Excerpt
SUMMARY: While lawmakers in Washington continue work on overhauling American immigration policy, Ray Suarez reports from Colorado, where members of the Evangelical Christian community are advocating passage of immigration reform to respond to demographic shifts in membership.
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): It looks like a typical evangelical church service, with modern songs of worship, guitars strumming, arms raised in praise. But listen closely. The words are sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish.
This is Immanuel Fellowship Church in Frisco, Colo. Frisco is a mountain resort town. The Latino population has zoomed, up 70 percent over the last 10 years, as immigrants come, looking for service industry jobs.
MAN: Go down to verse eight.
RAY SUAREZ: The demographic shift is reflected in the pews at Immanuel, now half Anglo, half Hispanic. Latinos are moving steadily from their centuries-long home in the Catholic Church toward evangelical congregations like this one. All across the U.S., that shift is transforming what had always been white, English-speaking congregations.
Erick Luna was raised Catholic in El Salvador. He is now a minister of music at Immanuel.
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