Twelve Candidates Aim to Start 12 Spanish-Speaking Baptist Churches in North Carolina
North Carolina Baptists held a two-day Spanish-language assessment for would-be church planters in High Point as more first-generation immigrants settle in the state.
See where this is ›HIGH POINT, N.C. —
Twelve candidates hoping to plant 12 new Spanish-speaking churches in North Carolina went through a two-day assessment retreat Oct. 27-28 at City Light Church in High Point, N.C., the Biblical Recorder reported Nov. 6. Representatives of the churches sending them out came along.
The retreat was run by SendNC, the church-planting partnership between the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the North American Mission Board's Send Network, according to the Biblical Recorder report by Patrick Kordoulis, director of North Carolina's Spanish-language assessment center.
Before arriving, candidates answered online questionnaires about their capacity to plant a church, their character and, where it applied, the health of their marriage. At the retreat, interviewers asked about each candidate's calling, theology, leadership, mission strategy, emotional and spiritual health and family relationships. Women with decades of ministry experience met with the candidates' wives. The assessment team included pastors, church planters, mental health professionals and leaders with doctorates in theology.
Mike Pittman, SendNC director, said many people moving to North Carolina are first-generation immigrants and migrants, so planting Spanish-speaking, heart-language churches is “immensely important.” He said bilingual, Hispanic and Latino-led congregations will also reach second- and third-generation Latinos.
“The nations are coming to North Carolina, and SendNC is rising to meet the moment,” said Paul Ortiz Jr., a church-planting strategist for SendNC. He described the goal as a multigenerational gospel legacy that reaches families from the first generation to the fourth and beyond.
The next Spanish-language assessment is set for May 12-13, 2027, and applications close March 31, the report said. Pedro Hernandez, SendNC's Hispanic church-planting strategist, and Kordoulis are the contacts for the program.
