by the Rev. Roman Roldan, Clerical Alternate, Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana
Today was a long legislative day, with busy sessions both in the morning and in the afternoon and hearings at 7:30 AM and 7:30 PM. An older and wise prelate, standing behind me on the coffee line, heard me complaining to a colleague about the busy schedule. The old bishop stated, “That’s what happened when we chose to reduce the length of the convention from 14 to 10 days. Back then we used to start at 9:00 AM and end promptly at 6:00 PM every day. You could then have time to visit with friends in the evenings, and attend the various parties and dinners hosted by vendors, seminaries, and dioceses, without having to worry about evening hearings.”
There have been many resolutions passed today, some requiring constitutional amendments. There are three resolutions that warrant special attention. I have been one of the church’s worse critics about our double talk when we say we want to grow the church, but we spend very little money on evangelism, and when we sing the virtues of church planting and Hispanic/Latino ministries but have woefully inadequate budgets to accomplish those tasks. Just to give you an example, Fr. Anthony Guillen has an office of one in the Hispanic/Latino ministries of the Episcopal Church. In the meantime, Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority in the United States and many of our dioceses have been experiencing increased numbers of Hispanics in their cities, but have had no resources to plant Hispanic churches or create services in Spanish. Fr. Guillen has done a good job providing whatever resources he can to Hispanic ministries, but there is no way his efforts can have the desired effect, given the geographical and numerical size of the church. It is the same with Church planting. We have planted few churches in the last 10 years in the Episcopal Church while forgetting that church planting in areas experiencing population growth and among minorities is the best mechanism to grow the church.
Three of the resolutions passed today seek to correct these problems. First, the House passed a resolution allowing $360,000 dollars for a trial run of an evangelism program using social media. This is a new way of thinking and I remain guarded about its potential results, but I am glad that we are trying something new in the area of Evangelism. Second, the House passed a resolution approving $5,000,000 dollars for church planting over the next three years. This money will be available to dioceses who want to plant churches and need initial funding and expertise support. The goal is at least 30 new congregations in the next three years. This is a humble goal that is easily accomplished. I pray that our own diocese will avail itself of some of this money for areas of the state where we have underserved populations.
The third resolution provides $1,500,000 dollars for the office of Hispanic Ministries. The goal of this money is to provide grants to dioceses and churches that want to start a Hispanic ministry, a service in Spanish, or an outreach program to Hispanic/Latino people. We have a large number of Latinos in Baton Rouge, Kenner, Metairie and New Orleans. I look forward to working with the diocese to help them design Hispanic ministries in some of these towns. I know that Mother Sharon Alexander, who is fully bilingual and has a long history of work in Bolivia, will also welcome the opportunity to establish Hispanic/Latino ministries in our diocese.
I believe the House has taken an important first step in evangelism, church planting, and Hispanic ministries and I hope this money is well-managed and responsibly used. Please continue praying for all of us as the days continue to get longer and the legislative agenda continues to grow. Blessings to all, Fr. Roldan+