July 2024 Mission Update
Dear Friends,
The 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church has come and gone and the hot days in Louisville, Kentucky have followed me home to Rhode Island. Happily, thanks to the wonders of air conditioning, it has been possible to be comfortable and productive in both places.
General Convention Recap
The General Convention in Louisville was my second convention representing the Friends. The first was in Austin, Texas, in 2018. The United Thank Offering (UTO) had given Bishop Carlos table space for one day to promote his Santiago Anglican Centre initiative. He invited me to join him. Our table was a crafter's masterpiece--self printed material on top and our logo taped to the front. As the Bishop was interviewed by a local TV station, I gave away 25 scallop shells and fans with dots representing the various places the Spanish Episcopal Church already ministered to pilgrims. We collected a couple dozen names of people interested in our project. One shell was taken by Mother Laurie Brock, now rector of St. Michael’s, Lexington, KY. Last year she did the Portuguese Camino on horseback (as shown in the photo below.) In one short day the UTO had given the Friends our first opportunity to present the case for an Anglican Centre in Santiago.
Six years later, at the just-concluded Louisville convention, Bishop Carlos‘ dream is a reality. The Centre is open, and ministry is flourishing.
The eight days that Edie Morrill and I spent on the Exhibition Hall floor were productive. Our maroon and blue backdrop is now familiar sight to many. Our shells are much in demand. We gave away 700 before we ran out. Our distinctive blue and yellow tee shirts were proudly worn. We connected with old friends, a former Camino scholarship winner and several board members. We put faces to names we knew only from emails and greeted others we had met only on Zoom. We made good progress filling our 2025 Rota for Pilgrim Clergy and we added 150 new friends to our Anglican Centre family.
At Kentucky Night, Mother Laurie Brock talked about her equine experience (shown in front of the Santiago Cathedral in the photo a left) to a sold out audience. Afterwards she stopped by our booth. Who could have known a simple scallop shell on a red string would have such an effect on so many of us!
Before the convention ended, I was able to thank outgoing UTO President, Sherri Dietrich, for the UTO’s faith in and support of our project. We have come a long way in six years.
Ministry at Casa Anglicana and Santa Susana
Across the ocean in Santiago, our mission is being lived every day in new and wonderful ways. Casa Anglicana continues to be a happy place for pilgrims to gather and rest. In a previous newsletter, I introduced you to Deacon Anita Miner and wrote about her ministry. You can read her reflection on her three months in Santiago here. After Deacon Anita's departure, Dean Emeritus Robert Willis and Fletcher Banner arrived, bringing with them their usual high level of hospitality and care. As I write this, Fr. Chris Stone from the Church of England and his wife are in residence at Casa Anglicana. For the remainder of the pilgrim season, clergy from the Episcopal Church, the Church of England and the Episcopal Convocation in Europe will share pilgrim care. It is gratifying to watch this growing collaboration come together. Long may it serve.
Also in Santiago, Daniela (Munhil) Kim, a Presbyterian missionary who regularly attends services at Santa Susana, has offered to help keep the church open several additional afternoons a week. Her ability to speak English, Spanish and Korean is much appreciated by the increasing number of pilgrims and tourists who come up the hill to visit the church.
Congratulations to Board members John Beddingfield, who completed the Camino Sanabrés from Ourense and avoided any ill effects from being photographed in a bush of poison hemlock (when he still thought it was Queen Anne's lace), and to Fletcher Banner, who just finished walking the Camino Inglés.
Looking Ahead
Zoom in for a visit with us. Over the next two weeks we have scheduled seven zoom meetings. We would love to see you at one of them. Register on the link below.
July 24 – 10:00 am
Zoom link for July 24
July 25 – 6:00 pm
Zoom link for July 25
July 26 – 4:00 pm
Zoom link for July 26
July 30 – 9:00 pm
Zoom link for July 30
July 31 – 10:00 am
Zoom link for July 31
August 1 – 6:00 pm
Zoom link for August 1
August 2 – 4:00 pm
Zoom link for August 2
Looking Further Ahead
In October, Edie and I will be walking the Camino Inglés, a first for both of us. We will be taking a “self-guided” tour and plan to see how Casa Anglicana compares to other small hotels. When we finish, we’ll do some work at the Casa and go to Padron to have dinner and spend the day with board member Greg Foraker as he leads his 8th Camino tour.
We are excited to offer a special program at the Casa January 12-18, 2025. A chance meeting with Hugo Olaiz at General Convention has resulted in our first Spanish language offering. Hugo, the Assistant Editor for Latino/Hispanic Resources of Forward Movement and translator of the newly published bilingual Book of Common Prayer will teach a weeklong course for beginner and intermediate Spanish speakers entitled “Spanish Language and Culture in Santiago de Compostela”. Space is limited. For further details, send a message through our website.
A Baptism at Santa Susana
I want to finish with another example of our ministry in Santiago. Katherine Hammond from Alpharetta, Georgia, wrote to our website last March, asking if it would be possible for her to be baptized at Santa Susana at the end of her pilgrimage. I forwarded her request to Bishop Carlos. On June 22, surrounded by her family and her “Camino family”, Katherine was baptized by Bishop Carlos in the baptistry of Santa Susana.
I am honored to be one of her Godmothers, but the glory is to God alone. The Camino changes lives in many ways. It is a privilege for the Friends to be a small part of some of these transformations. With God’s help and your prayers and support we will continue the work we have only just begun.
As always, I thank you for your prayers and your support,
Nancy H. Mead, Board President