A key part of First Baptist’s community outreach program is its weeknight English as a Second Language program and its Sunday Bible study class for Spanish speakers. Doug Loafman, 49, and his wife, Lucinda (left), 48, public school teachers, are the volunteer coordinators for both.
 
The Loafman’s joined First Baptist when they moved to Oklahoma City from Texas a few years back. Like most of their fellow congregants at First Baptist, the Loafmans lean heavily toward the Republican Party. They put a high value on what they call “character” — something they say they see in President George W. Bush but see less of in the current crop of presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican.
 
The notable exception? The couple expressed an interest in Senator Sam Brownback, a longshot Republican candidate from Kansas, who opposes abortion and same-sex marriages and said, when announcing his candidacy earlier this year, that “we need to embrace our nation’s motto, ‘In God we trust,’ and not be ashamed of it.”
 
As a result of the work they do with non-natives, the Loafman’s are supporter of immigrant rights.  “We’re more liberal on the immigration issue. We know them as people and they’re honest people. Yes, many of them are illegal. But we have to find a way to make them legal … We’re 12 million people too late.”
 
According to the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma, Hispanics are the fastest-growing group in the church.