Public Lives in American Hispanic Churches: Expanding the Paradigm

Abstract

Although most of the churches that took part in the Sanctuary movement were Mainline Protestant or Catholic, this chapter shows that Pentecostal churches not only provided succor to Central American immigrants seeking sanctuary in the 1980s but even welcomed them into their ministerial ranks. This challenges the traditional view of Pentecostal faith-based action and forces scholars to expand their understanding of Latino political, civic, and social engagement. It is argued that Pentecostal and Evangelical churches serve as “micro public squares and transnational spaces” where people are constantly engaging in transgressive political behavior. There is evidence to indicate that social action has been a part of Latino Pentecostal outreach ever since Susie Villa Valdez attended the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles around 1906 and sometime thereafter began work in the “slums” of Los Angeles and migrant labor camps throughout Southern California.