HYATTSVILLE, Md. (RNS) — “We are not an outreach project. We are the church,” Episcopal Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez of the Diocese of Pennsylvania told an audience of Latino Episcopalians as he gave a keynote address at the 2018 Nuevo Amanecer conference in Hendersonville, North Carolina.Six years later, Gutiérrez is one of five nominees to succeed Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. The election, which is scheduled for June 26 during the General Convention, will see the House of Bishops choose a new presiding bishop to serve a nine-year term leading the denomination.
If Gutiérrez is elected, he could become the highest-profile Latino leader of a U.S. religious group.
Descended from New Mexican Hispanos and great-grandparents who emmigrated from Jalisco, Mexico, Gutiérrez, who previously worked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, politics, was raised Catholic, like 65% of U.S. Latinos.
But despite the Episcopal Church’s liturgical similarities to the Catholic Church, according to a 2014 Pew study, the Episcopal Church is among the least racially diverse religious groups in the U.S., with white people making up 90% of the denomination. In 2014, only 2% of the denomination was Latino.
Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. (Courtesy photo)
That number has likely changed in the ensuing decade, especially with the Catholic Church experiencing steep losses in membership. Among U.S. Latinos, 23% are former Catholics — but only 9% of U.S. Latinos report switching to Protestantism, whereas 20% of U.S. Latinos who have left their childhood religion become unaffiliated, according to 2022 Pew data. Meanwhile, like other mainline Protestant churches, the Episcopal Church is experiencing a decline in overall members.
Regardless of the big-picture numbers, Latino Episcopal clergy say their congregations are thriving.
In Hyattsville, Maryland, where a scratchy güira provided a cumbia beat to energetic worship music, about 400 people attended three different Spanish services on Pentecost Sunday (May 19) at St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Vidal Rivas said that, while San Mateo has yet to reach pre-pandemic Sunday attendance, the over 1,000 registered parishioners keep the church “very alive, very strong.”
Rivas, who told Religion News Service, “I love to work,” keeps himself and his congregation in constant motion with parish groups, special celebrations, service work, a radio station and community organizing and collaborations.
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If Gutiérrez is elected, he could become the highest-profile Latino leader of a U.S. religious group.
Descended from New Mexican Hispanos and great-grandparents who emmigrated from Jalisco, Mexico, Gutiérrez, who previously worked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, politics, was raised Catholic, like 65% of U.S. Latinos.
But despite the Episcopal Church’s liturgical similarities to the Catholic Church, according to a 2014 Pew study, the Episcopal Church is among the least racially diverse religious groups in the U.S., with white people making up 90% of the denomination. In 2014, only 2% of the denomination was Latino.
Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. (Courtesy photo)
That number has likely changed in the ensuing decade, especially with the Catholic Church experiencing steep losses in membership. Among U.S. Latinos, 23% are former Catholics — but only 9% of U.S. Latinos report switching to Protestantism, whereas 20% of U.S. Latinos who have left their childhood religion become unaffiliated, according to 2022 Pew data. Meanwhile, like other mainline Protestant churches, the Episcopal Church is experiencing a decline in overall members.
Regardless of the big-picture numbers, Latino Episcopal clergy say their congregations are thriving.
In Hyattsville, Maryland, where a scratchy güira provided a cumbia beat to energetic worship music, about 400 people attended three different Spanish services on Pentecost Sunday (May 19) at St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Vidal Rivas said that, while San Mateo has yet to reach pre-pandemic Sunday attendance, the over 1,000 registered parishioners keep the church “very alive, very strong.”
Rivas, who told Religion News Service, “I love to work,” keeps himself and his congregation in constant motion with parish groups, special celebrations, service work, a radio station and community organizing and collaborations.
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