Province IX Calls for Deeper Commitment to Interdependence
Episcopal News Service. February 8, 1990 [90035]
NEW YORK, Feb. 1 -- Officials representing Province IX, the Latin American and Caribbean dioceses of the Episcopal Church, have news for Episcopalians in the United States: they have taken responsibility for planning and implementing their own vision for a church on the road to full autonomy.
Preparations for autonomy began in the early 1980s with a decision to let Province IX decide how it would allocate program funds distributed by the national church. Although funds were given local program development, "we were not ready, because our church was not rooted in our people," said Rev. Alfredo Salguero, chair of the Province IX Social Betterment Committee.
Salguero described the previous model of mission as a "chaplaincy style" of ministry in most of the Latin American and Caribbean dioceses. He said such a style of ministry made Province IX seem like "a department of the British or United States Embassy."
"Whoever was in power in the church at that time imposed the particular emphasis they wanted," said Salguero. "People [in Province IX] could not take part in the decision-making mechanisms unless they spoke English or had friends who were U.S. citizens."
At a 1986 Program Planning Committee meeting in Guatemala, was a shift in the planning process from foreign hands into the controls of Province IX, according to Salguero. A new vision of mission began to form. "We wanted a church rooted in our own reality. We sought a model of working that involved participation at all levels -- moving away from hierarchical or dictatorial modes. We established a provincial council empowered to implement proposals from the grass roots -- not to do planning of its own," reported Salguero.
The new vision also involved raising up leadership for various committees in each diocese and region. Bishop Ottley of Panama reported that the model that was developed in Province IX, "It is basically a holistic ministry developed from the grass roots," Ottley said.
The Planning Council outlined how the committee structures developed planning from the grass roots. Each committee examined its own goals at the diocesan level, looked at the total mission of the church from its perspective, and blended its vision into perspectives of other interest groups. The process attempted to provide as much collaboration among diocesan planners as possible.
Now, however, the council has "organizational doubt," according to Salguero. The challenge now facing the council is how to fulfill its commitment to the grass roots, and fund the many plans that have been developed. "Needless to say, the money is not enough, and so hard decisions must be made," Salguero said. He said that he hopes that such decisions will not damage the vision or sense of participation and trust that has developed in the province.
Bishop Ottley acknowledged, "We'll never have all the money we need," but he said the church must examine questions of partnership and interdependence." Labeling churches as "dependent" or "independent" is a sin of classism inherited from the United States, according to Ottley. "Dependent plus independent does not equal interdependent," he said. "Resources belong to the whole body of Christ."
Province IX representatives and Episcopal Church Center staff agreed that much work lies ahead to strengthen the relationship between the regions in Province IX and the national Church as the regions move toward full autonomy. Both groups have agreed to assess their own needs and consider the needs of each other with a goal of sharing strategies in a subsequent meeting to be held in May.
In addition to Bishop Ottley and Alfredo Salguero, other members of the planning committee that met with Episcopal Church Center staff were the Rt. Rev. Martiniano Garcia-Montiel, suffragan bishop of Mexico and executive secretary of the Mexico Region of Province IX; Virginia Norman, treasurer; and the Rev. Neptali Larrea Moreno, executive secretary, who was just elected bishop of Central Ecuador on January 27, 1990.