Dr. Emma Escobar, the Coordinator for Hispanic/Latino Ministries in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, was a guest at the October meeting of UMCRM’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion group. Dr. Escobar discussed the history of Hispanic/Latino Methodists in the U.S., issues facing those communities, and considerations as Camp and Retreat Ministries seek to better serve and partner with Hispanic/Latino communities.

One of the first questions was about the terminology that folks should be using – is it Hispanic, Latino, or Latinx? Emma noted that there is no single “right” answer. Many people from different regions and cultural groups will have different opinions and perspectives and the best thing to do is simply ask the group. She went on to describe the ways in which the language we use is key, powerfully shaping how we think about ideas or in this case, people. 

The Hispanic/Latino community is the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. with the increase resulting more from births than immigration. The median age of this demographic is young – 28 years old, and they are quite multiracial and multi-ethnic. The UMC currently has around 76,000 Hispanic/Latino laity in our pews. Many of our churches are used to working with immigrant populations, but there are vast opportunities to improve our reach to the 1.5 and second-generation folks of Latinx heritage (those who moved to the US as children or were born to immigrant parents). These later generations tend to speak English or Spanglish more often than exclusively Spanish and may more likely be found in multicultural congregations.

The main questions we need to be asking ourselves are: 

• Are we building relationships with people or just trying to check off a box for diversity? 

• Do we have the trust of the community and people we are trying to engage? 

• Who are the pillars of the community or church and how can we be in trusting relationships with them? 

If UMCRM leaders would like help in connecting with the Hispanic/Latino caucus and leaders in our annual conferences, Dr. Escobar is willing to help make some introductions. For those of us who have existing relationships with Hispanic/Latino leaders, we can identify growing edges such as representation on curriculum teams and boards and inclusion in staffing. Are there site adaptations that can help us signal a wider welcome, such as ethnic food options or the ability for groups to rent the commercial kitchen? Can we develop multilingual signage and create marketing materials translated (by a native speaker) into Spanish?

The UMCRM Association encourages our members to engage more deeply in building alliances with Hispanic/Latino church leaders, camp families, and communities.

Special thanks to Jenna Johnson, Assistant Director at the West River Center (MD), for coordinating Dr. Escobar's visit and for providing this synopsis. Jenna is a commissioned Deacon in The United Methodist Church and an active member of UMCRM's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Intentional Leadership Group.