Anglo churches hope to build bridges with Hispanic community

Anglo churches hoping to build bridges with the Hispanic community might offer services in Spanish, and some might rent out their buildings to Hispanic congregations.

Those are not unusual approaches, but here's a twist: a church that's half Anglo, half Spanish, worshipping together in both languages regularly.

That's what New Hope/Nueva Esperanza Lutheran Church in North Aurora looks like. New Hope used to be two separate congregations - an Anglo church called Good Shepherd Lutheran, of North Aurora, and a Hispanic counterpart known as San Francisco de Assisi, of Aurora.

"We are trying something new to the Lutheran Church," said Pastor Stephanie Quick Espinoza. "Intentional multicultural ministry."

New Hope's church leadership team is comprised both of Anglos and Hispanics, but most don't speak both languages. That means meetings are translated, and that occasionally translates to some pretty late nights, Quick said.

Typically, Quick conducts two worship services each week - one in English and one in Spanish - but Sunday school, adult education hour, confirmation classes, and youth group are always bilingual. Sunday morning worship is bilingual several times a year, especially for holidays.

"We have quite a few people in our church that know English but might not feel comfortable with it," Quick said. "We try to translate everything we can."

Nueva Esperanza doesn't just celebrate a blending of language, however, but also a blending of culture. As a prime example, the small congregation came together on a recent Sunday for a Worship Extravaganza, a bilingual service that included baptism, First Communion, Confirmation - all standard for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - and a quinceanera.

That, of course, is the traditional birthday blast for 15-year-old Mexican girls, and New Hope celebrated properly with a reception after the service.

"I think it's really good for both cultures to be exposed to each other and worship together," said Quick, who served four years as a missionary in Costa Rica, "maybe even learning words from each other and songs from each other. "

She points out that the church is multicultural rather than bicultural because "we have Anglos from lots of different countries, and we have Hispanics from a lot of different countries."

Good Shepherd and San Francisco de Assisi came together early last year, and several months later, Quick came on board. The native Minnesotan was just returning to the United States after four years as a missionary in Costa Rica, where she and her husband, Jorge, were married in a rain forest.

A Nicaraguan, Jorge is studying to be a Lutheran pastor as well. He was already a pastor in Central America, but the training is different here, and he doesn't speak English.

That's what Quick loves best about their church in North Aurora. If it weren't for New Hope, "there really aren't any churches where we can go and share our faith and worship together," she said.

She has heard of one other bilingual church in this area, but it's a different denomination. Among ELCA congregations in this part of the country, she believes Nueva Esperanza is unique.

"We're really kind of pioneering in this," Quick said. "Our bishop said this is a very important ministry because there's not really any other churches that are doing this."

Rock out at GloFest: An outdoor festival with free food, inflatable games, obstacle courses, slam dunk contests - and music, music, music - is open to the community this Saturday, June 19, in downtown Elgin.

The party is hosted by His Cloud of Glory Christian Center Church, which meets on the north side of Elgin for Sunday worship. This is the fourth year for GloFest, "God's Love Outside Festival," and all the activities are in the park at Kimball Street and North Grove Ave.

The action gets underway at 11 a.m., and DJs will provide music throughout the day. An inspirational concert begins at 5 p.m., with guest artists Joshua Scott, Drummer Talio, MigAngelo Melendez, Phyllis Scott, Tony Briscoe, Scott Olson, and others from across the United States and from London, U.K.

Look for dance, mime, and puppet performances as well, along with volleyball, a Christian Oldies custom car show, art exhibit, double dutch jumping contest, Holy Hip Hop Rap Showcase, and more.

"In a world where bad news seems to lead every headline," said Pastor Ron Smith, "we believe that GloFest demonstrates that the community can get a glimpse of the good news of God's love in action."

Everyone is welcome, and everything is free. More volunteers and sponsors would also be welcome; for more information, call (847) 531-2255 or visit www.glofest.org.

Help Haiti: Still wondering what you can do to help Haiti? Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Elgin has opened its west campus at 195 Nesler Road as a Haiti Earthquake Relief Collection Center until June 25.

Some of the items organizers are looking for include clean summer clothing, new underwear, workshop tools, adult rubber boots and work gloves, basic medical supplies, soaps, and toiletries like deodorant, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.

And shoes and sandals. I'm told that many Haitian children get sick and even die simply because their bare feet get cuts, become infected, and make way for worms. Kids need shoes and sandals.

For more information or to arrange a drop-off at Nesler Road, call (847) 741-7788.

"In the Spirit" covers churches and synagogues in the Fox Valley area; contact cmchojnacki@yahoo.com to submit information or ideas for upcoming columns.