El Corazón Latinx Ministry Initiative

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El Corazón is our congregation's initiative to cultivate a community that will place Latinx people at the heart (el corazón) of our parish. Through worship, teaching, and acts of justice we seek to cultivate racial reconciliation by breaking down barriers of segregation in Northwest Ottawa County. 

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Following Jesus

We learn and grow in our faith through special events and opportunities throughout the year. Our Children & Youth Coordinator, Reyna, is also bilingual and ensures kids from Latinx families are fully integrated in those programs. Contact her for more information. Our special events for 2022/2023 will be:

• Día de los Muertos Altar, October 30, 11:30am – We gather in the All Souls' Chapel to decorate a community ofrenda for Día de los Muertos. You're invited to bring photos of loved ones to place on the ofrenda, which remains up through All Saints' Sunday, November 6. 

• Holiday Tamalada, December 3, 5pm – Our El Corazón members will host a Tamalada Party. For a suggested donation of $25 per household, you will get to learn to make traditional tamales and get a dozen to take home—and help raise funds for this ministry! We'll also provide traditional Latin American dinner for all who attend. Sign up online here. 

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Inspired by Worship

We have bilingual prayer books available for those whose primary language is Spanish when the come to our 8:30am or 10:00am worship services. The 10am liturgy is done in a bilingual fashion three times during the year. In 2022/2023, those bilingual offerings will be:

• Michaelmas Sunday, September 25, 2022, 10am – The conclusion of our Stewardship campaign and celebration of our Harvest Festival.

• Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, January 8, 2023, 10am – As we celebrate the Feast of Christ's baptism, we remember that the bonds of baptism which unite us are stronger that differences of language or culture. 

• Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 6pm – The evening service on Ash Wednesday is a bilingual offering of worship as we enter into the Lenten season. 

• Maundy Thursday, April 6, 2023, 7pm – After a shared mediterranean meal, we enter the Triduum (Three Sacred Days) with a bilingual service that includes foot washing and ends with the stripping of the altar. 

• Pentecost Sunday, May 28, 2023, 10am – On the day we celebrate the descent of the Spirit and the gift of worship in various tongues, we gather in bilingual worship as a united church. 

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We also have special services of worship in Spanish for particularly important feast days during the year. In 2022/2023, those offerings will be:

• Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, 2022, 6pm – Celebrating Juan Diego's vision of Our Lady, we worship in Spanish and give thanks for a church that is mestizaje / mixed in culture and language. After the liturgy, all are welcome to a shared potluck style meal. 

• Christmas Eve / Nochebuena, December 24, 2022, 2pm – We begin our parish's Christmas Eve celebrations with the traditional "Ceremony to Lullaby and Put to Sleep the Baby Jesus" (Ceremony para Arrullar y Acostar el niño Jesus).  

• Easter Sunday / Pascua, April 9, 2022, 12pm – Following the Easter Egg hunt at 11:30pm, we gather for worship in Spanish and celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord with special musicians!

• Fiesta y Misa en El Campo – We choose a Saturday or Sunday in the summer months to offer a Fiesta y Misa en el Campo—a party and offering of mass in a local migrant camp. We try to bring together local agencies to celebrate and serve our migrant worker population and worship with them at the close of day. 

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Boldly Loving ALL

We are also passionate about acts of justice. We have an Immigration Justice Ministry, offer opportunities for bridge-building with our partnership with the Tri-Cities Puentes Initiative (including their annual Grand Haven Hispanic Heritage Fiesta), and in the summer months, as noted above, we bring "Fiesta y Misa en al Campo" to the area migrant worker camps, an offering of food, household essentials, and worship. 

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