ABSTRACT
The Latino Religious Resurgence did not achieve all of its goals, but neither can it be said to have failed. Social or religious movements frequently set Utopian goals, which by definition can never be fully achieved. Latino leaders wanted to turn a movement, formed by volunteers rallying around a general idea, into an array of organizations with personnel and resources to implement the vision. Whereas at the beginning of the resurgence, Latino leaders defined their organization by excluding Euro-Americans on the basis of ethnic identity, in the 1990s this approach has lost much of its cogency. The more important issue is how to reconnect local leaders and the community organizations in which they work with the need for Latino participation. One of the "red ink" items in the resurgence ledger is the issue of cultural idiosyncrasy. The painful lesson learned is that the ability to speak Spanish does not of itself make one Latino.
