2023 Las Posadas celebration at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Thomas

[Episcopal News Service] Members of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a congregation with a large Latino membership, will celebrate Las Posadas next week. The Advent holiday is observed in some Latin American countries and Spain to commemorate Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

The celebration will take place as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts raids throughout the state, leaving immigrant communities in its capital city on alert. Many Latino Christians are avoiding church services for the time being.

“Las Posadas is our way of saying that in this church, in this community, you are not alone and you are not forgotten,” the Rev. Tommy Dillon, rector of St. Margaret’s, told Episcopal News Service. “Mary and Joseph’s story is not just history; it’s happening right now for families who are looking for safety, families looking for housing and people looking for welcome. Every time we open the door to someone who’s in need, we are welcoming the Christ child himself.”

Las Posadas, Spanish for “The Inns,” originated more than 400 years ago in Spain and now is celebrated in at least Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Cuba. It is a novena – a form of worship including special prayers and services lasting nine days – told through improvisational drama from Dec. 16-24, culminating in the Christmas Eve worship service.

The Las Posadas celebration at St. Margaret’s will last one night on Dec. 17 and take place inside the church.

Members of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, celebrate Las Posadas, an Advent holiday observed in some Latin American countries and Spain to commemorate Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. At St. Margaret’s, as depicted in this photo from 2023, participants celebrate Las Posadas with a traditional Mexican meal of tamales and pozole, a soup made with hominy and meat, usually pork, that’s commonly served during Christmas and other holidays. Photo: Courtesy of Danielle Thomas

Typically, during Las Posadas, community members reenact the nativity story each night, often following a child dressed as an angel, and process, singing hymns, to a different host family’s house. When they arrive at the house, some stay with the host family members, acting as the innkeeper, and others as Mary and Joseph seeking shelter. Everyone continues singing as the Holy Family is recognized in the crowd, and then everyone gathers inside the home for a celebration with more singing, food, sweets and, in Mexico, the breaking of a piñata.

At St. Margaret’s, participants will celebrate with a traditional Mexican meal of tamales and pozole, a soup made with hominy and meat, usually pork, that’s commonly served during Christmas and other holidays.

“It is a beautiful religious tradition and a wonderful way to prepare for the arrival of our savior. Everyone is full of hope and peace,” Karla Sikaffy duPlantier, The Episcopal Church’s interim missioner for Latino Ministries, told ENS. “Especially now as ICE is tearing immigrant families apart, Las Posadas reminds us that Mary and Joseph’s journey was a journey of perseverance and the need to be hospitable with our neighbors.”

Throughout December, Louisiana, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, has been the target of ICE raids in a sweep dubbed by the Trump administration “Operation Catahoula Crunch.” So far, “dozens” of people have been arrested, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The state is home to nine ICE detention facilities, where, as of Nov. 10, 8,137 detainees were being held.

Last month, ahead of the raids, Louisiana Bishop Shannon Duckworth issued a statement upholding the baptismal covenant’s call to respect the dignity of every human being:

“To those living in fear during this time … while we cannot prevent lawful enforcement actions, we can stand with you, spiritually, pastorally and humanely, so that fear does not have the final word.”

Dillon said members of St. Margaret’s Latino ministry, La Mesa, considered canceling this year’s La Posadas celebration but decided to continue the celebration as normal “so that we do not give in to fear.” (Baton Rouge’s Catholic bishop issued an indefinite dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass.)

Volunteers will carpool and offer to accompany Latino families planning to celebrate in person.

“We are going to make room and share the light of Jesus. … We want to be a visible sign of welcoming and for us not to do it just doesn’t seem like it’s the Gospel,” Dillon said. We have to be visible. We have to have courage. But if you don’t feel comfortable coming, there are other people that will walk this route on your behalf.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

The congregation’s leaders can spell the reason with three letters: ICE.

Saint Theresa de Avila’s mostly Latino worshippers already were on edge this year as President Donald Trump’s administration prioritized Chicago for aggressively pursuing immigrant arrests and deportations. Then in September, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, dramatically expanded its presence in the city and escalated its enforcement activity, including military-style raids.

“It certainly has had an impact, and we don’t know how long this is going to go on like this,” the Rev. Gary Cox, Saint Teresa de Avila’s vicar, told Episcopal News Service. He estimates Sunday worship attendance is down 50-75% this year.

Fewer than 20 people attended the two services at Saint Teresa de Avila on Oct. 26. Cox said many members are staying home, choosing instead to participate in the livestream of the congregation’s worship on Facebook. Worshippers who still attend in person have been on alert, especially since ICE was spotted in the neighborhood a few weeks ago.

Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce, visiting from the Diocese of Los Angeles, presides on Chicago Bishop Paula Clark’s behalf at confirmations Nov. 2 at Saint Theresa de Avila Episcopal Church in Chicago, Illinois. Photo: Saint Teresa de Avila, via Facebook

All those fears, however, took a back seat on Nov. 2 when the congregation welcomed Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce, who was visiting Chicago from the Diocese of Los Angeles. On behalf of Chicago Bishop Paula Clark, Bruce presided at the congregation’s two confirmation services. Attendance swelled to about 80 people as four people were confirmed.

“It was really wonderful. I have not seen the church that filled in a long time,” the Rev. Sandra Castillo, an assistant priest at Saint Teresa de Avila, told ENS. She also serves the Diocese of Chicago as canon for migration ministries.

The diocese also received encouraging news last week when a member who had been held in immigrant detention for weeks was released from custody. Willian Alberto Giménez Gonzalez, a member of St. Paul and the Redeemer Episcopal Church on Chicago’s South Side, was freed after a federal judge said ICE didn’t have the right to detain him indefinitely without a bond hearing.

With ICE patrols reported throughout the city this fall, the Diocese of Chicago has sought to protect its members from unlawful enforcement actions through a variety of measures, such as text alert networks, rapid response teams of volunteers and “know your rights” training sessions led by Castillo, a retired lawyer.

“We’re doing as much as we can,” Castillo said. “People are really going out of their way … to warn people and protect people.”

The increased ICE presence starting in September has been tied to an enforcement action that the Department of Homeland Security dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” Since then, local officials, Democratic state legislators, immigrant advocates and residents have accused the Trump administration of heavy-handed tactics that have sometimes involved detentions of people with no criminal records or immigration violations.

On Sept. 24, Clark said her diocese was canceling its annual Latino Liturgy out of concern for worshippers.

“I am humbled and sobered by the reminder that, for many in our diocese, the increased presence and aggressive tactics of ICE are a source of paralyzing fear that threatens personal safety, family well-being, and even the freedom to practice one’s faith,” Clark said at the time. “In light of this, I ask your continued prayers: for courage, for comfort, and for trust in God’s providence. May we stand in solidarity with those who find themselves in danger simply by tending to the daily rhythms of life.”

Cox said the immigration arrests also have upended the regular vendor fairs that Saint Teresa de Avlia hosts on church grounds. The vendors no longer feel comfortable setting up their stands there, and attendance also is down at the congregation’s outdoor fundraising events.

The fear goes beyond neighbors with uncertain legal status, Cox said. Even American citizens and immigrants with legal residency are concerned about getting swept up in ICE raids. They “are at risk just because they’re Latino and because they live in this area,” Cox said.

The congregation was particularly rattled by reports that a man was detained by ICE in an alley across from the church, and ICE has conducted enforcement actions in other parts of the city’s Southwest Side within a mile or two of Saint Teresa de Avila.

An Oct. 25 service honoring St. Jude was moved from the church building to a member’s home as a precaution, Cox said. For the confirmation services on Nov. 2, the congregation took additional steps to make it safer for members to attend in person.

They hung signs on parts of the building designating certain spaces as “área privada,” or “private area,” to deter ICE from entering without a warrant. The congregation has distributed whistles, which can be sounded if anyone sees ICE. And during the confirmation services, a member was stationed outside the church to watch for ICE, ready to alert worshippers if any federal agents approached. None did.

Worshippers should feel empowered to decide for themselves how they will respond to potential threats from federal agents, Cox said, though he is hopeful that more will find a “middle ground” between caution and boldness and begin returning to in-person services at Saint Teresa de Avila.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

Episcopalians of African, Asiamerican, Indigenous and Latino/Hispanic heritage gathered on the opening night of the 81st General Convention, June 23, at Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, for the New Community Festival hosted by The Episcopal Church’s Department of Ethnic Ministries. Photo: Wilfreddy Alexander Carmona Arias

[Episcopal News Service] As the new Trump administration leads public and private entities to remove calendared holidays and observances commemorating the contributions of people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities, Episcopal leaders are reflecting on how the wider church can ensure that those Americans are never erased from the public’s consciousness.

“This decision to pause Black History Month celebrations and DEI work puts us in a profound moment to reflect out loud what as a church – as a people – do we choose to remember and choose to forget?” the Rev. Lester V. Mackenzie, The Episcopal Church’s chief of mission program, told Episcopal News Service. He also leads the church’s Department of Ethnic Ministries, which includes the Offices of African Descent Ministries, Asiamerica Ministries, Indigenous Ministries and Latino/Hispanic Ministries.

“Too often, institutions, including our own, have been complicit and slow to act … so how are we adjusting to what is unfolding socially in our dioceses, or in our congregations and local ministries?”

February is Black History Month, the annual acknowledgment of Black Americans’ accomplishments and contributions to the making of the United States. Celebrations are underway in the church, including worship services commemorating the feast of the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first Black Episcopal priest. Jones stands among the Rev. Pauli Murray, Thurgood Marshall, King Kamehameha and Queen Emma of Hawai‘i, Enmegahbowh and many other clergy and activists of color on The Episcopal Church’s calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

Some congregations, such as St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, are hosting Black History Month events throughout February, including workshops and lectures. Washington National Cathedral is also hosting several events, including a special worship service on Feb. 16 honoring historically Black colleges and universities.

Commemorations and events are necessary, and so is the need to educate younger generations about why they are necessary, the Rev. Ellis Clifton, rector of St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in Virgin Gorda, Diocese of the Virgin Islands, told ENS.

“We’ve spent all these years celebrating what our predecessors accomplished, but we forgot to teach what caused the need for these celebrations – their work and struggles – and how the benefits that we have came about,” said Ellis, who sits on the church’s African Descent Ministries’ council of advice and previously served as the Midwest regional director of the Union of Black Episcopalians.

At the federal level, the government’s emphasis on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion dates back at least to 1961, when President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating based on race. And after 15 years of activism following the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., President Ronald Reagan signed a law in 1983 designating the third Monday in January as a federal holiday to honor the civil rights leader’s life.

Last month, in his first hours back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning DEI initiatives, prompting federal agencies and now some private corporations to discontinue commemorating certain holidays and observances: Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Day and Days of Remembrance, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, Juneteenth, Women’s Equality Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National American Indian Heritage Month.

The president didn’t officially call for the erasure of cultural observances, though federal agencies interpreted the executive order as such and sent memos calling on staff to pause them. On Feb. 11, Google removed Black History Month and other cultural observances from its calendar, saying that maintaining those references was not “sustainable.”

Last week, Julia Ayala Harris, president of The Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, released a statement of solidarity and standing up for marginalized groups:

“Like the psalms of lament that turn to praise, Dr. [Pauli] Murray understood that hope is not passive optimism, but an act of holy defiance, a declaration that the struggle for justice is worth enduring,” Ayala Harris said in the Feb. 6 statement. “Their life reminds us that we are called not simply to lament the injustices of the world but to act — to sing our own songs of hope in a weary time, to advocate, to organize, to protect, and to uplift.”

The Deputies of Color also released a statement broadly condemning Trump’s executive orders: “We must address how these policies impact vulnerable populations and stand against the injustices they face. In doing so, we honor our commitment to serve God through serving our neighbors.”

A nationwide surge in interest in diversity, equity and inclusion, including by employers, paralleled the calls for racial justice after the death of George Floyd in May 2020. That year, Episcopal Church leaders encouraged Episcopalians to observe Juneteenth – the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when in Galveston, Texas, the last formerly enslaved people learned they had been freed.

A year later, in 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Since then, more churches have participated in Juneteenth events every year.

Episcopalians also observe notable events in history that aren’t official U.S. observances. This month, for example, St. Peter’s Episcopal Parish, a historically Japanese church in Seattle, Washington, marked the 83rd anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s executive order to authorize the incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II. Some 45 years later, the United States officially apologized for the unjust incarceration, damages and post-war discrimination, and offered restitution to survivors. 

There’s a long history of discrimination against Asians in the United States. For people of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, removing the observances of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month obscures both the accomplishments and the challenges that still exist today, said the Rev. Jo Ann Lagman, the church’s Asiamerica Ministries missioner.

AAPI communities are “incredibly diverse,” Lagman said. For example, the life experiences of the Hmong and the Karen people – many of whom are refugees today – are “very different” from first- and second-generation Chinese and Japanese Americans, who face societal pressures to succeed academically and in the work force due to the pervasive “model minority” myth.

“There are many AAPI people who get to the glass ceiling, so to speak, and then others, like those who are refugees and dealing with migration issues that don’t quite reach that glass ceiling, and yet there’s still a difference in that we cannot necessarily self-determine quite as much as our white siblings,” Lagman said. “I don’t understand why so many people stay silent as they watch history repeat itself.”

Three years ago, the Department of Defense credited DEI as a “force multiplier” and necessary as a recruitment and retention tool, though promoting diversity in the military was not supported only “for diversity’s sake.”

“The armed forces are more diverse than they’ve ever been, and I think they have greatly benefited from [celebrating] the diversity and the gifts that people bring to military service,” the Rt. Rev. Ann Ritonia, The Episcopal Church’s bishop suffragan for armed forces and federal ministries and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, told ENS.

Attempts at erasure continued in the days following Trump’s executive order on DEI. Native American Heritage Month, commemorated in November, wasn’t initially listed as one of the discontinued observances, but newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth removed it from the U.S. military’s calendar a couple of days later. He claimed that celebrating Native American Heritage Month and other “identity months” does not promote unity in the armed forces and could detract from the military’s “warfighting mission.”

The government’s attempt to erase Indigenous history and heritage is nothing new, the Rev. Bradley Hauff, the church’s Indigenous Ministries missioner, told ENS.

“What we’re facing right now is just more of the same going all the way back to the days of colonization and assimilation; we’ve been struggling to survive ever since,” Hauff said. “Right now, a number of people in the country are looking at what they’re going to lose – what’s going to be taken away from them and what hardship they’re going to experience. But for Indigenous people, that’s been our life; we haven’t known anything else.

“I don’t know where it’s all going to end, but I think that we [as a church] are in a unique position right now where we have to respond to what’s happening politically in our country from the perspective of Jesus.”

The Rev. Mary Crist, coordinator of Indigenous theological education for The Episcopal Church, agreed with Hauff and noted that the church has been working to increase its transparency and commitment to expanding culturally based theological education in seminaries. Still, she said, no government changes will stop Indigenous people from existing and being their true selves.

“Our voices are not going away,” said Crist, who is a registered member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana.

The missioners, Mackenzie and Crist all pointed out that many Episcopalians in the pews have been speaking out against myriad policy changes independently. The Rev. Anthony Guillén, the church’s missioner for the Latino/Hispanic Ministries, told ENS that gives him hope.

“This crisis is massive, but what really helps me go to sleep at night is knowing that there are so many people out there who know that what’s happening is wrong and they’re trying to do the best they can in their situation to support those who need it now more than ever,” Guillén said.

–Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Members of Executive Council, meeting Nov. 8 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, complete a brainstorming exercise led by representatives from the firm Compass to help refine The Episcopal Church’s vision for its future. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – New Brunswick, New Jersey] Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe presented a more detailed vision for the beginning of his nine-year term as denominational leader at a Nov. 7-9 meeting here of Executive Council – which then agreed to his plan to establish a new committee structure for carrying out the interim governing body’s business.

Rowe took office Nov. 1 promising to refocus The Episcopal Church’s governance and operations to support Episcopal ministries at the congregational and diocesan levels. On Nov. 4, he announced a series of churchwide staff changes partly intended to begin that transition, and on Nov. 7, he addressed Executive Council directly about its role in the church’s evolving mission strategy.

His underlying message: Effective churchwide structures are needed now more than ever in a world craving justice, liberty and unity, especially in the United States, where last week’s presidential election revealed a sharply divided electorate.

Rowe acknowledged that older institutions like the church have their share of detractors in today’s society, but “vibrant institutions are crucial to sustaining meaning and purpose.”

“We need structures desperately because we need to be able to build more capacity for vision, for all of these values that we say that we hold, for all of the ways in which we want to witness to the world,” he said. “When we do it right, when we are doing it in accordance with the practices of Jesus Christ, which calls us to a very different way … I think it brings a kind of life and reality to being the risen body of Christ in the world.”

Rowe, as presiding bishop, serves as chair of Executive Council, which is the church’s governing body between meetings of General Convention. It is responsible for managing the churchwide budget, adopting new policy statements as needed and providing oversight for the work of the program and ministry staff that reports to the presiding bishop.

Last month, during two orientation sessions held online with Executive Council members, Rowe sought to more clearly define the roles and responsibilities of Executive Council and the presiding bishop’s staff. Then last week, during Executive Council’s first meeting of the church’s new triennium, Rowe implemented several changes that he said were based on feedback from past members, other church leaders and staff.

As one example, instead of inviting staff to regularly present updates to Executive Council about departmental work, Rowe plans to limit such presentations to matters of particular importance to the business of each council meeting. He also wants to conduct more of Executive Council’s business in livestreamed plenary sessions, while reserving committee discussions for addressing specific tasks.

Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson takes a photo Nov. 8 as Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe poses with the Rev. Gina Angulo Zamora, left, and Grecia Christian Reynoso. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

And Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, who serves as Executive Council’s vice chair, proposed an update to its bylaws that included an overhaul of its committee structure, to give the body more flexibility to address emergent issues while ensuring that core functions aren’t neglected.

Executive Council’s role as a board is essential, Rowe said. “We exercise oversight of this critical ministry that the world needs. When we do our work well, we help ensure that the structures of the Episcopal Church are containers for ministry that follow Jesus on the ground.”

Before voting on changes to the bylaws, council members debated Rowe’s proposal for five new ad hoc committees and two joint standing committees. Previously, Executive Council had maintained four joint standing committees; of those, Rowe and Ayala Harris recommended eliminating two that were focused on ministry while keeping the Finance Committee and the Governance and Operations Committee.

Rowe then spoke in favor of creating the following committees for as long as they are needed:

• Realignment Committee – to advise Rowe as he develops plans for a structural realignment of churchwide staff and operations, as requested by Executive Council in its last term.
• Committee on Mission and Ministry in Haiti – to consider ways The Episcopal Church can assist the Diocese of Haiti and Episcopal ministries in the country, which has been torn apart by violence and civil unrest. The 81st General Convention passed Resolution D060 requesting this work.
• Executive Officer Review Committee – to advise the presiding officers as they consider the future role of the executive officer of General Convention, following the Rev. Michael Barlowe’s retirement this year.
• Nominating Advisory Committee – to identify skills and experience that would be beneficial to Executive Council when recruiting future nominees.
• Archives Subcommittee – as a subset of the Governance and Operations Committee, to ensure progress on the church’s continuing efforts to establish a new, permanent home for The Episcopal Church Archives.

Annette Buchanan, a lay member from the Diocese of New Jersey, noted that Rowe’s recommended committees seemed more focused on church structure than on ministry and program. Betsy Ridge, from the Diocese of Massachusetts, echoed Buchanan’s concerns and argued for creating one dedicated program committee, “so that a group can talk about which of those mission priorities are most important right now.”

Council voted against Ridge’s suggestion and ultimately adopted the committee structure suggested by Rowe and Ayala Harris.

At this three-day meeting, held at the Heldrich Hotel and Conference Center, half of Executive Council’s 38 elected members were new to the council and starting six-year terms. Its membership is a mix of bishops, other clergy and lay leaders. Twenty are elected by General Convention to staggered six-year terms – or 10 new members every three years. The Episcopal Church’s nine provinces elect the other 18 to six-year terms, also staggered.

Meetings typically are held three times a year. The next will be in February in suburban Baltimore, Maryland.

In addition to approving the bylaws changes, Executive Council passed a series of routine but notable measures. The Joint Budget Committee presented a revised version of the $143 million churchwide budget plan for 2025-27 and a single-year budget for 2025. Both were passed without objection.

Members also approved a work plan for the church’s Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, which reports to Executive Council. Its focus areas will include human trafficking, immigration, Indigenous cultures, health care, climate change and diversity in corporate governance.

And two Episcopal dioceses that formed this year through mergers of formerly independent dioceses received some relief from the assessments that all dioceses are expected to contribute to the churchwide budget.

The three dioceses in Wisconsin reunited to form the Diocese of Wisconsin, and two dioceses in Michigan merged to form the Diocese of the Great Lakes. Previously, those five dioceses each received the standard $200,000 exemption that all dioceses receive on their revenue figures when calculating churchwide assessments. Executive Council voted to continue granting Wisconsin three exemptions, or $600,000, and Great Lakes two exemptions, or $400,000, at least through 2027.

During a separate session, on Nov. 8, Rowe and the Rev. Molly James, the interim executive officer of General Convention, presented their analysis on the newly released 2023 parochial report data, showing a continuing long-term decline in membership and worship attendance but a recovery from the church’s pandemic lows.

Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado, standing at left, addresses Executive Council on Nov. 9 about concerns that not enough is being done to ensure proper multilingual translations of council communications. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

In an otherwise amicable meeting, one of the few discordant notes centered on Spanish-language translations.

Sandra Montes, a lay member from the Diocese of Texas who serves as dean of chapel at Union Theological Seminary in New York, has been an outspoken critic of church leaders’ track record on ensuring that communications and resources are multilingual. She initially confronted Rowe on that subject during Executive Council’s Oct. 31 orientation session.

“I have seen since my very first meeting that Spanish is not treated as respectfully as English is,” Montes said at the time. She has served on Executive Council since 2022. “We have had, over and over, mistranslated – items that are not translated fully or that are not translated well.”

Most Executive Council members speak English. Montes and Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado are bilingual. Three other members rely on church-provided Spanish-language translations and interpreters: Isabel Alzate Jaramillo of the Diocese of Colombia, the Rev. Gina Angulo Zamora of the Diocese of Litoral Ecuador and Grecia Christian Reynoso of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic.

On Nov. 9, while Executive Council was in the middle of electing members to its Executive Committee, Montes again raised the issue of translations by confronting Rowe and James, the interim head of the General Convention Office, on what appears was a machine-translated message to all council members.

The message’s heading was “housekeeping notes,” an English colloquialism that had been translated literally into Spanish as “notas de limpieza,” or “notes of cleaning.”

“[For] anybody who speaks Spanish, that is ridiculous,” Montes said. She demanded that the church leaders admit to using Google Translate – which she called “evil” – rather than human translation.

“If Google Translate is The Episcopal Church’s best for the least of these, that is unacceptable,” she said. “You refuse to be Jesus to us. I am angry, not righteous anger, but anger – anger because I started hoping this body was different.”

James clarified that her office does not use Google Translate but relies on the translation software DeepL for less formal messages like the ones Montes referred to. The church pays contractors for professional translations of other materials into multiple languages.

Morales nodded his head while Montes was speaking, and he later stood to speak, agreeing that more should be done to include non-English speakers in the work of a denomination that promotes itself as an international church with a presence in 22 countries and territories.

“I see that we have an opportunity, an opportunity to build a culture of understanding, and that is very, very important,” Morales said, “because when we have a culture of understanding we start to accept each other as is.”

Rowe repeated that he and other church leaders would do their best to improve their handling of translations. “We will continue to try,” he said. “We expect to be held accountable to that, and you’re holding us accountable. And I do appreciate that.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

Three hundred Latino Episcopalians attended the 2024 Nuevo Amanecer conference, which took place June 3-6 at Kanuga Conference and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Photo: The Episcopal Church’s Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries/Facebook

[Episcopal News Service service – Hendersonville, North Carolina] The Episcopal Church isn’t “dying,” but instead “the demographics are changing,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris and the Rev. Anthony Guillén, the church’s Latino/Hispanic Ministries’ missioner, all told Episcopal News Service during the 2024 Nuevo Amanecer, or “new dawn,” conference.

“If people go out and visit the Latino congregations, they will see there’s a vibrancy, that there’s creativity,” Guillén said. “They’ll see that it’s intergenerational; they’ll see that there’s lively music; they’ll see that Latinos are engaged with the community and are willing to share the many gifts that they can offer.”

Three hundred Latino Episcopalians gathered June 3-6 at Kanuga Conference and Retreat Center for Nuevo Amanecer, a churchwide conference that celebrates and supports Latino ministries in The Episcopal Church. The church’s Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries has been hosting the popular biennial event since 2008. This year’s theme was “Sembrando Amor y Esperanza,” or “Sowing Love and Hope.”

“Nuevo Amanecer is a space for Latinos to share resources, to also talk about what their successes, challenges are. It’s an opportunity to network and an opportunity to see what other dioceses and Latino lay leaders and clergy are doing so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Karla Sikaffy duPlantier, Latino/Hispanic Ministry coordinator for the Diocese of Louisiana, told ENS. “Nuevo Amanecer is also an amazing support system. We uplift one another.”

Nuevo Amanecer includes training for church leadership and formation, as well as information about Latino ministries in The Episcopal Church and special activities for young adults and children. All programming is bilingual. The conference is also a networking and discipleship opportunity for Latinos, who make up about an estimated 2% of the church.

“For me, the name Nuevo Amanecer means that our churches can live into the hope of the savior, his prayer that we all may be one and that we can seize on to his prayer,” the Rev. José Rodríguez, rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church and vicar of Iglesia Episcopal Jesús de Nazaret, both in Orlando, Florida, told Episcopal News Service.

“If we could fulfill his desire for us to be one with everyone he sends our way, that is our new hope,” said Rodríguez, who’s also co-chair of the Diocese of Central Florida’s Hispanic Commission. “That is our new beginning, and we will no longer be in a dusk-and-night situation, but we will be in a new dawn and hopefully in a place where light shines eternally.”

Curry preached June 3 during Nuevo Amanecer’s opening worship service. The service reflected various aspects of Latin American culture, starting as a traditional Mass with incense and ending as a fiesta. Curry sang with parishioners as a spontaneous dance party erupted in front of the altar during Communion.

“There’s high church with cleansing incense, which is so beautiful and symbolic, and then dancing and singing is the Holy Spirit coming through you, which is a full human spiritual experience,” said Ayala Harris, who became the first Latina and woman of color to be elected president of the House of Deputies in 2022. “This is what authentically celebrating together looks like, and it’s happening in a Latino conference on an Episcopal campground where families and children are welcome.”

Children play at Nuevo Amanecer, a biennial churchwide conference that celebrates and supports Latino ministries in The Episcopal Church. Nuevo Amanecer 2024 took place June 3-6, at Kanuga Conference and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Photo: The Episcopal Church’s Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries/Facebook

The conference’s first full day began June 4 with a plenary hosted by Ayala Harris, who also presented a workshop on leadership in The Episcopal Church the following day. 

“I’ve had so many people, especially women, come up and tell me how much they identify with [Ayala Harris’] story, how she inspired them,” Guillén said.

Ayala Harris said there are still “a lot of barriers” for Latino leadership in The Episcopal Church, noting she’s heard from others that it’s sometimes hard for Latinos to clear the hurdles to ordained ministry. 

Yet, the Latino and Hispanic populations continue to grow nation- and churchwide. 

“The day I was elected, someone said that the last Episcopalian had already been born. That will never be the case because the future Episcopalians are being born in Honduras or Mexico, because the future of The Episcopal Church is multicultural and multiracial,” she said.

During the second plenary on June 4, San Joaquin Bishop David Rice said Latinos make up the fastest-growing population in the diocese. For this reason, he said, bilingualism is important in diocesan leadership.

“In less than two years’ time, when I retire … it is my deepest prayer and my hope that my successor will, in fact, be bilingual,” he said during the plenary. “We’re looking for a cathedral dean. …That cathedral dean needs to be bilingual. We have much, much work to do.”

The June 5 schedule started with a plenary, where Guillén addressed the history and future of Nuevo Amanecer and Latino/Hispanic Ministries. The Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, spoke during the afternoon plenary. Church Pension Group staff also gave a presentation. Workshops throughout the day ranged from Christian education and Sunday School to working alongside immigrants and refugees. Latino/Hispanic Ministries livestreamed several online worship and keynote presentations through its Facebook page.

Most Nuevo Amanecer participants came from the United States and Province IX, which comprises seven dioceses in Latin America. Some participants came from Canada, including the Rev. Maurice François, a priest who oversees multicultural and multilingual ministries in Toronto, Ontario. François told ENS he reached out to Guillén to learn more about how the Anglican Church of Canada can best serve its small but “steadily growing” Latino population.

“We cannot move ahead without the help of The Episcopal Church and Latino/Hispanic Ministries because they have a lot of experience, they have a lot of resources, they have a lot of Spanish-speaking people in the United States,” François said. “Not enough Canadians are familiar with Hispanic ministry.”

About 1,193,800 Canadians, or 3.3% of the country’s population, are of Latin American origin. François also noted that Spanish is the second-most spoken language worldwide.

The Rev. Anthony Guillén and his wife, Guadalupe Moriel-Guillén, hold each other June 5, 2024, at Nuevo Amanecer as they watch a video commemorating Guillén’s 19 years as The Episcopal Church’s Latino/Hispanic Ministries’ missioner.

Guillén said it’s important to understand that Latinos aren’t a monolithic community. He also said that the best way The Episcopal Church can serve Latinos is to “learn about our needs and partner with us.”

“We have a lot of Christian formation, but we [still] have a strong need for Christian formation and leadership development,” he said. “My office just can’t provide every resource that’s needed out there. We need to collaborate. We’ve got to partner with other agencies and institutions, and I’m very open to that.”

Every day of Nuevo Amanecer concluded with worship services and parties, including a special celebration on June 5 commemorating Guillén’s 19 years as Latino/Hispanic Ministries’ missioner.

Curry told ENS in an interview that Latino/Hispanic Ministries is an example of “what’s to come” for The Episcopal Church.

“This ministry is a reminder that God has not given up on The Episcopal Church,” the presiding bishop said.

— Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Participants at Nuevo Amanecer, taking place June 3-6, 2024, at Kanuga Conference and Retreat Center, took an informal group photo with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry before the start of the June 3 opening worship service. Photo: Shireen Korkzan

[Episcopal News Service — Hendersonville, North Carolina] “If it’s not about love,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said, “it’s not about God.”

“Live your life so that when children see you, they see something about the love of God,” Curry preached during the June 3 opening worship service of Nuevo Amanecer, a churchwide conference that celebrates and supports Latino ministries in The Episcopal Church.

Three hundred Latino Episcopalians are gathering June 3-6 at Kanuga Conference and Retreat Center here, for the popular conference that’s been hosted biennially by The Episcopal Church’s Latino/Hispanic Ministries since 2008. This year’s theme is “Sembrando Amor y Esperanza,” or “Sowing Love and Hope,” which Curry reflected on in his sermon.

“Love God; love your neighbor; love yourself,” Curry said, as Samuel Borbón, international and voluntary relationship manager at Church Pension Group, interpreted his words in Spanish.

“For me, worship is the most important part of Nuevo Amanecer because it’s where all the people make connections and share their love of Christ and the things they have in common,” Nolman Bonilla, who heads up hospitality at the conference and who is a young adult vestry member at Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, told Episcopal News Service. “I loved Bishop Curry’s message about loving our neighbors as we love God.”

Nuevo Amanecer, meaning “new dawn” in Spanish, includes training for church leadership and formation, as well as information about Latino ministries in The Episcopal Church and special activities for young adults and children. All programming is bilingual. The conference is also a networking and discipleship opportunity for Latinos, who make up about 2% of the church.

“The church is only authentically the church when it’s truly catholic, and by truly catholic, I mean universal. We are not truly catholic unless all of us are represented,” Curry told ENS in an interview. “Whether it’s Latino ministries, Black ministries, Asiamerican ministries or Indigenous ministries, those aren’t add-ons. They’re the church seeking to be itself, a universal community of people who’ve committed to following and continuing the faith of the apostles.”

On June 4, the conference’s first full day began with a plenary hosted by House of Deputies President Julia Ayala-Harris. Participants then broke up into smaller groups for various workshops and plenaries addressing topics ranging from bilingual church music to church planting. The itinerary includes some time for participants to enjoy the many indoor and outdoor activities offered at Kanuga, such as swimming, kayaking and fitness classes. The day will conclude with a liturgy of healing and forgiveness.

Nuevo Amanecer 2024 is taking place June 3-6 at Kanuga Conference and Retreat Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Photo: Shireen Korkzan

“Nuevo Amanecer is important because it creates a sense of belonging for Latino ministry. It’s so beautiful when we get together here to connect and share our spirituality, to see that we are growing in The Episcopal Church,” Guadalupe Moriel-Guillén told ENS. Her husband, the Rev. Anthony Guillén, is the church’s Latino/Hispanic Ministries’ missioner.

On June 5, the Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, will host a listening session addressing the future of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity & Justice. Church Pension Group staff will also give a presentation. The day will conclude with a festival embracing Latino cultures. Nuevo Amanecer will end the following day with more workshops and closing remarks.

Nuevo Amanecer’s programming shows that “there is so much more to Latino ministries than just having bilingual services,” said the Rev. Fabian Villalobos, a priest at Christ Episcopal Church in Dallas, Texas, and a member of Nuevo Amanecer’s programming team. “When we embrace all cultures, together we make The Episcopal Church so much richer and more welcoming.”

Curry and Moriel-Guillén both said that even though The Episcopal Church’s membership is shrinking on paper, the numbers don’t tell the full story. Instead, they said, the church’s demographics are changing, as reflected in Nuevo Amanecer’s popularity. When the conference switched to a virtual format in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance nearly doubled to about 700 people worldwide.

“Every Nuevo Amanecer feels like a family reunion, but a lot of new people also join every time,” Moriel-Guillén said. “It is important to make the new people feel at home and make them a part of our extended family.”

Curry told ENS that all aspects of the church’s changing demographics should be embraced, including the cultural traditions Latinos bring with them, such as the Spanish language and Marian devotion, particularly Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico.

“I may not be bilingual, but I can overcome it because when spirit touches spirit, language doesn’t matter. When spirit touches spirit, there’s a connection,” he said. “We sometimes forget that veneration and love of the Blessed Virgin Mary is very much a part of the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Anglicanism has a variety of strains, and that kind of liturgical and sacramental diversity reflects different ways that people can come into a relationship with the living God. The Holy Spirit doesn’t have just one pathway.”

Latino/Hispanic Ministries will livestream online worship and keynote presentations through its Facebook page.

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service based in northern Indiana. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Thousands of pilgrims arrive at the Basilica of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, 2022, to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe on the 491st anniversary of her apparition on Cerro del Tepeyac in Mexico City. Photo: Luis Barron/AP

[Episcopal News Service] When Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez, was a child growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, celebrating the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe every Dec. 12 and Christmas later in the month were equally significant for him and his Mexican American family.

They would attend a special Catholic Mass, sing songs of praise, participate in their South Broadway neighborhood’s procession, visit altars brimming with roses and share meals with their neighbors. The boys would dress as St. Juan Diego Cuahtlatoazin — the Chichimec peasant who is said to have received visions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the many Catholic titles referring to the Virgin Mary — and the girls would dress as angels.

Even though Gutiérrez has been an Episcopalian for about 25 years now, Our Lady of Guadalupe, known as “Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe,” “Virgen de Guadalupe” and “La Morenita” in Spanish, still plays a significant role in his life. He keeps a picture of her on his office desk, and every day he dons a necklace bearing her image around his neck, the only metal jewelry he wears. To Gutiérrez, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, is not only faith, but culture and identity.

In this undated photo, Pennsylvania Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez, left, celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe as a young boy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is dressed as St. Juan Diego Cuahtlatoazin, the Chichimec peasant who reportedly saw apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531. Photo: Daniel Gutiérrez

“[Our Lady of Guadalupe] speaks in many ways. She’s not anchored to one religious tradition,” he told Episcopal News Service.

Celebrations for Our Lady of Guadalupe begin on Dec. 9, the feast day of St. Juan Diego Cuahtlatoazin — more commonly known as Juan Diego — who reportedly saw her apparitions in 1531, 10 years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, on the Hill of Tepeyac in present-day Mexico City. Speaking to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl language, the young, dark-skinned woman identified herself as Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, and asked Juan Diego to build a temple on the spot on top of the hill where she appeared to him. After the fourth of five apparitions, Juan Diego approached Juan de Zumárraga, the first Catholic bishop of Mexico, wearing a cloak stuffed with roses. When he opened his cloak and dropped all the roses, it displayed a detailed image of the Virgin Mary, depicted as a pregnant Indigenous woman wearing traditional attire.

“This is the mother coming to her children,” Gutiérrez said.

Hundreds of years later, Our Lady of Guadalupe remains a central figure of Mexican culture. Today, millions of people make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City every year.

In 2018, two years into Gutiérrez’s episcopacy, the diocese celebrated its first Mass dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Since then, the diocese has celebrated her feast day. The diocese celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day on Dec. 10 this year at St. John’s Church at the diocesan center in Norristown, a suburb of Philadelphia. Festivities included a special Mass, a mariachi concert and a meal in the parish hall.

The Rev. Christopher Schwenk, vicar of St. John’s since 2022, told ENS that one of the “most beautiful moments” in the celebration is when everyone comes forward in a single-file line to lay a rose at the feet of a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a “beautiful and natural” symbol of their prayers, which are then believed to be carried to God.

“I think seeing that physically acted out and lived out, in bringing roses to Mary, is something that just touched my heart when I saw it … I was filled with tears,” he said. “It’s beautiful to see people offer their prayers and take that moment to pause and reflect before her image and then go back to ordinary life. It’s this sign of utter trust and utter devotion to Mary as an example of our faith.”

Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day is also celebrated in other Episcopal dioceses, including the Diocese of Virginia. On Dec. 10, Virginia Bishop E. Mark Stevenson celebrated the feast day at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Leesburg, a bilingual parish. The Rev. Daniel Vélez Rivera, St. Gabriel’s rector, served as Stevenson’s interpreter during the worship service.

A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe sits in front of the altar at St. John’s Church in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The congregation celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 10, 2023, two days before her feast day. Photo: St. John’s Church

The feast day is typically celebrated over four days, beginning with the celebration of Juan Diego, and celebrations continue throughout the Pennsylvania diocese, including at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in New Hope, St. Jude & the Nativity in Lafayette Hill and Church of the Crucifixion in Philadelphia. St. Jude & the Nativity and Church of the Crucifixion are both predominantly Latino parishes. St. Jude’s is the temporary church home for parishioners of Church of the Crucifixion, which is under construction.

The Rev. Yesenia Alejandro, the first Latina priest in the Diocese of Pennsylvania, is missioner and vicar of both St. Jude’s and Crucifixion. When Alejandro, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was ordained as a priest in 2020, she encountered “much pain by many folks,” especially Hispanic men, who didn’t like the idea of having a female priest. In response, Alejandro placed a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe over the altar in the sanctuary of St. Jude’s, where a crucifix would normally be.

“I could not understand how someone who said they love the Virgen de Guadalupe, who believes in the mother of Christ, would treat me or any woman this way. I wanted them to see the God in me, to teach folks that if you love la Virgen de Guadalupe, then you can love what I can teach you” Alejandro told ENS. “Everyone that comes to church knows that God is the center of our lives. So, I decided I would put the Virgen de Guadalupe in front of the church as a reminder.”

Alejandro said she looks forward to celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day every year because she enjoys the music, liturgy and message of hope.

“The joy, the cries, the celebration of faith is amazing, and it helps us grow to accept and love folk from all around the world,” she said. “This is one of the reasons why it’s important to understand culture, because we [Latinos] have very different ways of how our faith is expressed.”

Musicians perform at a special Mass celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2022 at St. Jude & the Nativity Episcopal Church, a predominantly Latino parish in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. Photo: David Cruz

Gutiérrez and Alejandro both said that celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe as a diocese is a way to understand and embrace different cultures, which is especially significant as the Diocese of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia metropolitan area become increasingly diverse.

Philadelphia’s Latino population nearly tripled between 2000 and 2021. As of 2021, nearly a quarter of a million Latinos live in Philadelphia, comprising 15.2% of the city’s population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gutiérrez said the Latino population’s growth in Philadelphia also reflects the growing number of Latinos, especially of Mexican heritage, filling the pews of the diocese’s 135 parishes. Gutiérrez said that one of his goals as bishop is to provide a chance for Latino Episcopalians to live out their faith and culture without worry, and for them to comfortably enjoy memories from their homeland.

“They should come in and feel welcomed and loved, that they can bring their history, their past, to present reality and not have someone else’s reality imposed on them. And that reflects on the message of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, of Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Gutiérrez said. “With colonialism, you had to forget your identity and where you came from. But Our Lady of Guadalupe takes everything beautiful about the Indigenous communities and will, I think, always be in the hearts of people, especially the marginalized, who identify with her because that’s who she appeared to.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

Episcopalians of color gathered June 22-25 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, to attend Why Serve, hosted by The Episcopal Church’s department of Ethnic Ministries. The annual conference helps discerning Episcopalians of color learn about vocational opportunities in the church. Photo: Shireen Korkzan/Episcopal News Service

[Episcopal News Service – Sewanee, Tennessee] Dozens of Episcopalians of color gathered June 22-25 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, to learn about ministry opportunities at various levels in The Episcopal Church and how to lead congregations in a tech-forward future.

The Episcopal Church’s Department of Ethnic Ministries hosted Why Serve, which was attended by lay Asian, Black, Indigenous and Latino Episcopalians who are currently discerning whether to pursue lay or ordained leadership roles. The event consisted of various workshops and presentations by missioners of African Descent, Asiamerica, Indigenous and Latino/Hispanic ministries addressing what the discernment process entails and the differences between lay and ordained ministries.

The Rev. Ronald Byrd, missioner for African Descent Ministries and a member of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s staff, told Episcopal News Service that Why Serve changes its curriculum every year based on which missioner is selected to run the program.

“People of color have been marginalized in The Episcopal Church and have not had opportunities for access to leadership positions in the church,” he said. “Why Serve was designed to provide a pathway for learning for discernment and about opportunities to serve God and God’s people.”

The Rev. Anthony Guillen, missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries, told ENS he believes The Episcopal Church needs to pay attention to the lack of ethnic vocations currently available to persons of color.

“There are few vocations overall, and I think The Episcopal Church needs to ask itself why and to have conversations with [Episcopalians of color] so that we can do something about it together,” he said. “Why Serve provides the opportunity for individuals from different backgrounds to come together in this community and to explore their sense of calling.”

People of color make up 10% of The Episcopal Church’s total membership, according to data from the Pew Research Center, and many of them have openly expressed experiences of racism and microaggressions by white Episcopalians despite the church’s ongoing strides toward systemic racial reconciliation. Several Why Serve attendees shared their experiences of microaggressions by white Episcopalians during workshops — for example, Guillen shared a story of when he was ignored by white clergy at a parish he was visiting until they saw his senior title listed in a guest registry he signed. 

The University of the South, established in 1857 with the intent to support a slaveholding society, is actively reconciling with its racist history. Those efforts include the removal of Confederate memorials on campus and granting generous financial aid packages to students of color. A portion of the Trail of Tears — a network of routes where tens of thousands of members of Indigenous Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole tribes were violently removed from their homelands in Southeastern United States and forced to migrate on foot to present-day Oklahoma — crosses through Sewanee, not far from the University of the South’s campus. Why Serve attendees learned about the University of the South’s reconciliation efforts while touring the campus.

The Rev. Mary Crist, a coordinator of Indigenous theological education for The Episcopal Church and a registered member of the Blackfeet nation in Montana, told ENS that Ethnic Ministries chose to hold Why Serve in Sewanee because of the university’s “sincere” efforts to make amends with its colonial past. Crist, who attended Why Serve on behalf of the Rev. Bradley Hauff, missioner for Indigenous Ministries, said she joined The Episcopal Church after searching for a church home where it was OK to explore and ask theological questions without being told that she “talks too much.”

While at Why Serve, Crist told discerners to be ready to serve before joining a vocation because “Christianity is not for wimps.”

“Do you take Jesus’ teaching seriously? You’re going to be serving unpopular people. You’re going to be serving the poor. You’re going to be serving those who are messed up on drugs. You’re going to be serving people who have illnesses, people who sin,” she said. “It’s a vocation of love and service. That is what Jesus made very clear.”

Why Serve used to be exclusive to Episcopalians of color between ages 18 and 30, but this is the first year the conference was open to adults of all ages because, according to Byrd, discernment can happen at any age, and many people discern ministry as a second career or after retirement. The age requirement change resulted in a mixed cohort of both young and older adults.

During the conference, the Rev. Pamela Tang, a deacon and interim missioner for Asiamerica Ministries, explained the differences between ordained church vocations and their eligibility requirements, concluding her presentation by saying, “Discernment is the beginning, not the end.”

Kim LuWald, a senior director for a nonprofit organization based in Florida, joined The Episcopal Church in 2019. She told ENS that someone like her, an Episcopalian of Vietnamese descent and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, is rare; however, she feels encouraged to live out the church’s values and show others what it means to be Episcopalian. LuWald is currently discerning a priesthood call, and she told ENS that Tang’s presentation and Why Serve in general have been helpful for her discernment process.

Pamela Tang, deacon and interim missioner for Asiamerica Ministries, and Kim LuWald, a discerning Episcopalian from Florida, lead a worship service for Why Serve attendees June 24 at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Photo: Shireen Korkzan/Episcopal News Service

“When a bishop or anyone in The Episcopal Church asks how we are to grow the church, say ‘we show up,’ because I want people to feel encouraged; it’s the ministry of presence,” LuWald said. “By us showing up and people seeing us, it speaks louder than anything … There’s richness that [people of color] are bringing to the church, in whatever capacity of service that we are in.”

Chauncy Molodow is a cradle Episcopalian of Mexican descent from Phoenix, Arizona. She told ENS she’s been wanting to become a priest since she was 12 years old, and she’s currently looking for answers to make sure she’s on the right path. Why Serve answered a lot of questions that Molodow said she didn’t think to ask in the first place, including the difference between a vocational deacon and a transitional deacon.

“[Tang’s presentation and the ensuing discussion] gave me the security to say, yes, this is what I want to do,” she said. “And no, it’s not because I’m young. It’s because that’s in my heart. That’s what I’m gonna do.”

Keith Johnson joined The Episcopal Church after learning about it in 2016. He and his wife are currently parishioners of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri. As a person of African descent, Johnson told ENS that Why Serve was a positive experience for him as he considers discernment for priesthood, and he was especially enthusiastic about meeting fellow people of color from different parts of the country involved with The Episcopal Church in various capacities. The presentations and discussions gave him much to reflect on.

“How do we work together as ethnic ministries and have each of those four groups in their subsets vie for power and for representation, while at the same time not cannibalizing each other and saying, ‘My oppression and suppression is more important than yours?’ How do we as a collective work to have these conversations?” Johnson said.

Even though Asian, Black, Indigenous and Latino people are culturally and ethnically different, Crist said a key similarity that unites everyone is their histories of facing colonialism and oppression at some point in history, and that so-called minority groups in the United States are “victims of the doctrine of discovery.” However, “We’re very resilient people, so we’re still here. We’re all Episcopalians.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

The Campbell family in costume for the 2021 Las Posadas pageant at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis, California. Photo source: Episcopal Church of St. Martin

[Episcopal News Service] While most Advent lessons and carols services feature familiar selections from the same repertoire, the Episcopal Church of St. Martin in Davis, California, has done something intentionally unfamiliar this year: performing hymns in Spanish and Indigenous languages.

The service on Dec. 18 was followed by a celebration of Las Posadas, a Mexican Advent tradition that reenacts Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay, which the Diocese of Northern California congregation first did last year. It’s all part of an effort to “create new ways of looking at Advent,” said choir director Suzanne Jubenville.

The whole experience is a way of “providing additional themes of hospitality, spiritual journey, persistence, radical welcome, etc., but also … acknowledging our debt to the Indigenous people whose land we occupy,” Jubenville told Episcopal News Service.

In addition to some “musically reassuring” Advent favorites, the choir performed “Xicochi conetzintle,” a Mexican Christmas lullaby in the Nahuatl (Aztec) language; “Hanacpachap cusicuinnen,” a processional song in the Quechua (Inca) language dedicated to Mary that is used during Advent and Christmas in Peru; and a well-known Spanish Catalonian carol, “Riu, Riu Chiu.”

Jubenville, who holds a doctorate in musicology and a master’s degree in choral conducting, had come across the pieces during her years of study and performance and thought they would work well together, helping the congregation connect to California’s Latin American heritage as a former Spanish and Mexican colony.

However, “I wasn’t satisfied without a California Indigenous connection, so I researched and found a Mono Paiute song that welcomes the first snow of winter,” Jubenville added.

“This was a complete surprise to me when Suzanne suggested this,” the Rev. Pamela Dolan, rector, told ENS. “I didn’t know that these resources were even available, honestly. And when I saw her first draft of the bulletin, I thought, ‘This is really special. This is really different than anything I’ve seen before.’”

Jubenville was inspired by the Las Posadas celebration the year before, which had been suggested by church operations director Gabe Avila as “something that we’ve never done before and that a lot of people here would be familiar with in California,” Dolan said.

In Mexico, Las Posadas is celebrated from Dec. 16-24. Each night, a couple dressed as Mary and Joseph, accompanied by angels and musicians, go to different houses in town searching for shelter and are turned away. The night usually ends with festivities like Christmas carols and star-shaped piñatas.

St. Martin’s celebration is a much smaller, one-day event. Joseph and Mary – played by a couple from the parish – knocked on two doors on the church campus before being welcomed into the parish hall, followed by a party. It was a success because it was both kid-friendly and relatively COVID-safe, since it was largely outdoors, Dolan said.

“[We were] not having a lot of in-person worship even in 2021 because of just the way our community is here,” Dolan said. “And we were especially struggling with things to do for kids, as many of our younger children were unvaccinated and their parents were just being extra careful.

“It was just a little innovation thinking – like, let’s try to get outside and do some things that are different because we’re trying to adapt, and then people loved it.”

That spirit of creative thinking inspired Jubenville to bring more multicultural celebrations into the mix, drawing on other existing practices at the church.

“Each Sunday at St. Martin’s, we pray the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish and in English, not because we have so many Spanish speakers that it is necessary but as a ritual statement of inclusion,” she said. “We also, every Sunday, acknowledge our indebtedness to the Patwin people, who lived on this land first. … I thought an Advent lessons and carols service that is centered around the concept of the ‘posada’ or holy journey, that included Indigenous voices, would be a very St. Martin’s thing – a real statement of who we are.”

For the past few years, the parish has been hosting a lecture series called Seeds of Justice, learning about the Indigenous experience in California through the lens of land cultivation and creation care.

“So it didn’t feel like this was just a one-off, where we were showing off that our choir could learn new languages,” Dolan said. “[But] I know they’ve been working really hard!”

– Egan Millard is an assistant editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at emillard@episcopalchurch.org.

Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado, right, shows Presiding Bishop Michael Curry around some of the diocese’s facilities during Curry’s visit to the territory on Nov. 8. Photo: Diocese of Puerto Rico, via Facebook

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is in Puerto Rico this week as The Episcopal Church celebrates 150 years of Anglicanism on the island.

“We are here to give God thanks for all that God is doing here in the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico,” Curry said Nov. 8 during Morning Prayer at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in San Juan. At the service, Curry joined in a rededication of the cathedral. He also is scheduled to visit the diocesan center and radio station and preach at Holy Eucharist later in the day in Gurabo.

“It’s good to be here,” he said at the cathedral.

Puerto Rico, now a U.S. territory, was under Spanish rule and predominantly Roman Catholic in 1872 when the Anglican bishop of Antigua was granted permission to begin holding Protestant worship services in Ponce, a large city on the southern coast of the island. The first Anglican church, Holy Trinity, was founded there, initially catering to expats.

Antigua Bishop William Waldron Jackson, in a letter describing early Anglican ministry in Puerto Rico, quoted a local priest on how well-received the first services were.

“I shall never forget the attention which was shown by the whole congregation during the services and sermon, or the feeling of joy and thankfulness which was exhibited at the conclusion of the service, when I left the desk,” the priest said. “Some actually embraced me; and one old English gentleman threw his arms around me and sobbed like a child.”

The United States took control of Puerto Rico through its 1898 war with Spain, and the Anglican presence there became a diocese of the U.S.-based Episcopal Church. General Convention allowed the diocese to separate from the church in 1979, but it was readmitted as part of the church’s Province IX in 2003. This year, by approval of the 80^th General Convention, the Diocese of Puerto Rico transferred to the church’s Province II, which includes other dioceses in the Caribbean and dioceses in New York and New Jersey.

“We give thanks to God … for our 150 years,” Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado said in a Facebook post inviting Episcopalians to the Nov. 8 celebrations.

Curry also traveled Puerto Rico in January 2018 on a pastoral visit months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. His current visit comes as Puerto Rico is recovering from another powerful storm, Hurricane Fiona, which swiped the southwest corner of the island in September, causing widespread power outages and catastrophic flooding.

– David Paulsen is an editor and reporter for Episcopal News Service. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.