The back wall of the sanctuary of Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal Church of Orlando in Pine Hills is lined with the flags of the Hispanic congregation: Puerto Rico, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti and Texas.
The flags speak to the spread of Pentecostalism throughout the world and, in particular, Latin nations. The Pentecostal faith, which holds that the miracles of the Bible are still happening today, is proliferating among Hispanics, many of whom are former Catholics.
"It's a combination of immigration in which a lot of Latinos are already Pentecostal and the conversion taking place in the Catholic Church among those converting to Pentecostalism," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in Washington.
Worldwide, Pentecostals represent one of the fastest-growing religious movements, fueled in part by the Hispanic brand of worship that is highly emotional, very intense and extremely personal, Lugo said.
"It's really evangelism on steroids," Lugo said. "This may well be the most dynamic religious movement in the world today in terms of growth and breadth and scope."
Central Florida is in the middle of the boom in Hispanic Pentecostal growth because of the influx of Puerto Ricans and immigrants from countries such as Nicaragua, Honduras and the Caribbean, where Pentecostalism has flourished for decades.
That growth is evident at Iglesia Cristiana, which began 23 years ago with seven families and now has 200, said René Eugenio Báez, the pastor. The Pine Hills church has started congregations in Clermont, Winter Garden, Haines City, DeLand, New Orleans and El Paso, Texas. It also has sponsored Pentecostal churches in Nicaragua, Honduras and Puerto Rico.
Pentecostal churches are largely independent and unaffiliated. They lack the structure, tradition and rituals of religious denominations such as Catholics, Baptists and other Protestant churches. READ FULL STORY
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