UN RETRATO OF THE NEED
Picture this: Rudolfo y Gloria Molina, immigrants from Nicaragua to a sizeable city in Texas, attend an influential, white, English-speaking Reformed Church: Emmanuel Church. Cultural and language barriers have made it challenging to truly find community. Still, any Sunday when they are not working, the Molinas come early to service, feeling out of place, but eager to greet the families around them in their broken English. The church is large, and it is hard to find a familiar face, and even harder for the Molinas to engage in conversation that goes past generalities. There are friendly faces for certain, but strange glances serve as constant reminders that they do not fit in. On more than one occasion, someone has asked Rudolfo to see to an issue in the bathroom, or Gloria to help locate more coffee – events which confused them until they realized others were confusing them with the janitorial and cleaning staff.
Even so, as their English has improved, the Molinas have come to love what they are able to glean from the Bible-based preaching and worship of their new church home. Each week, Rudolfo brings his parents (who live with them) to service, trying to whisper a broken translation throughout worship, and then engaging more fully in a conversation at home. Coming from a loosely evangelical-Pentecostal background in their hometown of Potosí, the entire Molina family has found new life through learning Biblical foundations. Though the transition to the United States has been anything but easy, they praise God each day for Gloria’s boss, Judy, who used her broken Spanish to invite the family to come to church several months ago. Learning about a Covenant God who loves His people unconditionally has given the Molina family perspective and perseverance in a challenging transition where they have seen so many friends and fellow immigrants falling into despair. They long to be able to share this truth with their Hispanic friends and neighbors, many whom they have witnessed falling away from their shallow faith as they relentlessly pursue an evasive American dream.
Only recently, Emmanuel was sharing with the congregation about a successful church plant in one of the suburbs of the city. This idea got Rudolfo and Gloria thinking and excited: what if the church could do something similar in their area of the city, but in Spanish? Then, the Molinas would be able to invite their neighbors and family into Gospel-centered worship, and build community that would be able to fellowship with and encourage one another in a more formal setting. Already, Rudolfo and Gloria had been gathering some neighbors in their home each Sunday night, opening the Word of God, and attempting to share and study some of the truth they had been learning. Yet they know they need more guidance and direction, and a place to invite friends to come and worship and hear preaching in their own language, and specifically to their context. With this in mind, Rudolfo nervously and enthusiastically approached one of the elders of Emmanuel a few months ago to present his proposal. Surely this could be an exciting opportunity not just for them, but for Emmanuel Church!
Yet in this conversation, Rudolfo began to learn the challenges of seeking to begin a new work in the Reformed community in the United States. In the first place, such a plant was really not the vision of Emmanuel Church, the elder informed him. But additionally, beginning such a project would require not only hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also the right trained and ordained Spanish-speaking leader (practically an anomaly, even in Texas); a committee of individuals committed to the project; a place for meeting; and dozens of other requirements that made the project completely out of the question, at least for the next several years. Rudolfo and Gloria felt discouraged, to say the least, and not a little confused. After all, hadn’t they just been learning about the Great Commission, in which Jesus teaches to make disciples of all nations? Shouldn’t Jesus’ church, equipped with so much (both in terms of knowledge and resources) in the United States find it easy to use those gifts in the Hispanic community? How could it be that there was no possible way, at least for several years, to bring Reformed Gospel teaching in an approachable way into their community?
UN RETRATO OF A SOLUTION
Yet what if planting Reformed Churches in the Hispanic community didn’t have to be quite as complicated? What if it could be low-cost, easy-access, and high-impact? This is the idea of Capillas Reformadas, a pilot-program that HLI prayerfully hopes to launch in partnership with some supporting local PCA churches in North Carolina this year, before then deploying the program to more Hispanic-dense cities across the country.
With Rudolfo and Gloria’s story highlighting just one hypothetical example (compiled from dozens or more real-life scenarios), there is a clear need within the United States to deploy Gospel-centered preaching and worship quickly, effectively, and at low-cost into Hispanic and Spanish-speaking communities. The Capillas Reformadas initiative seeks to help meet that need through HLI’s greater vision of training, encouraging, and sending out leaders into the Hispanic community. So how does this initiative work, and how does it differ from traditional church planting methods within the PCA and similar Reformed Churches?
Let us return again to Rudolfo and Gloria, and imagine a different scenario as Rudolfo sits down to meet with his elder, Tony. “Tony, the need is tan grande,” Rudolfo says. “We have several parejas meeting with us in our home, but we need a service in Spanish. We need training. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help start una iglesia hispanohablante for these people.” Tony smiles and nods thoughtfully. “Yes brother, I can see both the need, and how God is already using you and your wife. We’re thankful to have you at Emmanuel Church. I think I know just the way we can make something happen. You and Gloria have been working and serving the church in your home and community, while you are learning and growing in your faith by leaps and bounds. Perhaps God wants to use you further…” At this, Rudolfo leans in, looking a little puzzled but anxious to know more. “Maybe there’s a way to train you, Rudolfo, to start a worship service,” Tony continues.
Tony goes on to explain the new program: Capillas Reformadas. The idea would be to use the small side-chapel at Emmanuel Church on Sunday evenings to begin a weekly Capilla in Spanish. A Spanish-speaking ordained pastor from another Reformed Church a few hours away in Texas would come alongside Rudolfo as a coach, helping him understand the preaching curriculum, and serving as a mentor throughout the process. The curriculum – the same for every Capilla – would help to lay out basic, Reformed Biblical truths for the Hispanic context in an orderly fashion, through a 3-year program. Each week would be assigned a successive sermon in the series, complete with an outline and main idea to help Rudolfo approach the text. His mentor would be meeting with him regularly to ensure that Rudolfo was understanding the material and able to present it. They would even be provided with a songbook with Spanish hymns and worship songs to complement the theology being taught. If Rudolfo’s group had a guitarist or pianist willing to learn some simple chords, they could easily follow along; if not, the worship guide would already come with all the soundtracks and powerpoints necessary to begin.
Costs associated with this Capilla would be low, focusing primarily on some advertising, a small food budget, and a small offering or stipend for Rudolfo to be encouraged in his service to the Lord. Tony feels certain that Emmanuel Church will be able to help quite easily. Rudolfo and Gloria can continue to meet with the interested families in their area. But now they also will have a place to bring them to hear Biblically-based preaching, and to worship and pray together. Tony mentions that there is a second church in the city that is also considering beginning a Capilla, and the young seminary student considering starting there might be of good encouragement to Rudolfo, and vice-versa. At the end of three years, potentially the Capillas will be ready to move forward as their own church; or perhaps, given the transient nature of the Hispanic context, it will be appropriate to simply begin the program again, providing a wellspring of truth for the newest Spanish-speakers in the city. Tony and Rudolfo end their meeting in prayer, as a willing, trembling Rudolfo seeks wisdom and guidance from the Lord for the next steps, and an encouraged Tony prays for the Lord to bless the foundations of a new ministry.
UN RETRATO OF THE VISION
At its core, this is the idea of Capillas Reformadas: a simple, cost-effective and impactful way to reach and equip Spanish-speaking immigrants, friends, and neighbors with the message of the Gospel. With a curriculum and mentors already in place, launching a Capilla Reformada does not require the traditional long and expensive process of seeking out, calling, and paying a planting pastor. Fund-raising is minimal, and the greatest need is for a willing church to lend a space, and a willing, teachable man (or even group of men) to come under the care of an able mentor. The typical deterrents for planting in the Hispanic community (low attendance, inadequate resources) are far less problematic in this low-risk model, yet the possibility for huge Gospel impact – for the leaders, for the community, and beyond – is immeasurable.
As HLI seeks to launch the Capillas Reformadas initiative in the fall of 2025, would you please pray for the Lord to continue to provide the vision, the resources, the people necessary, and His harvest in His timing? Let us pray that we would indeed seek to “Go and make disciples of all nations,” as the Lord allows us to creatively give our time and resources for His glory.
¡A Dios sea la Gloria!
Would you like to learn more about Capillas Reformadas? Contact HLI's Executive Director, José Portillo.
JOIN US IN PRAYER:
Pray for HLI as we seek to launch the first pilot-program Capillas Reformadas in North Carolina in the fall of 2025. Pray for the work of visioning, planning, praying, and writing curriculum.
Please pray for the effective multiplication of Gospel-centered Spanish-speaking churches to meet the huge and ever-increasing needs in our nation. Pray for the Lord to continue to raise willing leaders like Rudolfo and Gloria, and equip them for His service.
Please pray for willing churches to partner with Capillas Reformadas, providing them with the space, resources, and encouragement necessary for the work to take place. Pray these Capillas might be of mutual encouragement for the partner churches.
Finally, pray for the mentors and mentees for the Capillas Reformadas: pray for the Lord to raise the right individuals, and for these relationships to flourish and grow.
Please consider giving to HLI, for the work of Capillas Reformadas, and that the Lord may continue multiplying the resources for the training, encouragement, renewal, and multiplication of new leaders in and for the Hispanic-American context, and even beyond.