Is it possible to build bridges between the white evangelical Church and evangelicals of color in America? Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero believes it is and that this reflects a true commitment to what the gospel calls us to do.
“Bridge building between the different parts of the Church has always been critical,” says Salguero. “Scripture calls us to be a global Church. It is at the heart of the gospel—the Church was born in diversity on the day of Pentecost.”
This mission is something Salguero has been faithfully working toward throughout his life. Whether growing Latino-led, multi-ethnic churches in NYC and Orlando, founding and running the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC), or working with and writing for organizations like Christianity Today, Salguero is constantly working to build bridges and lead others to follow Jesus.
“I think this passion is formed by my pastoring and prophetic calling, both of which I take seriously,” Salguro said. “Both of my callings are informed by the people I serve and the gospel I preach.”
While working on his PhD, Salguero was called to relaunch The Lambs Church in Times Square. This was the first Latino-led, multi-ethnic church that Salguero and his wife, Jeanette, led. A few years later, they were also called to pastor in a church in Orlando, and then they planted a church of their own.
“Our passion, pastorally speaking, is to reach everyone we can in their heart language—the whole gospel to the whole world,” said Salguero. “It has a Latino flavor because I am Puerto Rican, and so is Jeanette, and we have to be true to who we are, even though our associate pastors are a diverse group of men and women.”
Salguero and Jeanette continued their work in Latino-led ministries when they co-founded the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC). The organization was born out of a weekend prayer meeting and a need for a collective Latino Evangelical voice to speak to and from issues that impact the Latino community in the United States.
“Our commitment is to be gospel-centered, and we are non-partisan,” said Salguero. “We aim to lead from gospel centrality, not partisanship, and we try to bring the gospel to bear in any issue we talk about.”
All of this work has shaped how Salguero sees the needs of the American church today and why he believes that the impact of Christianity Today’s Big Tent Initiative is so important for building bridges between white evangelicals and evangelicals of color.
“What Christianity Today is doing with The Big Tent Initiative is overcoming the invisibility of groups that have not been heard by others; it is battling polarization and isolation,” said Salguero. “This is a gospel mandate. These are all things Jesus called us to do.”
While pursuing his M.Div, Salguero first interacted with Christianity Today. During that time, he could pick up new issues of CT Magazine at the seminary library. After graduating, he made sure to become a subscriber himself and continues to read the magazine to this day.
“I love Christianity Today,” said Salguero. “It is a gift to the Church because it is thoughtful, and it has such a diversity of voices. Whether you agree with an article or not, you get the sense that the author has thoroughly investigated what they are writing, and I appreciate that about CT.”
Salguero believes that leaders of organizations should be deeply read, and Christianity Today is one of the resources he uses to continue learning. Whether it is finding new books to read from Christianity Today’s book reviews or looking for articles on specific topics, Salguero uses Christianity Today as a hub for information from a gospel-centric perspective.
“Christianity Today is a resource, a conversation partner, and an amplifier of voices,” said Salguero. “From a wide variety of topics such as spiritual formation, women in leadership, and Christian nationalism, it is good to hear other perspectives. Who else has that breadth?”
Another way that Salguero has seen Christianity Today grow over the years is by breaking through echo chambers. He is impressed that CT has intentionally broadened the themes of their articles so they are not just themes that concern middle Americans or white evangelical Americans.
Salguero has specifically seen CT grow beyond their echo chambers by offering article translations in multiple languages.
“CT publishes in Spanish now,” said Salguero. “The translation of CT into Spanish is a good faith effort, and I have seen the fruit of it. I can share articles with Spanish-speaking members of my church who don’t speak English.”
Salguero has also noticed how Christianity Today is working to highlight and platform a diversity of voices. While he believes CT is doing good work in this area, he believes more can be done so that those voices aren’t marginalized or only used for specific topics such as immigration, criminality, or racism, but are also called on to be experts in the full breadth of their lived experiences.
“There needs to be a broadening of understanding that minorities are not just to be called upon or platformed on minority issues,” said Salguero. “If the dominant culture is free to talk about everything, why are we not free? It is a major problem in journalism writ large, and Christian journalism has not overcome it.”
While Salguero acknowledges that Christianity Today still has work to do in overcoming this bias and that growth is needed, he is also thankful for the heart of CT to commit to this work.
“When you try to do this work, it is hard work,” said Salguero. “Every cross-cultural experience is difficult, and you make mistakes, but I am thankful that CT is listening to how the Spirit is blowing.”
The hard work that Christianity Today is doing to create a diversity of voices and expand translations is more important now than it has ever been in the past. The United States has changed drastically over the last 20 years. There was a demographic boom with many upcoming leaders who are bilingual and bicultural. Now two-thirds of Latinos in America speak English, and many of them are building institutions, navigating political spaces, and generally impacting the culture and direction of our nation.
Salguero believes that the best way for Christians to navigate all of these changes is with a generous heart and an open mind. He believes the way forward for our country is to have a posture of empathy and deep listening and is thankful for the way that Christianity Today is leading this work.
“I am thankful to CT for having the courage to be vulnerable to listen to other voices,” said Salguero. “It takes courage to listen. Sometimes it takes more courage to listen than to speak.”
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