Book Review: A Future for the Latino Church - Daniel A. Rodriguez

Daniel A. Rodriguez, A Future for the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations, InterVarsity Press, 2011. What business does a white male living in Mexico City have reviewing Daniel A. Rodriguez’s book, A Future for the Latino Church: Models for Multilingual, Multigenerational Hispanic Congregations? Absolutely none. I made a small error in requesting this book as a reviewer, but I did make a fantastic choice in reading the book. There are plenty of good reviews of Rodriguez’s book, but my brief one here shows how it can be helpful, even to a white guy, living in Mexico. My mistake was not taking into account that the book was written about the Latino church in the United States. This is a population I have very little contact with. Obviously, working in the Mexican church in Mexico is a very different context than the struggles of the Hispanic church in the States, especially when many of those congregations deal with unique struggles. Multigenerational congregations often have a multilingual struggle. This is common for most churches where immigrant families have been rooted for a number of years. Many Asian churches in the US are struggling with language and generation as well. So why take this review seriously if I made such an error in judgement? Two reasons. The book is valuable especially for those who live in cities historically known for their Latino heritage – Los Angeles, San Antonio, Chicago, Miami, and New York to name a few. Second, the book is valuable for those whose cities, suburbs, or rural contexts see emerging Hispanic populations and churches. Whether, latino, white, black, asian, or a mix, cityscapes are changing because of Hispanic churches, and it is wise to learn more about where they are going. Embroiled immigration debates often conceal the reality of the Latino population. Rodriguez points out that 62% of Latinos in the United States are native-born, meaning they are not immigrants. That is more than half of Latino growth. He also points out that 61% of US-born Latinos are English dominant and another 35% were bilingual (19), meaning, the fear that Latinos are not learning English is unfounded. And this has profound implications for Latino and other churches in the States. No longer will churches have the excuse to segregate because of language, but can work together each with its own heritage flavor. Rodriguez’s book is an important study on the Latino church, and it is wise to pay attention. He has strong advice for Latino leaders, particularly regarding language issues in church and engaging the future generations. His work also illuminates the reality of these churches and their importance to the entire US Christian landscape. In Mexico City, I don’t have too many Mexican-born Mexicans who relate to the US-Latino context. But as a missionary I do have US-born Latino colleagues who come to live here, and they too must wrestle with some significant contextual differences. Reading this book has helped me to understand their reverse reality a bit better. I do have Mexican-born friends who have immigrated to the States. They participate in Latino churches, and I have often recommended Rodriguez’s book to them so that they don’t become another story of segregation between native-born Latino and immigrant, but rather that each group can learn from one another, one friend at a time. Powerful book. Good research, and inspiring. My only criticism is that Rodriguez spends much of his interviews in powerful and large Hispanic congregations, but there are many that are small and remain small. Growth and size mattered to Rodriguez in his writing and as such betrayed a potential oversight as to the power of the small Hispanic congregation in the US. A Future for the Latino Church is a book about the future of the entire US church.