Are there things we can learn from the Latino community about planting churches? I think so. Just like so many other areas i.e. community development, social transformation, etc, Latinos have been involved in these and other things like church planting. We just don’t write about them and document our experiences so that others can learn from them.
Being a church birther myself, lessons from mi gente Latino has been on my mind. Wounded Healer is still evolving and we have talked amongst our leaders that we need to be comfortable with dynamic change–and that that will be the constant…change. With all that said, I’ve asked myself, what can I learn and share with others about church planting Latino style. Here is my list, perhaps you can add your own 2 cents?
1. Focus on the people not the programs. Although there is a crowd that is awed by megachurch resources, there are people out there that even with that don’t feel like they connect there. Those who have decided not to go to the big churches for whatever reasons, still are seeking relationships, socialization, connection. Many don’t mind "lack of resources" if they get "care".
2. Don’t stress out trying to be a walking encyclopedia on Church Planting 101. Our people "se tiraron", they just threw themselves out there if they were sure about one thing…that God told them to do it. Many didn’t know much of anything else but these folks had passion for reaching the lost, for proclaiming the truth of the gospel. Today, we know alot of the do’s and don’ts of church planting and we don’t seem to to ’see’ the passion or sense of urgency to reach ‘the lost’.
3. Cut Analysis of Paralysis. While I totally believe that we as people of influence should think through what we are and should be doing, we need to stop analyzing until we are totally paralyzed. Latino church planters of the past, just "did it". They didn’t wait for manna from heaven to move. They saw a need and filled it, they prayed for God to move and expected it.
4. Don’t set a timelimit. Ok, so maybe set a timelimit but not the "if you are not self-sustaining in 2 years close up shop" timelimit. Organic growth in different places, have different growth rates. The fact is that Latino church plants unless sent out by a mother church with money (usually not another Latino Church unless they are in the mega category) won’t have the slick marketing budget to do an all out canvas mailing to the community or city. I say go for 5. If after 5 years, you still have the same cats coming, no new converts, etc. then let go of the pride and say "it didn’t work". Wounded Healer just celebrated one year and is in its year two, we have not sent out any mailings, no phone calls to the community, etc. We are growing slowly. As a New Yorker, painfully slow for ‘me’ but I have to trust God and we as a church community have to make evangelism top priority by coordinating events that pre-Christians won’t be turned off by. We have to look at our "sacred practices" and see how we can reinvent them for people who don’t know God. All this can’t be done in less than 2 years especially with a small group of core leaders. I say go for the Fabulous Five. On the other side of this, there are those who believe that even if you still have the five you started with, that is enough to keep going? I’m not sure about that, what do you think? I think anything that is healthy grows. I don’t think we are all to be megachurches, as a matter-of-fact, the average church in America is between 100-350. I know this person who goes to a church of 20 that has been that way for 15+ years. They don’t have any evangelistic programs and are ok with that. I think that’s dysfunction at its worst. What do you think?
5. Make Whole Person Ministry the Core. We are working with the church that houses us which is a four story building to make it the GCC (The Great Commission Center). We are talking with area ministries to begin the South Broward Ministerial Alliance so that we can work together and utilize each other’s resources instead of reinventing the wheel. It was never meant to be about individual ego and the ‘look what I have done’ but about giving God glory and showing others ‘"what He can do". Pray for us here since we are all bi-vocational and we are dealing with a ministry that has never ever heard of this type of ministry. They had dreamed of using that building for the good of the community but didn’t know how. We believe this connection is a divine one and we pray that the community will be blessed by the presence of the GCC.
6. Make sure you serve Cafe con Leche. Ok, so maybe in other parts of the country you can get by with American coffee (yuk) but here in South Florida especially Miami and South Broward, don’t even dare. I am convinced that at least one person in my church comes soley to socialize at the end (ok so that may not be something to be happy about but I think its more her thing than it is a church thing 
Most Latinos love coffee (except my sister-in-law) and love to feel like familia. That feeling has kept more people in the church than anything else and eventually God meets them there.
Bless you!
