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Oral Roberts University reaches out to Hispanic Pentecostals

Oral Roberts University (ORU) today formed a strategic partnership with the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) that both groups hope will make ORU the school of choice for Hispanic Pentecostal students, reports Charisma News Online.

During a press conference today at the Tulsa, Okla., university, ORU President Mark Rutland and NHCLC President Samuel Rodriguez ceremonially signed copies of the agreement that both men described as "historic."

"The Hispanic community is a vital piece of the fabric of this country and the world," said Rutland, who occasionally spoke in Spanish during the media event. "This agreement shows ORU's commitment to this community and will give the NHCLC churches a sensitive and energetic place to point Hispanic high school graduates."

Rodriguez said the NHCLC, possibly the nation's largest Hispanic Christian group, recognizes ORU as "the school of choice for the Hispanic Spirit-filled community" and endorses the university as "the premier learning institution for the over 20 million Hispanics that, according to Pew Research, embrace the charismatic, Spirit-filled Christian experience."

More than 80 percent of the NHCLC's 25,000-plus affiliated churches are Pentecostal, Rodriguez said.

The exclusive partnership includes the formation of the Jesse Miranda Center at ORU. An Assemblies of God executive presbyter, Miranda is CEO of the NHCLC and founder of the Alianza de Ministerios Evangélicos Nacionales (AMEN), a multidenominational association of Hispanic Protestant lay and clergy leaders in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico.

Rodriguez said the center eventually will serve as the NHCLC's research and development arm. But initially it will focus on recruitment and developing culturally contextualized programs and curriculum.

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TAGS: USA Oral Roberts University Hispanic Pentecostals Samuel Rodriguez

[07/24/2009]

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