ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nearly 5,000 Hispanic pastors and community leaders gathered in early September to pray, brainstorm and network as they kicked off a new church planting effort.
Cumbre 2002, held in Anaheim, Calif., Sept. 3-7, was the first bilingual faith-based leadership summit for Hispanics, according to the Charisma News Service. The event was said to be the largest gathering ever of Latino Christian leaders from the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico.
The summit was the formal kickoff for launching 3,000 new Hispanic churches and mobilizing 3,000 church planters, said Walter Contreras, director of Hispanic Church Planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Contreras, Cumbre 2002's spokesman, said there will be similar gatherings during the next five years to connect, train and unite Hispanic leaders in this evangelistic effort.
"My parents are one of the founders of the Missionary Christian Movement in Argentina, which has approximately 1,000 church plants," Contreras said. "I believe that one of the most effective strategies of the evangelization of the Hispanics in North America is planting new churches."
More than 40 million Hispanics live in the United States, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The Hispanic Churches in American Public Life National Survey, released during Cumbre 2002, indicates 51 percent of those Hispanics are evangelicals.
