By Susan Stevenot Sullivan

Bringing the Church to the people is a challenge for missionaries all over the world. It is also a need in the archdiocese of Atlanta, where large groups of Hispanic Catholics can find themselves isolated from parish life by such barriers as language and lack of transportation.

At the Cathedral of Christ the King, vans were used to solve the transportation problem for Hispanic parishioners living in the Lindbergh Drive area, until the number of people needing rides to church overwhelmed the system.

Since last September, the Church has gone to the neighborhood. Mass meetings for teenagers and religious education gatherings are now held at the Lindbergh Catholic Center. The space, leased by the parish, is at 714 Lindbergh Drive, N.E., in an area with a heavy concentration of rental housing.

Since September the number of parishioners coming to the center has more than tripled.

This and other innovative approaches to ministry will be even more necessary in the years to come, according to Gonzalo Saldaña, secretary for Hispanic ministry for the archdiocese.

There has been more than a 25 percent increase in the number of Hispanics in the archdiocese in the last few years, a trend that is expected to continue. He estimates that more than 200,000 Hispanics (90 percent of them believed to by baptized, if not practicing, Catholics) live in the archdiocese which officially has 187,000 registered Catholics.

Accessibility is a key at the Lindbergh Center. Handmaids of the Sacred Heart Sister Maria Jesus Sagaseta and Sister Maria Antonia direct the religious education program during the school year as part of their ministry at the center.

"All the people can walk here," Sister Maria Jesus said of the center. "Finding this location was providential."

Mass at the center is celebrated with about 100 parishioners at 5:30 on Saturday evenings by Father Patrick Kingery, who was assigned to the cathedral parish following ordination in June. A group of about 20 youth meet on the first and third Friday evenings of each month at the center.

The youth group, called Chispas (Sparks, in English), is a bilingual group for Hispanic youth aged 12-16. It provides a positive group environment for those participating and emphasizes community service and worship outside of Mass. Field trips are sponsored monthly.

Sister Maria Jesus, who has been working in Hispanic communities throughout the country since 1980, said the center is a sign of the church's care and concern.

"I always convey that the church cares for them," said the native of Spain, "so much that it provides a place to keep their faith and grow their faith."

"They sometimes feel shy with the English community not to be able to express themselves or understand what is said. Many of them would attend the Spanish Mass at the Cathedral if they could." Most do not have cars to go to the 1:30 p.m. Spanish Mass at the Cathedral, which attracts 200 to 250 people.

Finding new parishioners has meant following Hispanic children home from school buses and visits from the "pilgrim Virgin."

"We have a pilgrim version of the Our Lady of Guadalupe picture which goes from home to home, a different family each week," Sister Maria Jesus explained. "One day a week I go to the house where the Virgin is to say the rosary and meet neighbors who have been invited. We meet lots of new people."

A Spanish parish newsletter, "Catedral de Cristo Rey," also helps keep the community informed.

The Lindbergh center, the first such center to be funded by a single parish, is one of three special outreach programs in the archdiocese for Hispanic Catholics.

The oldest center is the Grant Park center, which opened in the late 1980s. Another center, started through the archdiocesan office, is the mission of Our Lady of the Americas in Doraville. The mission is being funded by several parishes, according to Saldaña, including Immaculate Heart of Mary, Holy Cross, All Saints, and Our Lady of the Assumption. Under the umbrella of IHM, the mission now has a full-time priest assigned there.

Saldaña said the concept of special centers has been successful for many reasons, among them: Spanish is spoken exclusively in education and worship; the values and "religiousity" of the culture are expressed more authentically; a comfortable community is then formed which takes ownership of the center.

The special needs of immigrants can be met through the centers as well, including help with learning English, job assistance, clothing, Spanish-language driving lessons and answers to questions about legal status.

"The Hispanic presence is very real in the archdiocese," Saldaña said. "I hope we will be ready to answer the need. No one can stop the increase in population."

For further information, contact Sister Maria Jesus Sagaseta at 404-237-7475.