IMPORTED RED:

From pastor to political activist: His church booming, he wants to spread the word statewide (Maria Cramer, August 24, 2005, Boston Globe)

On a recent Sunday, about 30 worshipers packed the altar of Congregacion Leon de Juda in Roxbury, swaying to the contagious music of the choir and band as though they were at a rock concert. At least 100 sat in the congregation, singing along and smiling, while well-dressed women walked around with boxes of tissues to dab the eyes of the most emotional.

Pastor Roberto Miranda strode to the pulpit, one hand in his pinstripe suit, and preached to the rapt audience about the value of hard work, the strength one can derive from tragedy.

''God does not want to create parasites," he said.

In two decades, Leon de Juda, or Lion of Judah, a largely Hispanic evangelical Christian church, has grown from five members to 1,200, representing the rise of evangelical, Pentecostal congregations in a state long dominated by Catholics. With as many as 800 worshipers attending Sunday services, Leon de Juda also exemplifies the dramatic increase of Hispanics around Greater Boston.

But Miranda is not satisfied. He has written a master plan to ''reclaim the state of Massachusetts for Jesus Christ" and penetrate a culture he feels is being lost to promiscuity, activist judges, and the legalization of same-sex marriage. He is organizing Protestant ministers and Christian activists around the state and encouraging them to bring modern marketing techniques to the church.

The 17-page treatise appeals to evangelical leaders to work together to ''proceed systematically to penetrate and reconquer" institutions of culture, business, and politics in a state that he said has become ''saturated with a godless, secular outlook."

Funny how completely the activists of both parties misunderstand the dynamics of immigration.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 24, 2005 6:46 AM