From a Lay Leader's Desk

Jun 15, 2024

 

God calls us to be in relationship with our siblings in Christ around the world.   Sister-church relationships are one way to build such relationships.

 

At Advent Lutheran Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, we have had a sister church relationship with a congregation in rural El Salvador since 2014. 

 

 

Sister church relationships with Lutheran Churches in El Salvador began during the lengthy civil war there (1980-1992).   At the outset of the war, government-affiliated forces assassinated the Catholic Archbishop, Msgr. Oscar Romero.   That was only the beginning of attacks on religious leaders.   In 1989, six Jesuit priests and their housekeeper were murdered.   At the same time, armed forces attempted to find Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez.   He had taken refuge in the German embassy and left the country briefly.  When he returned, he was accompanied by pastors and lay leaders from diverse international Lutheran churches, which helped protect the Bishop from government forces.

 

This began the tradition of the Lutheran Church in the United States and Europe, accompanying churches in El Salvador.

 

El Salvador is a very small country about the size of New Jersey, located on the Pacific coast of Central America. It is a very beautiful country plagued by significant poverty. The Lutheran Church is a very important force in the country. Today, it consists of 50 congregations plus 16 smaller missions. Of these, 42 churches have sister church relationships with congregations in the US and Europe.

 

Advent’s sister congregation is People of God/ Pueblo de Dios, located in Calderitas in the department of San Vicente.  Calderitas is located on the side of an inactive volcano.  The community was founded after the Civil War by people who had been displaced from their homes and lived in refugee camps during the war.  Many of them had lived at the Lutheran refugee camp Faith and Hope/ Fe y Esperanza.  Community members called on Bishop Gomez to help establish a Lutheran Church in Calderitas.  Most of the residents of Calderitas are subsistence farmers.  They grow corn and beans and some other crops.  The crops they grow are their primary source of nutrition.

 

Superficially, the lives of the People of God members are very different from those of New Yorkers, who commute by subway and live in an international, diverse metropolis. But our Christian faith brings us together. We pray for each other and for special needs in our congregation and in the People of God community, and we exchange information about our worship services and Christian education events.

 

 

 

This has been an inspiring experience for all of us, opening our hearts and minds to see each other with compassion.

 

A friendship delegation from Advent visits El Salvador every year. This helps us understand the current realities in El Salvador, the reasons for emigration, and the challenges faced by people who are deported back to El Salvador.

 

We also celebrate El Salvador Sunday at Advent one Sunday each year.   Pastor Christian Chavarria, the pastor of our sister congregation, joins us to preach the sermon and meet our members.

 

We encourage other MNYS congregations to consider sister church relationships with congregations in El Salvador! We would be happy to talk with you about this. Feel free to join us in our 2024 Friendship Delegation from July 9 to July 16.

 

For more information, please contact Norma Martin, Coordinator, Equipo El Salvador, at [email protected].

 

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