CHICAGO
On Sundays at La Casa del Carpintero, or the Carpenter's House, they've raised twin yellow banners for churchgoers that read ''Welcome'' and ''Bienvenidos.''
As a complement to the regular 11:30 a.m. Spanish service at the independent Pentecostal church, where they've worshipped Papi for years, there's now a 9:30 a.m. English one where the faithful praise God the Father.
While churches from every imaginable tradition have been adding Spanish services to meet the needs of new immigrants, an increasing number of Hispanic ethnic congregations are going the other way — starting English services.
It's an effort to meet the demands of second- and third-generation Hispanics, keep families together and reach non-Latinos.
In some cases, the greater English emphasis has contributed to an emerging phenomenon: evangelical Protestant megachurches drawing crowds in the thousands that aren't white and suburban, but Hispanic and anchored in the inner city.
There are perhaps 15 or 20 Protestant megachurches in the U.S. that are majority Hispanic, said Scott Thumma, who studies megachurches at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. But he predicted a considerable increase in the next decade, particularly in states with large Hispanic populations.
Hispanic Churches Add English Services
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