Summer Homework - Catching up on the Documents for Hispanic & Multicultural Ministry in the Church

Just got my order of three books from USCCB Publications today - it's time to catch up on some documents and resources for Multicultural ministry - with a view to assisting my own parish and others in the diocese experiencing cultural transition, especially in communities with the rapidly growing influx of Hispanics.  Here is my booklist:

Many Faces in God's House: A Catholic Vision for the Third Millennium  - although this bilingual guide was prepared for the Encuentro 2000 in Los Angeles, this seems like it still is useful - it has a Vision Statement, Theological Reflection, and 6 Parish Sessions... along with references and a set of Communications Guidelines.  I think maybe some of this might be useful in my own parish, as we continue to work to bridge the gap between the Anglo and the Hispanic cultures.

Encuentro & Mission: A Renewed Pastoral Framework for Hispanic Ministry - bilingual edition of a USCCB statement updating the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry. I am thinking I need to see where this went - my understanding is that the Plan was somewhat underfulfilled.

Concluding Document: Aparecida - from the May, 2007, V General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Carribean.  This document is one that was referred to several times at the NCCL annual conference in April as seminal to Hispanic Ministry.
These, along with the 2nd and 3rd PowerPoint presentations on the bottom of this page on the USCCB site for the Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs, are a set of resources over which I will spend much time and thought - and will be sharing with our diocesan Spanish Catechesis Support Cluster and with my parish pastoral council.   I have a strong feeling that the Holy Spirit has been guiding me in this direction for a long time... I have been at the center of a "perfect storm" for the last 8 years, as I have been faced in both my diocesan position and my parish volunteer activities, with the growing sense that I am being called to be leaven for a process of bringing the two cultures together toward greater acceptance and understanding.

As always, ministry happens in whatever corner of the world one finds oneself!