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[Back to index of May-June 2010 articles]
By Lucy Chumbley
Washington Window
Vol. 79, No. 3, May-June 2010
On May 16, the two congregations of St. Matthew’s, Hyattsville will become one.
At the parish’s annual meeting, the Latino congregation, led by the Rev. Vidal Rivas, and the English-speaking congregation, led by the Rev. Noreen Seiler-Dubay, will formalize their unification agreement.
A new vestry will be installed, with six members from each congregation. And there will be two church wardens – also one from each group. The congregation will combine the Sunday collections and work together to develop a budget and to plan joint liturgical and social events.
The new arrangement is a natural progression in the relationship between the two congregations, Seiler-Dubay said, which have been gradually drawing closer since the Latino congregation moved to St. Matthew’s from St. Luke’s, Bladensburg in October 2008.
“It makes sense on many, many levels,” she said. “It makes so much sense.”
For one thing, she said, the neighborhood around the church is home to a burgeoning Latino community. For another, the English-speaking congregation is getting older, and finding the church buildings – among the largest in the diocese – harder to care for both financially and physically. (Gas bills alone run at around $3,400 a month.)
St. Matthew’s held its first bilingual service on Maundy Thursday 2009, and another at its annual meeting in May, where Mildred Rayes became the first Latina to be elected to the vestry.
Social invitations were extended. The Anglo congregation invited the Latino congregation to its Pancake Supper, and the Latino congregation invited the Anglo congregation to take part in its celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe in December.
“We had been coming to know them personally as well as sharing worship with them,” Seiler-Dubay said. The Latino congregation also has been helping with the maintenance of the church and grounds.
“It was clear they cared about the building,” she said. “And they wanted to do it because they could do it, instead of paying thousands of dollars for maintenance.”
In the summer of 2009, with the blessing of the diocese and the help of church growth consultant Bob Gallagher, the congregations began a “unity exploration process.”
“One of the things that was empowering was that from the very beginning, the rector and the vestry of St. Matthew’s were very receptive,” said the Rev. Simón Bautista, the diocese’s canon for Latino Ministries. Bautista initially approached Seiler-Dubay with the possibility of hosting the community when it was looking for a new home in 2008. “There has been also great support from the Bishop and from Paul Cooney.”
During the exploration process – which was not unlike pre-marital counseling – the two groups considered how they might handle money, expenses and the assets each would bring to the relationship. They discussed the scheduling of services, governance and property management.
“As part of this process, we had a large, joint parish meeting in February facilitated by the Rev. Frank Dunn (rector of St. Stephen and the Incarnation) and translated by the Rev. Allan Taylor-Johnson (rector of Epiphany, Forestville),” Seiler-Dubay said.
Members of both groups shared their fears and expectations and “found out again we had tons in common.” During a March 20 leadership retreat, also facilitated by Dunn, they discussed various committees they could establish jointly and shared a potluck lunch.
“It was clear this was the right thing to do,” she said. “The proof of it was the astronomical growth. This makes so much sense demographically.”
The Latino congregation began with around 60 members, but had grown to more than 200 within four months. Major feast days like Easter now draw upwards of 325 worshippers.
And there are “a gazillion young families,” Seiler-Dubay said. “It’s exciting for my congregation [who are mostly in the 48-65 age group] to see families again. It just brings so much energy back to the congregation, and for [the Latino congregation], they have a stable home.”
This energy was evident during Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s April 24 visit to the church for a service and celebration with the seven Latino communities of the diocese.
Strollers jammed the side aisles and the wooden pews were packed with small children squirming in their Sunday best.
In preparation for the service, the English-speaking and Latino choirs rehearsed together and produced a majestic swell of sound on the night, accompanied by Latino musicians on the keyboard, guitar and drums. (See soloist Roberto Carlos Perez perform Credo Nicaraguense during the service at edow.org)
“Getting ready for the Presiding Bishop’s visit is like the first big thing we’ve worked on together,” Seiler-Dubay said.
During the service, Rivas and Seiler-Dubay presented the Presiding Bishop with a stole of Our Lady of Guadalupe, just like one Rivas was given by the English-speaking congregation in 2009.
Asked if it is unusual to merge Latino and Anglo congregations in this way, the national church’s Hispanic/Latino Ministries officer, the Rev. Canon Anthony Guillén, said: “My guess is that we will probably be seeing more of it in the future.”
In Guillén’s opinion, separate congregations are not ideal – “having Latino congregations get started in an Anglo congregation as if they’re a sort of separate church.”
In some places, he said, struggling Anglo congregations rent their facility to stay afloat. “It’s one thing to charge rent to a different denomination,” he said. “I think when we’re in the same church, that’s not the best way to operate.”
Bautista said he hoped the St. Matthew’s experience would open the doors for future negotiations of this kind and “provide an opportunity to explore ways to bring together nested Latino congregations and English-speaking congregations into a more equal and permanent relationship.”
“I believe we are witnessing the birth of a new experience in the church regarding Latino ministry,” he said. “I believe this is a privilege that we are given that opportunity. I believe also it takes a great vision on the part of St. Matthew’s and a great confidence on the part of the diocese to let that happen.”
“The church is realizing more and more that our country is changing, the Latino population is growing and Latino ministry is a huge piece of the ministry of the Episcopal Church,” Guillén said. “I was pleased to hear about [St. Matthew’s] and pleased that the congregation is doing this. And I do believe that what is happening there could serve as a model.”
After the official unification of the two congregations of St. Matthew’s on May 16, members will celebrate with a June 6 Unity Sunday. And in 2011, St. Matthew’s will enter its bi-centennial year – together as one.
“It’s something good, it’s something new,” Bautista said. “They are excited.”
[Back to index of May-June 2010 articles]
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