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Written by Jerry L. Van Marter
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Monday, 20 December 2010 18:34 |
El Paso/Ciudad Juarez (PNS)
The Presbytery of Tres Rios of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrated its 89th stated meeting Oct. 15 with an opening Communion Service at the fence that divides Mexico from the United States.
A group of 55 Tres Rios commissioners on the U.S. side joined 25 Mexican Presbyterians on the other side to worship together, offering a witness of unity and hope for the future of both countries and peoples. The communion elements were passed through the chain links in the fence.
Jose Luis Casal, general presbyter of Tres Rios and Jaime Duenas, the Mexican coordinator of Pasos de Fe Presbyterian Border Ministry, have been friends for years, but seeing each other through a fence distorted the relationship. “I had the sensation that I was visiting a man in jail,” Casal reflected, “or maybe I was the one in jail and not he.” National boundaries “change perspective, and the wire fabric of the fence distorts the vision and the image of things.”
Judy Fletcher, executive of the Synod of the Sun, preached on I Kings 19: 4-8 — the experience of the prophet Elijah when he received sanctuary from the angel of God.
“Elijah goes to sleep in the wilderness and is awakened by an angel who provides food for him. What Elijah experiences is sanctuary,” Fletcher said. “He receives rest and food with no questions asked, no provisional requirements. He was not asked for a green card. He simply received sanctuary.”
Fletcher challenged the makeshift bi-national congregation: “We too have received sanctuary in our own congregations. We have received the care and feeding with no questions asked. We have been taken in by a loving congregation. Maybe now we need to be about offering sanctuary to others who need food and shelter and a safe place to be.”
Information for this story furnished by Jose Luis Casal
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