What Happened to the Evangelical Hispanic Churches in Northern Virginia?
Church Cristo No Esta Muerto El Esta Vivo: An Example of Resilience and Forward Thinking
During the month of June of 2021, the Black Student Fund, an educational non-profit and Hispanics for STEM, a pro bono association I founded in August 2020, joined forces to host informative talks (Charlas Informativas) about free online math, science and computer science tutoring services at Hispanic churches in Northern Virginia.
I was in charge of identifying churches that might be interested in participating in this project. In view of the ascending role of the evangelical churches in the Hispanic community, I decided to start my research with evangelical churches in Northern Virginia. The implementation of this project showed me though how hard the pandemic has hit the Hispanic community and its evangelical churches, and at the same, how resilient the Hispanic community is. It showed me also that there is hope as to the role that churches should play in the Hispanic/Latino community for the XXI century through the example set by a church located in a warehouse in Burke, Virginia: Cristo No Esta Muerto El Esta Vivo.
I am including a link to a powerful analysis about the ascendancy of evangelical churches in the Hispanic community by the charismatic and formidable fully bilingual orator, Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, the President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC.) By the way, “the NHCLS is the world’s largest Hispanic Christian organization with 42,000 plus U.S. churches and many additional churches spread throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora.” https://reflections.yale.edu/article/who-my-neighbor-facing-immigration/latino-transformation-american-evangelicalism
A Confession
As a preliminary note I think it is opportune to make a full disclosure: I am not a religious person nor a church goer. I do have tremendous respect for small churches that play a positive role in the community, but I am suspicious of large organized religious groups, as cases of abuse and intolerance have tinted their image.
I am not an atheist either, as I am humbled by the magnitude of the universe. My respectful version of God most likely has figured out space travel and has graciously reconciled quantum mechanics and general theory of relativity - yes, I am a physics aficionado.
The Project: Informative Talks (Charlas Informativas)
The main purpose of the informative talks (Charlas Informativas in Spanish) was to share with Hispanic church parishioners - whose families usually include young students- information about three educational groups that provide FREE online math, science, and computer science tutoring: the Black Student Fund, Girls Who Math and Junior Scholars.
The Back Student Fund (https://blackstudentfund.org/) is a 501c.3 with fifty-five years of experience. It provides assistance to independent schools in Washington DC. It advocates for children and strives to assure that “all students and their families have equal access to superior educational opportunities.” As its website notes, it “has changed the trajectory of children and helped schools advance issues of diversity and inclusion. BSF is an educational equity organization.” The BSF offers free online math and computer science tutoring to low-income students.
Girls Who Math (https://girlswhomath.net/) and Junior Scholars (https://www.jscholars.org/) are two wonderful educational organizations set up by students of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. These bright students represent the best of our youth: STEM and computer savvy and at the same time interested in sharing their knowledge with low-income students. They are positively impacting the lives of hundreds of students by providing FREE online math, computer science and science tutoring to those students who need it.
Our informative talks were conceived to be short; a maximum of 30 minutes. Both of our organizations covered a small expense to provide a snack prior to the presentations. In order to address the language barrier, I volunteered to provide consecutive interpretation if the church did not have equipment for simultaneous interpretation.
Finding the Light: The Research
As every research starts nowadays, I went on Google and I found a list of 18 Hispanic evangelical churches in the Northern Virginia area. I was thrilled! I did not have an idea that I would find so many evangelical churches. I was hopeful that some of them would consider participating in the project.
I was wrong.
Out of the 18 Hispanic churches I found in the Northern Virginia area in my June Google search, 11 appeared to be no longer in service.
Out of the seven remaining, only ONE agreed to participate in the project: Cristo No Esta Muerto El Esta Vivo.
The List
I have included the the list of 18 Hispanic churches that I found in my June 2021 Google research. I invite the reader to try to reach them out. If you are luckier than me and are able to converse with one representative, please contact me. I will give you full credit.
Churches that appear to have ceased to operate:
1. Iglesia de Cristo Falls Church
Address: 6149 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA 22041
Telephone: 703-356-9681
Minister: Roberto Alvarez
2. Iglesia de Dios de Alexandria
Address: 314 E. Glebe Rd., Alexandria, VA 22305
(703) 548-4008
Pastor Max "Eddie" Castro
3. Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Monte De Sion
4728 Gloucester Rd. Alexandria, VA 22312
Telephone: (703)642-2461
info@iglesiamds.com http://www.iglesiamds.com
Pastores Jose Y Xenia Rivera
4.Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Alfa y Omega
2701 Cameron Mills Rd. Alexandria, VA 22302
(202) 726-2785
Pastor Abram Valdes
5.Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal El Calvario
655 Spring St. Herndon, VA 22070
(703) 437-4145
Pastor José Flores
6. Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal - La Voz Del Espiritu Santo
845 North Howard Street Alexandria, VA 22304
240-417-1257 -
Pastor Lisandro Arevalo
www.lavozdelespiritusanto.org
7.Iglesia Asamblea de Dios Palabra de Vida
5225 Backlick Rd. Springfield, VA 22151
(703) 768-1759
Pastor Jorge Bustamante
8. Iglesia Bautista Columbia
103 W. Columbia St. Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 534-2542
Pastor José Correa
9. Iglesia Embajada Cristiana
1700 Reston Pkwy. Reston, VA 22094
(703) 742-9390
Pastor José A. Ruiz
10. Iglesia Pentecostal Betel
3530 Moncure Ave. Falls Church, VA 22041
(703) 845-1549
Pastor Patricio (Antonio) Ayala
11. Misión Bautista National Gardens
2937 Strathmeade St. Falls Church, VA 22042
(703) 698-6810
Pastor José Saravia
List of churches I invited to participate in the Charlas Informativas but never replied to the invitation:
1. Comunidad Hispana en Fairfax (Anglicano)
10520 Main St. Fairfax, VA 22030
Telephone: 703-273-1300 ext. 240
Rev. Carlos S. Pellot
Website: www.trurochurch.org/ministeriohispano
2. Iglesia Cristo Es Mi Refugio A.D.
Pastores Roberto Y Dora Paz
301 Center St N, Vienna, VA 22180
(703) 323-5381 / (703) 675-0144
3. Iglesia Bautista Capital Church*
3504 Gallows Rd Annandale Va 22003
703 560 3109 Ext. 119
Pastor Luis Salazar
*Just recently, I dialed the extension number 119 in order to contact Pastor Luis Salazar and I was transferred to his voice mail. He left a message in Spanish stating the following: “The March 6th service was cancelled!” The conclusion is that no services have been held since the pandemic became widespread in March 2020.
4. Iglesia Metodista Unida Culmore
5901 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041
(703) 820-5131
5. Primera Iglesia Bautista de Springfield
7300 Gary St. Springfield, VA 22150
(703) 451-1500
Pastor Luis Salazar
6. Templo Bautista de Fairfax
6401 Missionary Lane Fairfax Station, VA 22039
(703) 323-8100
Pastor Jack P. Ramos
www.templobautista.org
What happened to the eleven churches that appeared to have ceased to exist?
I have contacted Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, the President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) and asked whether his organizations keeps track of the pandemic’s impact on evangelical churches in the country. Hopefully, he will respond.
In a recent phone interview with Pastor Roberto Paz of the Iglesia Cristo Es Mi Refugio A.D. in Vienna, he acknowledged that many Hispanic churches closed their doors for good as a result of the lack of parishioners’ contributions. In other instances, the pastors died.
Pastor Paz indicated that after two years with the pandemic, his church lost around 200 members at the peak of the pandemic in March 2020. He estimates that his church might have lost almost 70% of its members. Moreover, many of his parishioners have lost loved ones, they have lost their jobs, and have lost members of their families in their countries of origin. The lockdowns also created family problems.
The key for church’s survival was the generosity of the building’s owner who offered a discount that has helped the church to stay afloat.
Pastor Salazar indicated that some new churches opened during the pandemic and have flourished. I asked him to share with me a list of these churches. He has not replied to my request either.
At the completion of our interview, he emphasized that he has seen the number of attendees/parishioners increasing. Pastor Salazar believes “that people might start putting things behind and be encouraged to return.”
Cristo No Esta Muerto El Está Vivo Hosted Two Charlas Informativas
Cristo No Esta Muerto El Esta Vivo is a wonderful evangelical church located at 5603 Sandy Lewis Dr Fairfax VA 22032. The church’s telephone number is 703-323-5206.
This church has a couple as pastors: Pastors Ricardo and Mayra Palacios. Both are totally committed to the betterment of their community from sponsoring talks about a variety of issues including education, banking, immigration, health insurances, to hosting vaccination drives, markets for the selling of local produce, etc.
The church is competently run by an efficient manager, Ms. Maria Magda Artola. I recalled one of my first conversations with Ms. Artola, during which she mentioned that most of the parishioners (95%) have been vaccinated at the request of Pastor Palacios. In all honesty, I felt relieved, because I had some apprehensions about attending the events. I am fully vaccinated myself and I was glad that the church implemented such a policy.
I also asked Ms. Artola how the pandemic has affected the church and she noted that the church has lost around 150 parishioners. They used to have 400 members.
At the beginning of this post, I included a photo of the church’s austere front . The interior makes you feel warm and welcomed. The pulpit includes a large screen, a set for musical performances, and the flag of the United States, three key components of our ethos: savvy use of media, accompanied by lively music - a reminder of our blessings and gusto for life, and the presence of the American Dream. The church has a competent IT department as the sermons usually are transmitted live via Facebook.
The church generously opened its doors to us and hosted two Charlas Informativas on two Saturdays during the summer before the 7:00 pm service. The families arrived properly attired and shared with us homemade chicken sandwiches prepared by one family member and beverages, including Inca Kola, a Peruvian national treasure which was acquired by Coca Cola, a nice touch of Ms. Artola. I am a proud U.S. citizen born in Peru. The environment was festive and communal. I arrived to the church wearing a mask but quickly removed it as most of the attendees were not wearing masks. The children listened attentively to the presentations and applauded effusively at the completion of each speaker’s term. Many parents in attendance asked numerous questions.
Pastors Ricardo and Mayra Palacios and their daughter, who is a church’s youth leader, enthusiastically attended the presentations and encouraged the parishioners to register their families with the educational groups.
Pastor Palacios is a U.S. citizen born in Honduras. He and his wife are forward thinking leaders. They believe in the power of education. Ms. Palacios opened the first Charla Informativa encouraged all the families to take advantage to the educational opportunities. As she stated: “We are offering to you opportunities to succeed, seize those opportunities!”
Pastor Palacios also believes in political participation. He invited all members of the church who are citizens to cast their votes in the recent election in Virginia for governor.
Measuring the Success of Charlas Informativas
Seven families who attended the two Charlas Informativas registered with the educational groups that we introduced. I am in contact with these families. They provide me with good feedback as to the services their students are receiving which I convey to the educational groups. I also facilitate the written communication between the families and the educational groups .
The families come from different Latin American countries, including El Salvador and Cuba. Most of their children are proud U.S. nationals, born in the USA. All of them are immigrants who love the United States and its promise. They all agreed that access to education, in particularly STEM and computer science education, is the big equalizer and enabler of the American Dream.
A Reflection
The pandemic has impacted dramatically the evangelical churches in Northern Virginia. Eleven of the eighteen churches I found in my June Google research appears to have ceased to operate. The remaining churches have lost significant number of members. The closing of churches is a significant event as churches provide not only services, but are a point for the community to congregate and to share. They are part of the Hispanic social fabric that the pandemic has fractured. However, against all the odds, Hispanic parishioners are slowly returning to the churches as a sign of our resilience, faith in the future, and indefatigable optimism.
The church Cristo No Esta Muerto El Esta Vivo constitutes a XXI century model for Hispanic churches: engines of progress, well informed leaders, promoters of education, in particular STEM and computer science education, responsible sharers of solid information, and love of country and the promise of the United States. One of the dreams of this wonderful church is to set up a charter school for their community. I am convinced that one day, it will accomplish it!