More than two thousand people attended this year’s Spanish Evangelism Ministries (SEM) Conference, which was held June 19-21 in Stockton, California. During the Friday evening service, 159 people reported receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the first time.
Christian Life Center, led by Pastor Nathaniel Haney, hosted the event, and Nathan Harrod, regional director for Europe and a former missionary to Spain, was the guest speaker on Friday evening.
The number of Holy Spirit baptisms during the Friday evening service underscored the conference theme of “Open Doors,” which was chosen in recognition of the evangelism and growth opportunities available to Spanish-speaking churches in North America and the increasing number of Hispanic constituents in the United Pentecostal Church International.
“God has blessed the Hispanic community in North America with a tremendous revival,” said SEM Director John Burnett. “What happened at the recent SEM conference is a reflection of what God is doing in the United Pentecostal Church International.”
More than 1,400 UPCI ministers identify as Hispanic, making them the second-largest ethnic group among credentialed ministers. Hispanic attendees constitute around 19 percent of local church attendance, according to the UPCI Senior Pastor Surveys conducted from 2021 to 2023.
Approximately 3 percent of all self-governing UPCI churches in North America conduct services exclusively in Spanish, while another 6 percent offer a Spanish-language option. Of all UPCI daughter works, 13 percent are exclusively Spanish-speaking and another 17 percent offer Spanish as one of their language options for service. In total, there are more than 800 Spanish-speaking UPCI works in North America.
This increase in Spanish-speaking congregations and Hispanic ministers and constituents is reflected in the growth of Spanish Evangelism Ministries. SEM was founded in 1977, and only four Spanish-speaking ministers attended the business meeting at the ministry’s inaugural conference in New York City.
At this year’s SEM conference, 125 Spanish-speaking ministers were present for the business meeting. In addition, forty-two UPCI districts have an SEM director, and nearly every state and province have Spanish-speaking churches and ministers. Several Spanish language congregations are among the UPCI’s largest and fastest-growing churches, including La Senda Antigua in southern California (Pastor Francisco Cortes), the Pentecostals of the Bay Area in Pittsburg, California (Pastor Elias Limones), and Tabernaculo de Jesucristo (Pastor Henry Andrade).
For more information about Spanish Evangelism Ministries, visit spanishevangelism.net or follow Spanish Evangelism Ministries on Facebook and Instagram.
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