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In May 2011 the Most Rev. Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and Cameron Gray, a member of the Greening Anglican Spaces Team, sat down for a conversation around mission and the environment.

In this interview the Primate describes the mission of the church in line with God’s relationship with the earth. He describes how Canadian Anglican liturgy encourages us all to look at our engagement with God and creation in a new way.

He identifies climate change as a moral and spiritual challenge that demands a response from Canadian Anglicans. He notes the positive role both youth and Canadian Anglican bishops can play in responding to climate change.

The Primate draws on the Marks of Mission as a framework for understanding our role as stewards of the earth. He expresses a desire that Anglicans join with other faith communities to speak directly to government in seeking commitments on emissions reductions. Such advocacy is strengthened when we as a church reduce our own emissions through energy audit programs.

Finally, the Primate pleads for a new kind of economic development, nationally and internationally, that respects the rhythms of the earth and its peoples. He points to the way we use the earth, the way people who live there are impacted, and specially the impact on Indigenous communities.

In his own words, “we have tended to dominate, and walk over creation, rather than walk within it. And I think that’s what we need to learn to do. So walk humbly and gently upon this earth.”

• Give a Cuban priest a motorcycle

Transportation is expensive in Cuba, which makes it hard for priests to travel between multiple parishes and visit parishioners who are sick or in need of pastoral support. Many priests rely on expensive taxis, hitchhiking, or simply walking. A motorcycle offers freedom and mobility for those who minister.

• Sponsor a Cuban summer music camp
  Cubans love music and the diocese’s annual summer music camp in Havana is one of the church’s most important outreach events. Help Cubans reach out and transform their communities with powerful praise music.

Claudia Alvarez, global relations program associate
Phone: (416) 924-9199 ext. 270
Email: calvarez@national.anglican.ca

Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba website

1. Cathedral Institute: The Cathedral Institute is an ecumenical educational program introducing people to the basic tenets and practices of the Christian faith. The institute is housed in the Episcopal Holy Trinity Cathedral, Havana.

2. Martin Luther King Centre: Based in Havana, the Martin Luther King Centre (CMLK) founded in 1987, is a macro-ecumenical organization inspired by Christian faith. CMLK believes the Cuban people are actors in the spiritual, economic, and social challenges of the new millennium in Cuba. The centre is dedicated to scriptural and theological reflection, promoting human and ecological improvement, training local leaders. and community groups in popular education techniques and action, and supporting projects for urban agriculture and community development.

3. Christian Centre of Reflection and Dialogue: The Christian Centre of Reflection and Dialogue (CCRD) is a Cuban religious institution with a Christian worldview and prophetic ministry according to biblical teachings. CCRD goals include inter-Christian and interfaith reflection and dialogue, and inclusive community for social integration.

4. Cuban Council of Churches: For more than half a century the Cuban Council of Churches (CIC) has stood by its churches and people during economic unsettlement and natural disasters. The CIC is composed of 22 churches, 12 ecumenical movements, and seven associate organizations. The first purpose of the CIC is to give unity to the Christian churches of Cuba and to help unify Cuban churches with other churches around the world. The CIC encourages dialogue between different movements and institutions as a means for churches to expand their ecumenical vocation of service, thus deepening their responsibilities towards society and all of God’s creation. CIC also promotes study, dialogue, and cooperation among Christians to increase Christian witness and enhance life in Cuba. CIC’s Relief Committee is dedicated to providing relief during humanitarian disaster and building disaster response infrastructure.

5. Seminario Evangelico de Teologia: Seminario Evangelico de Teologia (SET) was established in the city of Matanzas in 1946 as an ecumenical training center. It is governed by a board of directors elected from the three establishing denominations: the Cuban Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches. The seminary provides high-level theological education for full-time ministry in churches and other Christian service endeavours throughout Cuba and elsewhere. Thousands of students representing more than a dozen Protestant denominations in Latin America and beyond have completed studies at Matanzas Seminary.

Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba is an autonomous diocese of the Anglican Communion under the authority of the Metropolitan Council of Cuba (MCC). MCC guides the Cuban church in matters of faith and order, and consists of the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, who is chairperson, the Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the West Indies, and the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. The MCC meets annually in Cuba at the time of the church’s synod in February.

The Right Reverend Griselda Delgado del Carpio is the current diocesan bishop of Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba. The Right Reverend Ulises Aguero Prendes is suffragan bishop.

A missionary diocese at its outset, Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba regards itself today in much the same way. It is active in evangelism that emphasizes social and humanitarian work. Cubans continue to experience daily economic challenges with the continuing trade blockade imposed by the USA in the early 1960s. Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba is similarly affected in its mission and ministry by financial and material restraints.

Young people and young families comprise a significant proportion of this growing church. There is clearly a spiritual hunger among people born after the 1959 revolution. Cuban Anglicanism, presenting the Christian faith as reasonable and intelligent, appeals to many.

Canada’s companionship with Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba works at a number of levels. Nationally, there are connections with the Cuban church through the Office of the Primate and Global Relations program, the Office of the General Secretary, and The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund.

Asked what Canada’s companionship means to Anglicans in Cuba, an elder priest from before the Revolution, said this: “During the dark days, when it was difficult to be a member of the church, when there was a lot of poverty, when there were holes in my shoes and sufficient money only for the essentials, Canada’s companionship was very important to us. Not just for the money we received but for the prayerful support we felt from our brothers and sisters in Christ in Canada. We will never forget that.”

The Diocese of Niagara today continues this legacy of friendship and prayer through a Companion Diocese Relationship. This companionship has over the past 15 years provided many opportunities for interchanges of people, prayer, and ideas. Church groups from Niagara diocese have visited Cuba, sometimes working together on a church project. Visitors from Cuba, including students, clergy, and lay people have visited the parishes of the Diocese of Niagara as speakers and leaders of mission gatherings and leadership camps. Parishes are twinned for sharing prayer concerns and thanksgiving, and seeking to learn more about each other’s lives.

And from time to time, individuals travel to Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba to participate in special events. This includes an August 2011 trip by Canadian nursing student Rebecca McLeod.

Cuba, known to many Canadians as a warm, seaside respite from winter back home, is also a large, underdeveloped agricultural country. Its compelling beauty and diversity of people, religions, land, and culture brim with passion and possibility. North Americans who know only Cuba only as a vacation destination might think about venturing further than its pristine beaches, waterfront resorts and Old Havana, as lovely as these are.

Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba hosts weekly Sunday worship and weekday prayers. Church members are keen to meet visitors in conversations about mission and outreach, liturgical revision and evangelism. Time and again, when traveling in Havana and in the interior and along the coastlines, one hears “Tell your people to come; your youth groups, clergy, musicians and seminary faculty. We miss you. We welcome you. Come with your gifts and skills and enthusiasm for praising God through worship, song, and mission. We face many challenges. We cannot do what is needed on our own. We must work together. Solidarity, companionship, being one with another in Christ will accomplish what must be done.”

Toward achieving “what must be done” Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba at its annual synod in February 2011 unanimously passed a Strategic Mission Plan containing major development areas, strategic directions and detailed implementation schedules.

Of critical importance in implementing the plan is the creation of a stable, reliable funding base over the next three years. Bishop Delgado states: “We have human and material resources, and local opportunities for skills training. What we really need is funding” for mission and for the upgrading of church infrastructure. Communications and information technologies, the restoration of parish buildings and properties, and transportation—the church’s  “hardware” for mission—is sadly out of date or out of service.

An equally important mission priority is strengthening the knowledge and skills of clergy and laity for community-based ministry, including training for social analysis, project proposal development, and local leadership. Bishop Delgado reminds us, “Mission begins with people, where they are with various needs, interests and skills led by trained, capable clergy and lay leaders.”

Other mission priorities include:

• Advanced scholarship and academic leadership at Seminario Evangelico de Teologia (SET), Matanzas
• Reaching Cuban youth with Christian alternatives to materialism and secularism
• Annual Music Festival
• Annual Youth Camp

It is Bishop Delgado’s intention to work toward the accomplishment of these goals with Cubans who work for liberty, mutuality, and community irrespective of denominational tradition, faith tradition, or government affiliation. She seeks to broaden and deepen her church’s regional and international mission and development partners, with a sincere and humble thank you to all who have accompanied Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba for many years.

Rev. Can. Pablo Odén Marichal Rodríguez
• Vieja Bermejas

Rev. Héctor Pablo Conde Suárez
• Cienfuegos
• Rodas

Rev. Julio Alonso Milián
• Santa Clara

Rev. Juan Antonio González Rodríguez
• Camagüey
• Jobabo
• Sibanicú

Rev. Iván González Tassé
• Jesús del Monte, Luyanó, C.H.

Rev. Emilio Samuel Martín Fumero
• Cárdenas

Rev. Evelio Enrique Pérez Rubí
• Esmeralda
• La Gloria

Rev. Aurelio Bernabé de la Paz Cot
• Céspedes
• Florida

Rev. Carlos Alberto Tamayo López
• Los Arabos
• Cuatro Esquinas
• Zorrilla

Rev. José Ángel Gutiérrez Ferro
• La Catedral
• Bacuranao

Rev. Alfredo Nuño Sierra
• Matanzas

Revda. Dra. Marianela de la Paz Cot
• Limonar

Rev. Armando Alfonso Delgado Orozco
• Guantánamo

Rev. Carlos Eduardo Expósito Irarragorri
• Baraguá
• Ciego de Avila

Revda. María Cristina Borges Alvarez
• Ceballos
• Morón

Rev. Halbert Pons Santana
• Santa María—Santiago de Cuba
• San Lucas—Santiago de Cuba

Revda. Diácona Lis Margarita Hernández Martínez
 • Also serving Matanzas

Revda. Tulia Yoset Sánchez Ortigas
• Sancti Spíritus

Rev. Miguel Armando Martín Ardao
• Vertientes
• Jobabo

Rev. Andrés Espinosa Marrero
• Florencia
• Perea

Rev. Gilberto Junco Sotolongo
• Also serving Cienfuegos and Rodas

Rev. Frank Miguel Fernández Triana
• Santa Cruz del Norte

Rev. Alexander Pedro Rodríguez Castellano
• Bartle
• Las Tunas
• Manatí
• Chaparra

Rev. Rody Pérez Risco
• Also serving Céspedes

Rev. Andrei Díaz Dorta
• Bolondrón
• Güira de Macurijes

Companionship has provided many opportunities for interchanges of people, prayer, and ideas. Church groups from Niagara have visited Cuba, sometimes working together on a church project. Visitors from Cuba, including students, clergy, and lay people have visited the parishes of the Diocese of Niagara as speakers and leaders of mission gatherings and leadership camps. Parishes are twinned for sharing prayer concerns and thanksgiving, and seeking to learn more about each other’s lives.

Cuba and Niagara’s covenanted diocesan companionship will be renewed in 2012. Learn more about this partnership on the Diocese of Niagara’s website.

• The Offices of the Primate and General Secretary support Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba and its senior leadership through the Metropolitan Council of Cuba (MCC). MCC guides the autonomous Cuban church in matters of faith and order, meeting annually in Cuba prior to synod. The Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, serves as MCC chair while former General Secretary, the Ven. Michael Pollesel. serves as secretary. Both the Primate and General Secretary travel to Cuba at least once a year to meet Bishop Griselda Delgado del Carpio and diocesan council, and to travel to different regions of the country. Bishop Delgado likewise travels to Canada for meetings and learning about local church priorities and programs.

• The Global Relations Program, in the Office of the Primate, oversees the administration of General Synod grants to Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba for theological education, youth and young adult ministries, clergy stipend supplements, pastoral emergencies, and special mission priorities, such as the annual music camp. Grants are derived from Anglican Appeal offerings by Canadian church members and other donations. Global Relations also makes it possible for retired Cuban clergy to receive pension benefits from The Episcopal Church.

In addition to grants and financial services, Global Relations participates in ecumenical consultations with Seminario Evangelico de Teologia and is the lead contact for Canadian and Cuban parishes and individuals seeking information.  The Global Relations Coordinator nurtures and develops relationship with Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba through regular visits with Cuban church partners, and through collaboration with General Synod Communications and ecumenical colleagues. (Read a March 2011 reflection in the Anglican Journal by Global Relations Coordinator Dr. Andrea Mann).

• The work of Faith, Worship, and Ministry is enriched and supported through participation in the Anglican Communion International Anglican Liturgical Commission wherein conversation and learning occurs with a Cuban commission member. Canadian representatives on the Anglican Consultative Council likewise meet and work with Episcopal Cuban church members.

• The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF)Latin America/Caribbean program emphasizes training for capacity building and advocacy, policy work, and the building and strengthening of networks and grassroots groups to affect social change and lobby for human, economic, social, and cultural rights. It supports organizations and individual efforts aimed at strengthening democracy and reducing or eliminating inequalities based on race, social class, and gender.

In Cuba, PWRDF partners with the Cuban Council of Churches, Martin Luther King Centre and Christian Centre for Reflection and Dialogues in the following areas: leadership development, sustainable agriculture and food production, and agricultural and environmental sustainability. Read more about the PWRDF partnership on their website.