Predominantly Hispanic churches are the fastest growing sector in North America, and the need for ministers is pressing. With the support of a Lilly Pathways grant, three California schools are collaborating on an original curriculum entirely in Spanish, creating educational opportunities ranging from certificates to doctoral degrees.
The curriculum vita of Moises Lopez, PH.D., is a snapshot of the recent history of Hispanic theological education and the Hispanic Church in the United States. Since 1997, he has held 13 academic positions at five different schools, and today he simultaneously maintains six pastoral leadership positions at Spanish-speaking churches and organizations, mainly in Southern California. His is not merely an unusual human-interest story, however; among Hispanic pastors, church leaders and academics, Lopez’s path is a norm, reflecting immigrant aspiration and assimilation, the unique charism of those engaged with the Hispanic Church in the United States, and economic realities. ¶ It also is a bellwether of the Hispanic church’s transforming impact on the religious landscape. Hispanic people now comprise nearly 20% of the U.S. population, and Spanish is the most widely spoken non-English language, sustained across generations and for longer durations than any other non-English languages. For nearly two decades, the Pew Charitable Trust has reported growing numbers of predominantly Spanish churches and congregants, (paralleling the influx of immigrants) and also a distinct charismatic approach blending spirit-centered worship, evangelism, and biblical authority with strong communal bonds and social outreach.
As early as 2007, Pew suggested that the phenomenon “is not simply a product of immigration or language but … a broader and more lasting form of ethnic identification.” Today, Latinos comprise more than 40% of U.S. Catholics, The Washington Post reported in 2025.
A native of Mexico who became a U.S. citizen in 2003, Lopez had been teaching for three years as a full-time member of the faculty at Azusa Pacific Seminary (APS), an embedded seminary at Azusa Pacific University 20 miles east of Los Angeles, while also pastoring a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California (he says that it is typical for Hispanic academics to also lead churches).
In 2022, not too long after the COVID pandemic disrupted social life and the global economy, Lopez’s non-tenured position was eliminated.
One year later – during which he pastored a local church and worked as an administrator for the Anaheim District of the Church of the Nazarene – Lopez accepted APU’s offer to serve as program manager for a Lilly Endowment Pathways for Tomorrow Phase III grant awarded to fund “Transformational Training Pathways for Hispanic Pastors.”
The grant is an effort by Azusa Pacific Seminary in collaboration with two other Southern California schools: Latin American Bible Institute (LABI), an Assemblies of God undergraduate institution with close ties to the Latin American Theological Seminary offering graduate theological studies; and Life Pacific University (LPU), a Foursquare master’s granting institution.
“At first I was hesitant,” Lopez says. “I was not really involved in administration before. But being Hispanic, and having worked with Hispanic programs for so many years, it just made sense.”
We developed this pathway – a true pathway – that can begin with a certificate program, then to an associate’s degree, then to a bachelor’s, then to multiple masters’ options into one terminating doctoral option.
Purpose and partnerships
The Pathways proposal notes that “Hispanic pastors often serve faithfully without the benefit of affordable, accessible, and culturally relevant theological education,” and focuses on the need to prepare pastoral ministers for a burgeoning segment of U.S. Christianity. It proposes a contextual curriculum that will offer students access to credentials ranging from certificates to doctoral degrees, all in Spanish. And not merely a translation of a curriculum in the English language; the schools are developing an original contextual curriculum in Spanish, which provides coaching and support for students.
“By acting as one as much as possible, a partnership will enable the three institutions to accomplish more together to educate Hispanic people for ministry than any one can currently do alone,” the proposal states.
In this collaboration, LABI will provide grassroots, entry-level theological training. LPU will focus on Pentecostal/charismatic leadership development, and APU will provide graduate and doctoral programs.
“Pastors are not merely looking for degrees,” the proposal states. “They are seeking content that will improve their lives, families, churches, and communities. … We propose to integrate coaching, mentoring, and mental health support in the very fabric of theological education … enabling the development of transformation training pathways that have been long overdue for Hispanic pastors.”
A sum greater than its parts
Voluble, engaging, and indefatigable in his commitment to theological education for the Hispanic community, Marty Harris, Ph.D., has led LABI for 11 years as its president. LABI was founded in 1926 and is the oldest accredited Hispanic Bible college in the United States and one of the oldest Hispanic institutions in the country. A clinical psychologist, he has served as a licensed and ordained minister, shepherding a church of the Assemblies of God in Santa Ana, California, for over 10 years.
Designated an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) by the U.S. Education Department, LABI has deep ties to the Assemblies of God, particularly in its Southern Pacific District, and pastors and congregants are the primary sources for LABI students.
In his role, Harris also serves as president of the nearby Latin American Theological Seminary (LATS), formally organized in the 1980s, which offers accredited graduate-level theological education for Hispanic pastors and leaders. The two institutions share a governing board, and the relationship means that graduates of LABI can seamlessly move into graduate-level programs at LATS, a symbiotic relationship that has been foundational for the Pathways program.
“Three schools that have historically served Hispanic students came together,” Harris says, “We developed this pathway that can begin with a certificate program, then to an associate’s degree, then to a bachelor’s, then to multiple masters’ options into one terminating doctoral option.
“We have strong networks and partnerships with the pastors, with the presbyters, with the superintendent, and a lot of them are LABI graduates themselves.”
The Pathways program has antecedents in an online certificate program LABI has offered for about a decade through a network of extension sites, now numbering about 85 in 19 states, Harris says.
At any given time, there are some 1,500 students in the network, pursuing primarily two-year certificates and accredited Spanish-language bachelor’s degrees. About 300 students in the program are studying in the Latin American Theological Seminary, he says.
“Essentially, it’s an undergraduate focused seminary, joined at the hip with LABI,” he says. “Before the grant, I was thinking, ‘Oh, I want to grow up and be like Fuller. I want to grow up and be like APU. I want to grow up and be like Cal Baptist.’ And I realize now I can’t: I don’t have the resources.
“But we don’t have to be something we’re not. Let’s focus on what we’re gifted at, and we’re gifted at training undergraduate students.”
The Pathways grant has enabled LABI to create a new associate degree program in Spanish. “That has been the star, if you will, of our portion of the grant,” Harris says. “It’s what has fulfilled our mission. And it’s growing – we’ve tested the market and nearly every market we’ve gone into, they said, ‘yes, this is what’s needed now.’”
A language of their own
Nicholas Romero is a 2009 alumnus of LABI, now serving as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at his alma mater. He holds a Master of Arts degree from Fuller Seminary and is pursuing an Ed.D. in Hispanic higher education from the University of Southern California while overseeing a spectrum of administrative duties, from accreditation to federal financial aid and program development. He also serves as an adjunct professor.
Among his contributions to the Pathways project has been the development of a Spanish language curriculum – not merely a translation from English, but an original framework that is accessible to many of his colleagues and to enrolled and prospective students alike.
“Our Spanish Pathways cohorts are definitely older than our English traditional cohorts,” he said. “They’re mostly adult bi-vocational pastors. Pathways helped us to streamline our offerings, and to launch Spanish language degree programs we didn’t have before.
“The ability to bridge the language gap has helped enrollment and made our students more aware of what’s possible.”
Growing Pains
It is remarkable that three discrete institutions – united by their mission to an increasingly vital space in theological education and religious life – have been able to achieve so much progress in just three years. As in any complex and ambitious endeavor, there have been exhilarating breakthroughs, as well as some challenges as projects are launched, tested, and adjusted, including the costs of technology; growing market competition; dependency on tuition as the main source of revenue; lack of familiarity with higher education among its diverse target markets (by age and previous educational attainment); cost of attendance; and lack of interest in educational attainment by Hispanic pastors,
The project leaders are optimistic that they are on the right path, and remain committed to the success of the Pathways program, Harris says. “We meet every two weeks virtually, and twice a year in person for our advisory meeting, where we have leadership represented from the grant, but also people from the departments represented come.
“And those meetings are instrumental in getting us to a point where we say, ‘Hey, let’s take control of our curriculum. Let’s take control of these other items.’ I think we felt it was a lot of work – and it is – but everyone has bought into it.
“I realize the value that people are looking for to help improve their lives, their church lives, their community’s life. And if they can get that without spending $100,000 in higher education, that’s a huge win. My goal is to graduate folks without any debt whatsoever.
“And I think when you look at it, I think you’ll say, yeah, this looks pretty cool.”
