The first major historical overview of one of America's most vibrant Christian movements This groundbreaking book by Juan Francisco Martínez provides a broad historical overview of Latino Protestantism in the United States from the early nineteenth century to the present. Beginning with a description of the diverse Latino Protestant community and a summary of his own historiographical approach, Martínez then examines six major periods in the history of American Latino Protestantism, paying special attention to key social, political, and religious issues—including immigration policies, migration patterns, enculturation and assimilation, and others—that framed its development and diversification during each period. He concludes by outlining the challenges currently facing Latino Protestants in the United States and considering what Latino Protestantism might look like in the future. Offering vital insights into key leaders, eras, and trends in Latino Protestantism, Martínez's work will prove an invaluable resource for all who are seeking to understand this rapidly growing US demographic.

Latino Protestantism is growing rapidly in the United States. Researchers estimate that by 2030 half of all Latinos in America will be Protestant. This remarkable growth is not just about numbers. The rise of Latino Protestants will impact the changing nature of American politics, economics, and religion. Latino Protestants in America takes readers inside the numbers to highlight the many reasons Latino Protestants are growing as well as the diversity of this group. The book brings together the best existing scholarship on this group with original research to offer a nuanced picture of Latino Protestants in America, from worship practices to political engagement. The narrative helps readers move beyond misconceptions about Latino religion and offers a window into the diverse ways that religion plays out in real life. Latino Protestants in America is an essential resource for anyone interested in the beliefs and practices of this group, as well as the implications for its growth and areas for further study.

Contradicting the widely held but false belief that all Latinos are Catholic, this book offers a concise one-volume introduction to America's Latino Protestants, the fastest growing segment of U.S. Protestantism today. Los Protestantes: An Introduction to Latino Protestantism in the United States, the first to provide a broad introduction to this rapidly growing population. At its core is an exploration of the group's demographics, denominational tendencies, and potential for continued growth. Current information is supported by a survey of the history of Latino Protestants in the United States, which dates back to the efforts of missionaries in the mid-19th century. Los Protestantes brings together data from formerly disparate studies of various aspects of the community to create an insightful overview. The work presents brief descriptions of principal denominations and organizations among Latino Protestants. It notes marked differences that separate Latino Protestants from other U.S. Protestants, and it examines an evolving Protestant/Latino ethno-religious identity. Readers will come away from this study more clearly understanding the current state of Latino Protestantism in the United States, as well as where Latino Protestants fit in the overall picture of U.S. religion.

"Mexican Protestantism was born in the encounter between Mexican Catholics and Anglo American Protestants, after the United States ventured into the Southwest and wrested territory from Mexico in the early nineteenth century. In Sea la Luz, Juan Francisco Martinez traces the birth and initial development of this ethno-religious community brought through the westward expansion of the United States. Using the records of Protestant missionaries, he uncovers the story of Mexican converts and the churches they developed. Those same records reveal Protestant attitudes toward the war with Mexico, the conquest of the Southwest, and the Mexican population that became U.S. citizens with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)."--BOOK JACKET.

Contradicting the widely held but false belief that all Latinos are Catholic, this book offers a concise one-volume introduction to America's Latino Protestants, the fastest growing segment of U.S. Protestantism today. Los Protestantes: An Introduction to Latino Protestantism in the United States, the first to provide a broad introduction to this rapidly growing population. At its core is an exploration of the group's demographics, denominational tendencies, and potential for continued growth. Current information is supported by a survey of the history of Latino Protestants in the United States, which dates back to the efforts of missionaries in the mid-19th century. Los Protestantes brings together data from formerly disparate studies of various aspects of the community to create an insightful overview. The work presents brief descriptions of principal denominations and organizations among Latino Protestants. It notes marked differences that separate Latino Protestants from other U.S. Protestants, and it examines an evolving Protestant/Latino ethno-religious identity. Readers will come away from this study more clearly understanding the current state of Latino Protestantism in the United States, as well as where Latino Protestants fit in the overall picture of U.S. religion.

In 1974, the International Congress on World Evangelization met in Lausanne, Switzerland. Gathering together nearly 2,500 Protestant evangelical leaders from more than 150 countries and 135 denominations, it rivaled Vatican II in terms of its influence. But as David C. Kirkpatrick argues in A Gospel for the Poor, the Lausanne Congress was most influential because, for the first time, theologians from the Global South gained a place at the table of the world's evangelical leadership—bringing their nascent brand of social Christianity with them. Leading up to this momentous occasion, after World War II, there emerged in various parts of the world an embryonic yet discernible progressive coalition of thinkers who were embedded in global evangelical organizations and educational institutions such as the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Mission Theologians. Within these groups, Latin Americans had an especially strong voice, for they had honed their theology as a religious minority, having defined it against two perceived ideological excesses: Marxist-inflected Catholic liberation theology and the conservative political loyalties of the U.S. Religious Right. In this context, transnational conversations provoked the rise of progressive evangelical politics, the explosion of Christian mission and relief organizations, and the infusion of social justice into the very mission of evangelicals around the world and across a broad spectrum of denominations. Drawing upon bilingual interviews and archives and personal papers from three continents, Kirkpatrick adopts a transnational perspective to tell the story of how a Cold War generation of progressive Latin Americans, including seminal figures such as Ecuadorian René Padilla and Peruvian Samuel Escobar, developed, named, and exported their version of social Christianity to an evolving coalition of global evangelicals.