Religious leaders say that politics is the least of their concerns when it comes to interacting with non-English-speaking people. Their approach is simpler. “The Bible tells us to call the poor, the widowed and the alien,” said Alex Smithers, co-chair of the Charlotte District Latino Ministries Committee, which works with United Methodist churches in the Charlotte area. “The big political issue is, `Are they legal or illegal?’ ” Smithers said. “But from a religious perspective, that is not an issue.” \

Charlotte-area churches, such as Oak Grove United Methodist Church and Derita Presbyterian Church, have been adding social ministries in recent years to attract a growing international community to services. Oak Grove UMC held a Latin American festival in 2005 and offered English as a second language classes this year for Spanish-speaking immigrants. Learning to speak English is one of the biggest needs in the Spanish-speaking community, Smithers said. “Helping them with language helps them to survive and do things on their own,” he said. But keeping the ministry alive has been a struggle, the Rev. Patrick Welch of Oak Grove UMC said. The church’s ESL teacher left suddenly, and the church has had a hard time finding a replacement. And Oak Grove ended up having to foot too much of the bill with its last Latin festival, which was supposed to have been shared with participating vendors, so it decided not to have another one this year.

click here for article

search for : , , ,