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ElSalvadorLogoEncuentro is the Spanish word for encounter. As the Committee for the Companionship Relationship with the Diocese of El Salvador begins exploration of possibilities, it offers stories and reflections in the hope that the people of our diocese will gain encounters with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador.

The Diocese of Olympia is in discernment about the possibility of formalizing a relationship of accompaniment and mutual support with the Anglican Episcopal Church in El Salvador. The Church in El Salvador has developed friendships with many Episcopalians. These relationships grew in the 1980s and 1990s as El Salvador lived through a painful period of Civil War and then began to recover from the devastating effects of that war and enduring poverty. After the end of the war in 1992, Episcopal Relief and Development in conjunction with the Salvadoran Church began a significant long-term development project in the community of El Maizal.

The project included construction of houses, a school, a clinic, an agricultural school and experimental station, all with the goal of creating a self-sustaining community. Hundreds of Episcopalians from the U.S. came to work on building houses. This included about 40 people from the Diocese of Olympia from the churches of:

  • Resurrection, Bellevue
  • St. Thomas, Medina
  • Good Shepherd, Vancouver
  • St. Paul’s, Seattle
  • St. Matthews, Auburn
  • Christ Church, Anacortes
  • St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle

The bishops of Olympia, Vincent Warner and Greg Rickel, each developed friendships with Archbishop Barahona. Bishop Rickel recently appointed a companion diocese exploratory committee to explore possibilities of deepening the historic relationship between our dioceses. We see this to mean a relationship of mutual learning and growth, a mutual ministry of accompaniment. The church in El Salvador has some profound spiritual gifts to offer us and we can offer them our love and talents too.

Written by the Rev. Josefina Beecher

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Encuentro El Salvador – October 2013

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