A September 2023 Update from Nancy Mead, President

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Narragansett. Hurricane Lee has blown through and taken away the hot humid summer. We are left with cool clear weather and some impressive surf. Whatever the weather, the Friends have been hard at work and on the move this summer.

New Board Members

At our board meeting in August, we elected three new members. Our board has always been small, and we knew that it needed to be larger. We also knew since ours is truly a “working board,” we needed to find “the right people”. Our three newest board members are “the right people.

Fletcher Banner comes to us from England but has a long connection with Spain and Santiago, having family and friends in all three places. Whether it is creating sets and filming nearly 1000 episodes for the Garden Congregation Morning Prayer services, entertaining thousands of strangers in the Deanery and Deanery Garden at Canterbury Cathedral, or getting something “done yesterday”, nothing is impossible for Fletcher. The answer to every question to Fletcher is yes, and he finds the quickest, most economical, and creative way to get there. We welcome his can-do attitude and his creative energy. His fluency in both Spanish and French will be invaluable.

Father John Beddingfield is the Rector of The Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City. He is active both in his neighborhood and within the Diocese of New York. He brings to our board a love of spirituality and pilgrimage and a passion for the Camino and our Anglican Centre project. His familiarity with Wordpress and all things technical will be a great help expanding our presence on social media. His experience on various boards and committees in his neighborhood and within the Diocese of New York will help us as we continue to strengthen our own board.

Our third elected board member is Dean Emeritus, Robert Willis, former Dean of Canterbury. It has long been our goal to recruit board members from around the Anglican Communion as well as people who have experience with fundraising, pilgrimage and developing a Centre that welcomes pilgrims and visitors to a holy place. After raising more than 60 million pounds and opening and developing a successful Education Centre at Canterbury, Dean Robert has twenty years for first-hand experience to share with us. Like his international Garden Congregation, our board will be enriched by his quiet manner and extensive knowledge.

For a complete biography our three new members and each of our other board members, please click on the link www.anglicancentresantiago.org and go to “Our Team.”

Activity at Casa Anglicana

Speaking of Dean Robert and Fletcher, in early August, the three of us made a brief four-day visit to Casa Anglicana where we met with Bishop Carlos and Doña Ana. Although our time was short, it was productive.

When I arrived in Santiago early Wednesday morning, the other four were already there. By the time we joined Mother Anna and her volunteer in residence, American Pilgrim board member, Rev. Jacquline Saxon, for dinner that evening, we had hung two dozen Camino photographs, and a large map of the world to recognize the cosmopolitan nature of our guests.

Bishop Carlos also blessed an icon of Saint James, a gift to the Centre from noted iconographer, Christine Hales.

I had met Christine during a visit to the Church of the Redeemer, in Sarasota, Florida, and was thrilled by her offer to write an icon to hang in our Centre. Thank you, Christine, for this truly holy offering which now hangs in the Refectory at Casa Anglicana.

Christine is also a teacher of icon painting and it is my hope that she will be able to have an icon writing class at Casa Anglicana, as part of our “education” mission and outreach. For more information about Christine and her work please click on the link to her webpage. www.christinehalesicons.com

On Thursday, we continued work on the Centre, replacing the patio umbrellas and making other improvements to the public areas.

On Friday, the Bishop and Doña Ana and their three dogs, (the Centre is pet friendly) left and Robert, Fletcher and I spent the day making a video about the Centre. When Fletcher finishes editing it, it will be posted on our web site and social media. Stay tuned.

Fletcher, Doña Ana and Bishop Carlos, Dean Robert, Nancy

Before I left Saturday, I had a brief and unexpected encounter with Father Richard Morgan, one of our Camino scholarship winners. He had been walking the Camino for a second time, this time with his daughter. They were touring Casa Anglicana with Mother Anna. I happened to run into them on my way out to get the wine, cheese, and fruit we provide for our guests most afternoons. These gatherings on the patio, as well as the time between 7:30 and 10:30 each day in the breakfast room, are proving to be lovely opportunities to speak with pilgrims about their caminos and for them to share their experiences with each other and fellow guests. If you are in Santiago, stop by either with Mother Anna or on your own and say hello and have a look around. If you time it right, you may get a glass of wine and meet Bishop Carlos, one of our board members, or some of your fellow pilgrims.

A Walking and Working Board

Not only has our board been working, but we have also been walking or getting ready to walk.

Father John Beddingfield and his husband Erwin de Leon completed their second Camino, a Camino Inglés, this past summer, and are busy planning their walk for next June.

Edie Morrill and I leave Sept 21 for another Insiders Travel Tour on the Camino Portuguese. Fifteen of us spanning four decades will meet in Porto and then walk from Tui to Santiago, where on October 1, we will meet with another Insider Travel tour led by Joanna Wivell with a second group from Saint George’s, Nashville TN. Mother Anna Noon will celebrate the Eucharist for our combined group of pilgrims after which we will move to Casa Anglicana where Bishop Carlos has invited us for refreshment and a tour of Casa Anglicana before we go our separate ways for dinner. I will try to write a blog while I am walking. If you are interested in following our walk, please check my blog nancyelnorte.blog

In mid-October, board member Father Greg Foraker, will also be walking the Portuguese Route with a group of Pilgrims from Colorado. This will be his second time leading a group on the Portuguese Route in addition to five pilgrimages on the Camino Français.

Father Spencer Reese and a group from his church, St Paul’s in Wickford, RI, will begin their own pilgrimage after Easter next Spring.

While board member, Father Gary Manning’s planned Camino this past spring was delayed due to illness, he has been staying “camino ready” by riding his bicycle 500 miles across Iowa.

Mother Anna walked this summer on the Camino Primitivo but is now back at Santa Susana’s in Santiago, greeting pilgrims and ministering to their needs.

If you are planning a Camino pilgrimage and want her advice, her prayers, or to meet with her in Santiago, email her at revacnoonat@gmail.com.

If you want to stay at Casa Anglicana and add your hometown dot to our map of the world, go to www.booking.com and look for Casa Anglicana del Peregrino/Pension Santa Cristina.

I end with my usual and heartfelt thanks for your prayers, for your comments, and for your generosity. You have made Casa Anglicana a reality. Together we are fulfilling our mission. Ultreia y Suseia.