MINT Hill, N.C. -- With the Hispanic community growing at a rapid race in both the state and country, many Catholic churches are seeing the need to begin holding Spanish masses.

Saint Luke Catholic Church in Mint Hill has been working on a ministry for more than a year, but only have one Spanish-speaking volunteer. That hasn’t stopped Edra Alonso from doing her best to help fellow Spanish-speaking worshippers.

Moving to North Carolina from Spain six years ago, Alonso has noticed that St. Luke is missing a key element.

“Hispanic are a very devout group of people and they do miss being able to get to mass,” she said.

Last year, Alonso began working on establishing a Hispanic ministry, complete with Spanish mass. But then, the priest was transferred to another parish, and Alonso is left to look for a new one.

The priest at St. Luke does not speak Spanish, and said that there aren’t that many bilingual priests to begin with in the Charlotte Catholic Diocese. Those that can, often are serving several parishes.

In December, the church held bilingual masses, with songs and prayers in Spanish and readings in English. But Alonso noticed Latino worshippers beginning to dwindle, opting for churches in Monroe, or none at all.

“Many of them cannot reach the other churches because of the distance,” said Alonso, who feels the need to have services closer to the homes of Latinos in Matthews and Mint Hill. Alonso’s priest agrees, and hopes to have something established before he retires next year. It would be the first in Mint Hill.

Currently, the priest is setting up a Hispanic Relations Committee to try and get more bilingual volunteers.