
In September 2015, the elected officers of the UCC Council for Hispanic Ministries voted unanimously to terminate the governing structure of the Council for Hispanic Ministries and replace it with a UCC Latino(a)/Hispanic Transition Team empowered to recruit UCC Hispanic/Latino(a) clergy and lay leaders to consider next steps around structure, finances, and decision making. They moved quickly to appoint the Latino/a Ministries Transition Team who was assigned the task of designing and implementing a process for gathering opinions, insights and wisdom focused on the future of Latinx ministries and leadership in the UCC.
The Transition Team sought direct and confidential feedback, specifically from Latinas and Latinos in the United Church of Christ, through an online survey in Spanish and English. They built upon information from the survey by conducting regional focus group discussions with various Latinx congregational members. They published a report on the findings of the survey and focus groups that can be found on this website.
Following the publication of the report, the Transition Team submitted a resolution to the Thirty Second General Synod of the UCC to establish the Colectivo de UCC Latinx Ministries (The Colectivo), seeking to be recognized as a Historically Underrepresented Group taking the place of the UCC Council for Hispanic Ministries (CHM) through an Amendment to the UCC Bylaws. A copy of that resolution can be found on this website.
The resolution was passed by the body of General Synod and the Colectivo was established. An interim leadership team for the Colectivo was established in August 2019 to create by-laws for the Colectivo, to develop a new website, and to plan for the election of officers—all to be accomplished in 2020.