July network gathering

Mary, Soni, and Perry recently returned from the pre-Big Tent Guatemala Mission Network gathering on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus.

The national evangelical Presbyterian church (IENPG) may set up four synods – instead of just having one – and then have a national General Assembly.  One would be in northern/eastern Guatemala where most Q’eqchi’ presbyteries are.  But Amanda thought part of the impetus for this was the conservative southwestern presbyteries that have recently returned the fold trying to flex their muscle.  We might ask our presbytery partners about their thoughts on this, Amanda suggested. Certainly, Ramiro – who is now on the IENPG executive committee – would know something about that.

The IENPG had set up a network of “La Patria” schools – including two successful ones (one of these some of us visited in Coban) that really appealed to non-Catholic Ladino elites and had become a big cash cow for the national church.  But the IENPG siphoned so much money off from these schools that they have become less attractive – including with lots of competition from more and more non-Catholic schools – such that these schools are losing students and now losing money (instead of providing a big surplus for the national church.

The national Presbyterian seminary is also barely functioning – mainly hosting once-a-week classes for nearby Presbyterians – as well as providing staff and some resources for regional theological training programs, which many presbyteries have started on their own or with the seminary.

A backdrop is the 2014 re-release of some of the Walton funds – a fund that Sam and Helan Walton (of Walmart) set up based on Helen Walton’s mission trip travel to Guatemala and conversations with what is now PC(USA) World Mission staff – to support theological education with indigenous Presbyterians – but was frozen for seven years because of allegations of misuse. 

The IENPG met in May, repeated the stand it took vis-à-vis ordination of gays and lesbians with the new PCIUSA) stand on same-sex marriage – that they disagree but they want to stay in partnership with us.  The church has sent a letter to that effect.   However, one presbytery – Occidente – has apparently cut its ties with its U.S. presbytery partner, Minnesota Valleys, because of the PC(USA) stand on same-sex marriage.

One of the speakers to both the joint Guatemala and CEDEPCA mission network portion of program emphasized the ongoing political activity in Guatemala, with charges of corruption and the resignation of the vice president and unheard of protests that even Presbyterians, both Ladino and perhaps indigenous have gotten involved in.

We also heard from Teresa Waggener, the PC(USA) Office of the General Assembly immigration staffperson who talked at Cedar Ridge last September about the arrival of unaccompanied children in the United States.  Teresa emphasized that a federal judge has recently opened up the possibility of closing corporate family immigration prisons just completed, and also how Donald Trump’s rhetoric has attached itself to a Congressional effort to deny federal law enforcement assistance funds to “sanctuary” cities and counties that refuse to use traffic stops, etc. to enforce immigration laws.  Teresa also decried a Congressional effort to tie foreign aid to effective immigration law enforcement (Guatemala only get foreign aid if Guatemalans quit coming to the United States), along with U.S. aid to Mexico to expand its efforts to stop and deport Central Americans trying to cross through Mexico to get to the United States.

Amanda led a discussion about the possibility of a 2017 Guatemala mission network gathering that would be a travel seminar possibly on secular education, theological education, and health education – even subdividing perhaps.

Earlier on Hunter Farrell, PC(USA) World Mission director (pictured above), shared with us World Mission's struggles, including the mid-term re-call of four PC(USA) mission co-workers from Brazil and South Sudan, the possible re-call of as many as mission co-workers in a year or two if financial trends continue, continued efforts to solicit financial support for World Mission partnership efforts, and continued efforts to get much more than the 15-20% of PC(USA) congregations that are connected with World Mission and/or PC(USA) mission co-workers.  On the other hand, Hunter argued that he believes the denomination has turned the corner from pure congregationalism, as more and more congregations/Presbyterians realize the importance of staying connected with other Presbyterians/Christians - via not only the PC(USA), U.S. presbyteries, and other congregations but also via the PC(USA) and its partners around the world.

The largest amount of time for the gathering was taken by worship/Bible study led by CEDPCA staff/leadership - especially Judith Casteneda - which included participants reading the Mark passage about Jesus' followers encountering him on the road to Emmaus and using the Listen/Judge/Act method of biblical interpretation to understand/apply it.   

Lots of CHPC folks on the PC(USA) staff were at Big Tent (along with Elisabeth and her family).  At the Guatemala gathering were lots of old friends of CHPC Guatemala mission, including:  Ellen Dozier, Amanda Craft, Ellen Sherby, and Sandi Thompson-Royer.

-Perry