Hispanic Congregations Offer Sense of Community

All across the city, Hispanic congregations gather on Sunday mornings to worship and grow together as believers. 

These congregations are more than just a church; they are communities that provide a sense of home for Snellville’s Spanish-speaking citizens. 

Iglesia Bautista Hispana Emanuel
Many Spanish-speaking churches struggle in the beginning, and Iglesia Baptiste Emanuel, on Caleb Road on the south side of Snellville, is no exception. Although the church now regularly draws between 120-150 attendants, it began as a small mission of . Members met in the chapel for five or six years, then purchased land from the Gwinnett Metro Baptist Association. 

“When you’re small and have no money, you don’t have land or a building,” said Sid Hopkins, who is director of missions for the Gwinnett Metro Baptist Association.  “Having a place to meet is very important.” 

Aharhel Salina, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Hispana Emanuel, has been active in the church for seven years. He led worship for a number of years, and he and his wife wrote a number of original praise songs in Spanish. They plan on recording the songs soon.  

When the founding pastor left a year and a half ago, Aharlel took over pastoral duties.  

Dalila Salina, Aharlel’s wife, frequently interprets for him.  She is over the children’s ministry for the congregation. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said about her work with the children.  “They teach you a lot!” 

The church reaches out to as many people as possible. It focuses heavily on evangelism and community involvement. Every Sunday, members gather after church to go out into neighborhoods with many Hispanic residents. They visit with them and ask how they can help in any way. They also bring in people that do not have their own mode of transportation. 

The new immigration policies in Georgia have had a profound effect on their numbers. 

“We are losing members of our church,” said Dahlia Salina. “My husband, who is here legally, was stopped by the police once. A lot of people are being stopped by the police. A member of our music team was sent back.” 

According to Hopkins, that is something most Hispanic congregations in Georgia are facing.  

“The new immigration policies have caused a lot of illegals to leave,” he noted, “and that has put some financial pressure on churches. They have lost numbers and attendees who moved to other states or back to Mexico.” 

He estimates that around 25 percent of Hispanic congregation members have left. 

Hispanic Congregation at Snellville United Methodist Church
Jane Moore, co-founder of the Hispanic congregation at , has also seen a drop in attendants. 

“We need to encourage people to write to their legislators for fair immigration laws,” she said.  

According to Amnesty International, an international human rights watch group, these bills “contain provisions such as new crimes, arbitrary and excessive status checks, and penalties for police that don't enforce them entirely. All immigrants, particularly undocumented or ‘irregular’ immigrants, are in danger of abuse and exploitation.” 

Others, such as Gov. Nathan Deal, believe it is necessary in order to halt illegal immigration. He recently legislation stiffening the state's laws on immigration status checks.

Snellville United Methodist Church is home to a Hispanic congregation of 80-90 members, including children.  

“I grew up in South Florida and have a love for the culture and the language,” Moore said.  

In college, she majored in education and Spanish. She did not immediately follow her passion for work within the Hispanic demographic, but in 2004 she went on her first mission trip to South America.   

“That reignited a love for the people and for the language,” she said. “I started again to desire to relearn the language and prayed about starting a Hispanic ministry.” 

She and a few others from SUMC attended a conference on how to start a Hispanic ministry in a non-Hispanic church.  Soon after that, the Rev. Efrain Morales and his wife came to the church.  

The Rev. Morales, who also runs Arepa Farms and has a booth at the , moved to Snellville with his wife to be closer to his adult children. His children are all active in United Methodist Churches throughout Atlanta. He was ordained, and seemed a perfect fit as the new pastor for the Hispanic congregation.  

“We started with Sunday school classes, and it grew from there,” Jane Moore said. “We got people to come little by little, and it started growing.” 

The service draws people from Venezuela, Columbia, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and even some from Angola, who are fluent in Portuguese. 

Sunday services start at 11 a.m. with Sunday school, followed by coffee. They take time to greet each other and reconnect, then gather for the worship service a little before noon. Afterward, they stay and eat lunch together.  

The congregation makes efforts to mingle with the non-Hispanic congregation at different times of the year. The main event is a Christmas dinner, sponsored entirely by the Hispanic congregation.     

“We want to be one community and one body of believers,” Moore said.  

As an additional outreach, SUMC hosts English as a Second Language (ESL) classes on Tuesdays and Thursday nights from 7-8:30 p.m. They also offer Spanish classes for those interested in learning the language. Both classes use immersion methods.  Classes are off for the summer but will resume when school starts again in the fall.  

A few other local Hispanic churches are spread throughout the community. Centro de Adoracion a Dios para la Familia is located on Bethany Church Road and is led by the Rev. Hiram de Sostre. Services are Sundays at 2:30 p.m.  

is home to another Hispanic congregation, which meets in the main church building at 1 p.m. 

Although First Baptist Snellville no longer has a Hispanic congregation, they do offer ESL classes on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m.

All classes and congregations welcome visitors and volunteers.