A COVENANT between THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF THE CENTRAL REGION OF AMERICA (IARCA) and THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (ECUSA) Preface The origins of the Episcopal Churches in Central America and Panama, which date back to 18th century, are based fundamentally on the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, developed as follows: England administered two colonies in Central America: Belize (1783-1982), and the Miskitia (1740-1894), which were mainly located in the region of Nicaragua and Honduras. The natives of these islands were first evangelized by the Church of England through the missionary societies, specially the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). By 1742 the SPG sent the first lay missionary to the Nicaraguan Miskitia. However, the Church of England was unable to comprehend the difference between evangelization and cultural imposition. Thus, it failed to evangelize the Miskitia culture. By 1848, due to the commercialization of wood and bananas, cheap Afro-Antillean labor was brought to the region primarily from Jamaica. In 1896, the Bishop of Belize laid the cornerstone of the first Anglican Church, St. Mark’s Church, in Bluefields, Nicaragua. During the XIX century and into the beginning of the XX century, as the principal lender to the Central American countries, England exerted strong economic influence in the region. Consequently, many English businessmen came to Central America and chaplaincies were established to serve the spiritual lives of the entrepreneurs and diplomats. In 1867 the Iglesia de Cristo was established in Guatemala in the British Consulate and its chaplain was even part of the diplomatic staff. In Costa Rica a treaty between the government and England allowed for jurisdiction of the chaplaincies in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador was transferred from the Church of England to the Episcopal Church USA. In this way, in 1957 the Missionary District of the Episcopal Church in Central America was created with the Churches in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. David E. Richards was its first Bishop. He resided in Costa Rica. Until this point in time, the Anglican/Episcopal presence in Central America resided in the chaplaincies that served the immigrants and their descendents from the West Indies. These churches were strong in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. No evangelization emphasis to the natives in Central America existed, and there was no interest to create national and local churches which took into consideration the cultural factor. Supported by Lambeth 1958 and 1968, serious efforts were made in Central America to change from the system of chaplaincy (foreigner in a foreign land) to that of an indigenous, national, autochthonous church. Consequently, in 1967 the missionary dioceses of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica were created with the purpose of spreading the Kingdom of God in each nation and revealing the Anglican spirit in the local culture, as well as forming an autochthonous Anglicanism. 1
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 03:04:57 +0000
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