New methods of stewardship, church growth and evangelism will be explored at a conference designed to strengthen Latino / Hispanic congregations in the US-based Episcopal Church (TEC) later this month. The Nuevo Amanecer – New Dawn – movement began in 2002 when TEC’s Latino / Hispanic community organised a meeting for churches in Los Angeles. The movement has grown since then and now stages a biennial conference, in partnership with the provincial Office of Latino / Hispanic Ministries and the Kanuga Conference Centre.

This year’s event, with the theme “We Build, Equip, Inspire”, will take place at the Kanuga Conference Centre in Hendersonville, North Carolina, from 27 to 30 August. Organisers say that “clergy, diocesan missioners, parish staff, church planters and lay leaders, who want to expand their knowledge by sharing best practices and exploring new methods of stewardship, church growth and evangelism . . . will learn strategies and ideas for starting and strengthening Latino / Hispanic congregations.”

They say: “Nuevo Amanecer is a space . . . to bring practical tools through workshops and conferences, to support best practices, planting new churches and ministries, leadership and congregational development, common worship, and the organisation of creating networks.”

It is a “gathering for all the people who serve and minister in and to the Latino / Hispanic communities in the Episcopal Church, and all of those who are exploring possibilities to work with this population in the USA and in different places where the Episcopal Church is present.”

The conference is for those who are already involved in Latino Ministry as well as those that are interested in becoming involved, they said. “We are working together to serve God’s Kingdom, communicating the Good News of the Gospel, and inviting all to worship and walk with us.”