Connecticut, Ecuador Thrive On Partnership
Episcopal News Service. October 16, 1986 [86225]
HARTFORD, Conn. (DPS, Oct. 16) -- The Episcopal Dioceses of Connecticut and Ecuador together offered thanks to God on Sept. 7, when Ecuador's new cathedral, built with funds from Connecticut Episcopalians, was consecrated by Bishops Adrian Caceres and Arthur E. Walmsley. Begun in 1970, the Ecuadorean Episcopal Church has over 20,000 members in 175 congregations and is one of the fastest growing dioceses of the Anglican Communion.
In his sermon, Walmsley spoke about the cross-cultural gifts that are being exchanged between the two dioceses. While Connecticut Episcopalians have given financial and other support to build churches so that the Ecuadorian Episcopalians will not be viewed as "just a sect," Connecticut's people have received the gift of seeing the strength of Christian faith in the face of poverty which exceeds that imaginable for most Americans.
The consecration, attended by 18 other Connecticut Episcopalians, was a time of celebration for the gifts that each diocese has given to the people of the other in the seven years of an ongoing relationship. The previous day, Sept. 6, a new building in a barrio in the coastal city of Guayaquil, built by funds from Trinity Church, Southport, Conn. was also consecrated.
At that service, Walmsley assisted in the confirmation and reception of 125 members. This brings to 15 the number of church buildings made possible by Connecticut efforts. Most of these churches, in contrast to the cathedral, are stucco and cinder block structures with corrugated tin roofs.
Six members of the Connecticut delegation stayed on in Ecuador as the eighth group of "Ecuador pilgrims" -- groups which have spent two to three weeks touring the diocese there, observing first hand the faith of those people who are both extremely poor and, largely, new to active membership in any church. Another group of three stayed on to visit all the missions and make a video tape to be used in Connecticut.
Upon his return, Walmsley said of the new cathedral, "It is an absolutely stunning building. When I last visited the site in February, it was merely a shell, and on Friday, two days before the dedication, when I looked over the work with Bishop Caceres, men were sanding the floor, others were installing ceiling lights, masons were working outside and others were shellacking the pews in the backyard. Even the artist who had designed the frontal and the bishop's wife were at work putting the hem on it."
"By Sunday morning, though, all was in place," he continued. Over 1,000 people attended the service, although the seating capacity is about 600. Congregations from throughout Ecuador were represented, and the choir had been rehearsed for two weeks by Carlos Sandoval of Norwalk's Episcopal Hispanic congregation.
The pilgrim group which stayed on is currently visiting the Orient province of Ecuador. This is home to isolated groups of Indian tribes along the headwaters of the Amazon. Twenty-five years ago, members of the Auca tribe killed a group of pentecostal missionaries trying to establish a center in this region. Last year, they asked Caceres to send them a priest.