Episcopal Church Courts Latinos

From Oregon-

In Oregon, the number of Latino Episcopalians has increased more than five-fold over the past decade. Church leaders say the influx is, in part, because the denomination's worship services look and sound familiar to Hispanics raised in the Catholic Church. But Northwest Episcopal Churches are luring Latinos with a focused marketing campaign.

The 10 o'clock high mass at Saints Peter and Paul Episcopal Church in Portland, Oregon probably sounds a lot like it did when the congregation was founded nearly a century ago.

Father Kurt Neilson leads the liturgy, as he has for the past 17 years. He says attendance at the two morning services has been relatively flat. The real growth is in the afternoon.

A few years ago Saints Peter and Paul added a weekly Spanish language mass, or misa. The English-speaking members of the congregation wanted to reach out to the growing number of Latinos in this working class neighborhood. Neilson says the new service took off quickly.

"These are folks who are very unselfconscious about inviting one another to church," he says.

More here-

http://www.kuow.org/northwestnews.php?storyID=158535358