A man in his 20s faces the congregation at Mission Eben-Ezer Pentecostal Church and delivers startling news.
"I just want to stay out of jail from now on and take care of my family," he says.
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Finding Their Religion
Some Catholics who are drawn to the more passionate style of the Pentecosts are converting. Some merely attend services. In any case, it's a movement the church is studying--closely.
For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday August 2, 1996 Home Edition Life & Style Part E Page 8 View Desk 1 inches; 24 words Type of Material: Correction
Religious movement--Noel Diaz was misidentified in an article in Thursday's Life & Style on the Pentecostal movement. He is president of Empire Optical in Los Angeles.
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Immediately, an army of people rises from chairs and mobilizes around him, placing hands on his shoulders and above his head in prayer.
Across the room another team is doing the same for a recovering heroin addict who has confessed that he has been clean these last seven years, but somehow, life still has no meaning.
Moments later, the action at this Carson church shifts from high drama to low comedy as the local baseball team slogs onstage for a round of applause. They won this year's championship.
And the "family" feeling continues when visitors to the church--including a set of grandparents--are introduced.
In between all this, mariachis and bongos back up a hand-waving sing-a-long as well as the playful preaching of the Rev. Isaac Canales. "This is better than Disneyland," he declares as stories of family abuse, drug addiction and jail terms charge the air in this converted warehouse.
In the midst of Sunday morning service is Ralph Galante.
About once a month, Ralph and his wife, Mary Angela, lifelong practicing Catholics, leave their nearby parish for services at Mission Eben-Ezer, where an estimated 70% of the 600-member congregation was raised Catholic.
They are part of a growing number of Catholics worldwide who during the past 30 years have left their religious roots for the Pentecostal church, with Latin American and Asian countries contributing most to the trend.
In fact, Pentecostalism is now the fastest-growing Christian denomination in the world, with more than 400 million members--one in every four Christians.
And because Latinos account for most of the growth in Catholic churches worldwide, there's a keen interest in monitoring their choices.
Ultimately, "As Hispanics go, so goes Catholicism," says Alan Figueroa Deck, a Jesuit and coordinator of Hispanic Pastoral Programs at Loyola University.
In response, the Catholic Church has been studying the Catholic-Pentecostal connection, which includes not just converts but people like the Galantes who are attracted to both traditions. Even Pope John Paul II holds an annual y'all come at the Vatican, inviting top level dialogue from leaders of both churches. Increasingly, the Catholic hierarchy is trying to find ways to add the emotive and folksy Pentecostal flavor to its staid and formal style.
