participants tend to outnumber
younger ones. In many congregations, older members are dying out, while younger ones have
stopped their attendance all together. With younger participants tending to be a greater
percentage in Latino congregations, it is no surprise that the care, creativity, and compassion
found in these congregations never runs out.

One of these congregations that uses compassion and care to their advantage is Christ
Lutheran Church in Denver, Colorado. Although they are not one of the larger congregations in
Denver, Christ Lutheran has a unique Latino community that keeps coming back for more.

“We strive for a message that would continue to be something people need to hear each
week,” says the Rev. Paul Biedenbender, who has been pastor of Christ Lutheran for 18 years, “I
look for what it is that people are going to look for in a service, (which is typically) quality
teaching and preaching.”

Christ Lutheran Church caters to its majority Latino audience by providing two services
on Sundays, one in English and one in Spanish. Given the wide range of national and ethnic
backgrounds among Latinos, their congregations reflect diverse cultural traditions, histories, and
inter-ethnic dynamics. Some are recent immigrants adjusting to life in the U.S., while others
represent long-established communities predating the country's founding.

Christ Lutheran's compassion was tested when its reputation for serving the local Latino
community led groups of Venezuelan migrants to seek help from the church. What made these
migrants choose Christ Lutheran? Word of mouth.

‘Servicios De La Raza,’ is a Colorado organization that helps the diverse and changing
needs of Spanish-speaking Coloradans. When Venezuelan migrant workers came to Colorado,
Servicios De La Raza told migrants that Christ Lutheran would be able to find them a job and a
home.
 “I was torn a little bit thinking- maybe I should call that place (Servicio De La Raza) and
tell them that we don’t do that,” Biedenbender says. “But, at the same time, nobody has ever
thrown a fit or called us liars, it has always been a great experience and I do not want to cut off
that flow of people coming to us.

Rev. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, PhD, is assistant professor of Leadership and Formation and
faculty director of the Office of Professional Formation at Iliff School of Theology. In the study
she coauthored, her report on Latino congregations provides an initial summary of the state of
these churches in the U.S., drawing on results from the 2020 Faith Communities Today Survey
and the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations National Research Project.

“Because nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of majority Latino congregations are located in

larger cities (either in older residential areas or suburbs), there is a greater opportunity for these
congregations to serve as places of support and resourcing for newer migrants arriving in larger
cities,” Lizardy-Hajbi says. “In contrast, only one-third of non-Latino congregations are located
in these same areas of large cities.”

Instead of pointing fingers away, Christ Lutheran Church has welcomed so many
Venezuelan migrants into their services.

“We’ve had twenty children baptized, we’ve had three different events where we’ve
invited the migrants that come, for anyone interested in baptism,” says Biedenbender.

Latino congregations exude a vibrant spirit that often contrasts their stodgier
counterparts. With younger demographics and fewer senior members on average, there is no
shortage of energy and engagement driving the Latino faithful. According to the FACT (Faith
Communities Today) and EPIC Latino report, participants connect readily beyond pews through
social media and community activism alike at rates outpacing other groups. Fueling this lively
momentum, over a third of Latino leaders - whether full time or part-time - hold jobs outside
their spiritual guidance roles. And yet one in five shepherd their impassioned flocks without pay,
exemplifying both selfless dedication and the more informal, relationship-based infrastructure
common to Latino churches.

“Majority (of) Latino congregations are more likely to agree more strongly than other
congregations that they are good at incorporating new people into the congregation,” says
Lizardy-Hajbi.
 Extending invitations to these migrants is not the only way that Christ Lutheran Church
pays it forward. Biedenbender says it is all about encouraging personal responsibility,
partnership, and serving.

“As easy as it could have been to be unpaid Uber drivers for migrants that have a million
things to figure out in a short period of time, we haven’t fallen into that trap, but encouraged
people to figure it out,” Biedenbender says.

Latino congregations tend to prioritize fostering meaningful bonds between members,

both in-person and increasingly through online forums, rather than relying on more formal
programming, exemplifying an admirable communal zeal that seems to come naturally to the
Latino community of believers. This encouragement that Christ Lutheran Church offers comes
from handing out phone numbers for other helpful resources, regularly making lunches to pass
out to families, and encouraging these migrants to navigate solutions and allow them to feel
capable of success.