finally


it's been a while since something interesting enough to write about has happened at the church, but a 500 lb. gorilla is lurking in the shadows, just waiting to get out.

the gorilla's name? the hispanics. that's right. nothing like a little racial tension to stir us out of our collective stupor, and, by george, we've been stirred.

the origin story of there even being a hispanic connection in huffman united methodist is shady at best. the reason for this is that it was one man's thing and that one man is now gone. rev. rick owen spoke (poorly) a little spanish and used that as a means to begin (broken) conversations with hispanic leaders in our community. or, so the story goes. while i was on staff, we just kind of took his word that these conversations were actually happening. we didn't see much proof of it. in huffman united methodist church, it takes months and months of meetings and conversation for anything new to happen (see: small groups and "diversity"). unless you are the senior pastor that is. if the senior pastor wants to push something through without the burden of red tape, it can happen. and it did (see: gracelink and the hispanic ministry).

well, lo and behold and all of a sudden, a group led by rev. ruben clemente was offered our parlor for worship services held in spanish that would take place after huffman's traditional worship service. the ministry has since found considerable foothold and made itself a significant presence in and around the church. we have shared a worship service or two with the "hispanic congregation". we have tried to embrace, as a church, our similarities and championed humc's growing diversity without paying much attention to the fact that we can't really communicate with the "hispanic congregation". nevertheless, the hispanic group is growing, which is a great thing. what we are starting to see, though, is that "they" are now growing into areas of the church that are making casual members stand up and take notice. after things ended up broken in the parlor, the hispanic group moved down to the youth center. youth break stuff all the time. no one will care if "they" are down there. well, no one but maybe the youth department and their parents. but they are growing small in number too, so they won't make too much noise. presently, the hispanic group worships in the "youth center" on sunday mornings. during the week, they hold various meetings and bible studies throughout the education building. this wasn't too big of a deal until shit started turning up missing. that and children's place teachers started finding their shit broken or their rooms in disarray. and now it's starting to become a big deal, which i think is awesome. on a lot of different levels.

the biggest point that will ultimately prove to be the biggest issue is whether huffman's english-speaking congregation and spanish-speaking congregation are one and the same, separated only by a language barrier. are we working towards to the same goal? the same mission (if i don't know our mission, my guess is that the hispanics do not either)? or is ruben's group just using our church as a place to worship and rent temporarily as if they are a church plant. either way is fine. in my opinion, it just needs to be defined. if we knew one way or another, we could process both group's motives as they relate to each other and move forward. right now, though, we are moving towards dark and tired territory.

i have realized, first-hand, that huffman's link to la iglesia de hispana de huffman, rev. ruben clemente, has a difficult time carrying on a conversation in english. most of his members can do no more than make eye contact with those of us not fluent in spanish. so, how exactly are we supposed to communicate? until we find a good and measured way to do so, racial tension will continue to build. stereotypes on either "side" of the issue are already being perpetuated. as a (former insider) born-again outsider, it's kind of fun and interesting to be a part of, but it's also kind of scary. churches are way too politically correct as it is. when it comes to race, we tend to become extremely pc. the last thing we would want to do is offend out of ignorance. but, the bottom line is that a decision was made for humc by a pastor that didn't ask the congregation for assistance, and now we are the united states trying to figure out what to do with an inconvenient situation that a former "commander-in-chief" has left us to handle.

do we ask ruben and his group to find somewhere else to worship? that sounds pretty close-minded and contrary to the united methodist slogan. or, do we ask the hispanic ministry to find ways to intentionally wire themselves into the current infrastructure of humc, the humc that is very white and not very open to change? that seems to set both the hispanic congregation and the "traditional" one up for failure.

so, what to do? what to do? our current senior pastor is not going to step on anyone's toes, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. our membership is pretty awesome, thank you, at passive-aggressively running people off that scare us out of our collective comfort zone. i don't know the answer. i am not sure if i've settled it all out in my head just yet. in the short term, though, if there are not some very evident boundaries and means of accountability set up very soon, things will be coming to a head in the not-too-distant future. and something will happen in the church that should never happen but always does. a line will be drawn in the sand and people will be asked, subconsciously, to take a side, further dividing the local and universal church and further proving everyone that laughs at christianity's grand efforts correct in their assessment that we have no idea what we are doing.

should be interesting to see how it all plays out. and believe me, it will play out.

"let those that have ears to hear (english), hear."

and what of those that don't?