Deputy Stated Clerk joins El Salvador gathering of Latin American Reformed churches

In February, the Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Latin America (AIPRAL) gathered in El Salvador, marking the first time the group has come together in person in several years due to the Covid pandemic. Kerry Rice, Deputy Stated Clerk in the Interim Unified Agency, joined the gathering on behalf of the Stated Clerk’s office as a representative of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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The purpose of the gathering, Rice said, was “to strengthen the connections between the AIPRAL regions — Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, and South America — as they prepare for the upcoming World Communion of Reformed Churches General Council meeting in October."

Initially founded in 1955 as the Commission for Presbyterian Cooperation in Latin America, the organization now called AIPRAL identifies its purpose as providing space for encounter, communion, solidarity and reflection between various Christian denominations that share common roots in the Reformed tradition. In 1997, AIPRAL became an area region for what is now known as the World Communion of Reformed Churches and took on its current name. It currently consists of 22 member entities.

According to AIPRAL’s website, the focus of its work has varied and expanded over the years, and has included:

• The study of the structural reality of Latin American churches
• The pastoral role
• The importance of Christian education
• Reformed identity
• The role of the denominational family in the social and political reality of the region
• The role of women in the church and society
• The promotion of youth leadership
• The care of creation and climate justice
• The proclamation and public advocacy for the construction of a culture of peace with social justice in the world.

Rice said the gathering served largely as time to prepare for the upcoming global gathering of the WCRC in October and included presentations around and discussion of policy papers related to the October event. This gathering was also an opportunity for member churches to strengthen the bonds of connection and explore issues of justice relevant across their varied contexts.

"It was a moment for the churches to come together to discuss migration, economic justice, environmental justice and gender justice, which are their priorities,” Rice said.

During the gathering, Rice also had the opportunity to share updates with the group about the significant changes happening within the PC(USA), including the unification of the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency into the Interim Unified Agency, and more specifically the restructuring of how the IUA approaches missional engagement around the world.

Rice acknowledged that there was some hurt, frustration and disappointment in response to the changes. However, there was also support.

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“There was a lot of ‘we’re praying for you and those impacted,’” Rice said, adding that those gathered expressed understanding that change is sometimes necessary and voiced their desire to help the IUA’s new model of global mission be successful.

The gathering of 27 individual participants including 16 delegates, six members of the AIPRAL Executive Committee, one person from the liturgical committee who planned and led worship, leadership from the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and four  leaders from IRCES (Iglesia Reformada Calvinista de El Salvador).

The choice to gather in El Salvador was significant, given that country’s history of political and social struggle. Many of the member churches of AIPRAL come from countries with their own complex histories of struggle. While the specifics vary, the experience of being a church at odds with the powerful in their respective countries is a common link.

In addition to presentations and conversation around these and other weighty topics, participants visited several significant local sites connected to the country’s violent period of civil war from 1979-1992. These sites included a memorial for all those who were disappeared by the government during this time, as well as a university where six Jesuit priests and two others were martyred. They also visited the crypt of Oscar Romero. Romero was a Salvadoran bishop who was a vocal critic of his government’s human rights abuses and an advocate for the poor and marginalized. He was assassinated while celebrating Mass in 1980.

Rice said visiting these sites and hearing the stories of the victims was emotionally powerful, especially given the United States’ complicity in the Salvadoran government’s abuses and violence against its own people.

“It was really powerful to be reminded of the government’s power to erase its real or perceived enemies,” Rice said, “and how [that government] believed it was above the law to take those actions.”

The gathering also included daily worship organized by Gerardo Oberman of the Reformed Church in Argentina. Oberman used worship as an opportunity to emphasize the shared bonds amongst AIPRALs members. Rice said they were instructed to each bring soil from their home countries which was mixed together into mud and then placed on each person’s forehead in the shape of the cross. Another time, they took fibers from each home country and wove them together into a net.

Rice said these worshipful moments helped those gathered “see and understand the wholeness of the community and that we're stronger together.”

The gathering offered a special and crucial opportunity for those present to remember what binds them: solidarity, connection and shared commitment to Christ’s love and justice. In the face of complex histories and ongoing challenges, Rice believes the work ahead is as much about strengthening relationships as it is about confronting the injustices of the past and present.