September 12 gathering

Crescent Hill folks interested in the Guatemala mission partnership gathered Saturday morning at Perry, Stephanie, and Vincent’s in St. Matthews for cheesecake, conversation, and partnership planning. Ellen reviewed the situation in Guatemala: President has declared a state of “calamity” because of a drought that – coupled with rising inequality and the global depression – has widespread hunger threatening Guatemalans – but the Guatemalan Congress has so far rebuffed. The individuals apparently responsible for killing the critics of the president have been identified – but it’s still not clear who was really behind the killing. And Guatemalan courts actually convicted some Guatemalans involved in paramilitary groups during the civil war for some killings of indigenous peoples during that time.

(Ellen noted that Church World Service and Heifer international are apparently two groups doing hunger relief and development work in eastern Guatemala, which might be recipients of Crescent Hill folks’ benevolence. The Central American theology institute – with which visitors-to-be Delia Leal and Dennis Smith are both connected – known by the acronym CEDEPCA – may also take up some development work soon.)

The group talked about next weekend’s Guatemala mission weekend, including the Saturday, September 19 fast and food vigil. Ana, Andrea, and Perry will be meeting at 5:30 p.m. Friday afternoon at the sanctuary to tape out the labyrinth course for the vigil. Participants will have the option of going back and forth through the pews, an easier course going through aisles, or sitting quietly and praying. Folks started signing up last weekend for 20-minute time periods. Ana et al. will be setting up 13 stations – one each for each of the Estoreño presbytery’s 10 churches and one each for the presbytery executive committee, women’s group, and youth and young adult group. Each station will have a photo, a piece of Guatemalan cloth, and a candle. Perry had distributed written information for people interested in participating in the fast and prayer vigil at home. This will be available in the Narthex on Sunday.

(Jane asked folks Sunday to make sure the sign-up sheet, the vigil at home info sheet, and the other Guatemala mission paraphernalia is back in the Narthex/Gathering Room, since some have been removed for Krysta and Ryan’s wedding.)

Perry asked about putting together an information similar sheet for in-the-sanctuary participants.

Folks then talked about the events to follow: the sermon by Delia Leal, for whom Ellen will translate during Sunday worship, on September 20; and the talk that Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker Dennis Smith will give – about “The Current Situation in Guatemala,” – or perhaps “The Church and the Current Situation in Guatemala” (or "The Current Situation in Guatemala (and the Role of the Church)." Perry and Stephanie will bring dessert for this event, and Patti has arranged for child care. Jane and Soni talked about arriving early to help make coffee and set up. Ellen also suggested Perry talk with Patti about asking that the Fellowship Hall be set up too, in case there is a big crowd (the talk is scheduled to be in the Fireside Room, which fits about 20.) Very late in the gathering Soni also volunteered to work with Perry to try to get the word out about the Sunday and Monday events – Reverend Leal’s sermon and Dennis Smith’s talk – to external folks. Martha had also suggested a possible Bellarmine contact.

(Afterwards, Stephanie and Perry made a reservation for lunch at Havana Rumba for after the vigil and ordered a cake for during the Dennis Smith talk. At the tail end of the vigil will be a short (10-minute?) service. Thanks to Men’s Breakfast for postponing for a week to Saturday, September 26!)

Ellen also spurred folks to think about helping host, transport, and entertain the two speakers. Reverend Leal will arrive at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at the Louisville airport and Jane may stop on the way back from the presbytery meeting to greet her. Carlos, Nora, and Ana may eat lunch with Reverend Leal after worship. Jane may go out to lunch Monday with both Leal and Smith. Ellen wasn’t sure when Smith was flying into Louisville from Canada. Leal will stay with Alice Winter at the Furlough Home. Smith may stay with Perry, Stephanie, and Vincent. Jane is going to see additional hosting/entertaining/transporting help from other CHPC folks. More on this later.

At several different times Crescent Hill folks talked about communicating with Estoreño folks by e-mail. Ellen had found a short Spanish-language piece on ecumenism which Carlos helped edited, and then Carlos, Ana, and Perry worked on a statement about Crescent Hill/Louisville news (fast and prayer vigil, other weekend events, Shannon’s illness and Annie’s incarceration, flooding). After Carlos and Ellen e-mailed these to El Estor, Rene e-mailed back that they had received these. Crescent Hill folks reviewed a little of the joint scripture studies: In April reps from the two groups decided both would jointly study Acts 2. Crescent Hill folks had sent some materials about Acts 2, which includes the story of Pentecost. In the relatively long phone conversation between – mainly – Carlos and Gerardo – at the August gathering, Carlos mentioned that seeing the word ecumenism made them wonder, since some Guatemalan evangelical leaders (and others) have targeted this word – which is supposed to describe church unity – as no good. That motivated Crescent Hill folks to e-mail attach the ecumenism information.

When Carlos (pictured below, holding the phone) called Gerardo – this time on a speaker phone so everyone at Perry, Stephanie, and Vincent’s could hear – even though this time Carlos surprised Gerardo, who was warned in advance about the call in August – Gerardo said Estoreño folks would talk about this text at the meeting (which apparently – like the any Mid-Kentucky Presbytery meeting like the one next Saturday during and after the vigil and lunch) will include not only the presbytery executive committee, but at least one pastor and one elder from each congregation. Youth and young adult reps but not women’s reps might be there. The meeting will be at the Espiritu Santo church, the church that both the 2007 and 2009 Crescent Hill mission teams stopped at last, among Izabal churches. Apparently at this meeting the presbytery will officially with a new church that seven evangelical Presbyterian families that recently moved to El Estor started a new church called New Dawning (?). Apparently the presbytery will formerly incorporate this new congregation at the meeting. Work on constructing a building for the new church has begun, with the search for materials (including money to buy materials) always paramount. Gerardo also mentioned that his father died two weeks ago. He asked about whether would be visiting soon (more on this later). Asked about the drought, he said they are expecting rain very late , which apparently throws off their planting (and may include getting too much rain – flooding? – later). Discussing future theology statements, Carlos and Gerardo talked about some of the church unity-related scripture passages about which the Crescent Hill group had talked before: John 17, Ephesians 4, Galatians 3, Romans (?). (Later some Crescent Hill folks asked that others translate the (relatively short) ecumenism text that Estoreño folks were to discuss at their presbytery meeting this coming Friday and Saturday (posted on this blog, earlier on, in the Spanish-language original) so that all Crescent Hill folks could understand it.

Crescent Hill folks bid Gerardo adieu and followed up on several issues: Jane said that an intergenerational mission trip to El Estor – like the one in 2007 – was probably a year and a half off – partly because the Presbyterian Triennium is this coming summer, and it was a lot for Crescent Hill young people to go to both. Jane raised an option that Crescent Hill folks have discussed among themselves, but not with Estoreño folks – the possibility of sponsoring a joint retreat/study in or near Guatemala City – at the Mennonite seminary then staff partly by Soila and Jeff, where the spring mission team stayed before and after visiting El Estor or, suggested Ellen, at the Lake Amatitlan camp that held the November 2008 Guatemala mission network gathering that reunited Ellen, Stephanie, Gerardo, and Pastor Pablo and helped inspire the Crescent Hill-Estoreño partnership. Jane thought it would be easy to raise money from Crescent Hill folks, who could help sponsor Estoreño folks to travel and attend such a retreat. Jane also mentioned the possibility of a “reverse” mission trip of Estoreño folks to Louisville, which we have discussed vaguely before. Jane also mentioned another possibility previous discussed: sending someone – a la Luke going to Alaska as a Young Adult Volunteer this school year – to El Estor for an extended period – perhaps a summer, perhaps longer.

Perry reported that the Crescent Hill Outreach Council has recommended to the Stewardship Council and Session that the Guatemala mission partnership get its own church budget line item in 2010, but the council wanted the task force to ask for a specific amount. Folks at the gathering suggested $1,000, which – because of the nature of the church partnership fund – would hold over to help fund trips in future years if need be.

Carlos, Nora, and Ana invited folks to a monthly meal at James Lee Memorial Presbyterian Church with some Spanish-speaking people who might be among the students at the joint James Lee-Covenant Community-Crescent Hill English as a foreign language ministry, running for six weeks – with a meal and children’s activities – on Monday and Wednesday evenings, 6-8 p.m. – James Lee, at 7 p.m. later Saturday. Stephanie and Perry also invited folks to the Fiesta Latina, at New Albany’s St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church at 6 p.m.

Not discussed was when and where the next Guatemala mission task force gathering would be. Possible dates are 9:30 a.m. Saturday, October 10, October 17, or October 24 – important to do it relatively soon if we’re trying to ask Estore o folks about a possible study retreat and then arrange it with them in Guatemala this coming spring, summer, or fall – possibly, again, at Brad and Soni’s – or, perhaps even better, rotating at someone else’s place. Any volunteers?

-- Perry