Baptist ethnic missions pioneer Oscar Romo dies at age 79

CUMMING, Ga. (ABP)—Oscar Romo, a pioneer in starting ethnic Southern Baptist churches, died Jan. 16 from complications related to Parkinson’s disease.

Romo, 79, worked for the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1965 until his retirement in 1995. Previously, he served on the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board staff.

Romo challenged the conventional wisdom that the United States is a “melting pot,” viewing the country instead as a national “mosaic” blending various peoples, cultures, languages and perspectives.

“It is said that America is a melting pot where the English language is the language and the Anglo (European) culture is superior,” Romo wrote in a 1993 book, American Mosaic Church Planting in Ethnic America. “In reality, there are 500 ethnic groups who daily speak 636 languages of which 26 are considered major languages.”

While the SBC, the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Catholics, is predominantly white, most of the denomination’s growth in recent decades has been among ethnic groups. Of 1,455 churches started in 2007, more than half were ethnic or African-American. Out of 44,696 Southern Baptist congregations, according to the North American Mission Board, 9,338 are classified as non-Anglo.

Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, said Romo “helped Southern Baptists grow beyond our roots to embrace men and women from ‘every tongue, tribe and nation.’”

“His passion for what we now call ‘people groups’ helped our churches value and engage in ethnic ministry,” Stetzer said. “Today, when we see that a majority of SBC church plants are non-Anglo, we know that Oscar Romo is a big part of that growth.”

By focusing on intentional church planting efforts targeting specific people groups, Romo was at the forefront of strategy now used by Southern Baptist missionaries around the world.

Romo’s former boss, retired Home Mission Board President Larry Lewis, called him “not only a dear friend but an outstanding missions leader.”

“He more than anyone else helped Southern Baptists break from the ‘cocoon’ of white, mostly Southern, homogeneous culture into the most ethnically diverse denomination in America,” Lewis said. “He was a great strategist and had the ability to train and motivate others in the effective implementation of strategy. His family, friends, Southern Baptists and the kingdom will all miss him.”

Claude Mariottini, professor of Old Testament at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Ill., was one of hundreds of young leaders recruited by Romo to study, train and serve in ethnic ministries. Today, many ethnic Baptists hold leadership positions in the SBC.

“Oscar Romo had a vision for ethnic evangelism, and he believed that educated leaders could make a difference in the Southern Baptist Convention,” Mariottini said.

Romo “leaves a great legacy behind. This legacy is present in the lives of leaders he trained and in the ministries of the many churches he helped organize.”

Romo provided leadership to Baptists in Panama, Cuba and American Samoa, and he influenced ministry in Latin America, Europe, the Pacific Rim and Asia.

Romo is survived by his wife, Merry Purvis Romo of Cumming, Ga.; a son, Nelson Romo of Arlington; a daughter, Miriam Romo Reynolds of Cumming, Ga; three grandchildren and a son-in-law. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Zoe, in 1991.