The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil is celebrating 125 years of mission this year. Episcopal News Service has the report.
“Following autonomy, though the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil maintained a strong connection to the U.S.-based Episcopal Church, it began to feel isolated. In 1990, at the time of the church’s centennial celebration, the primates of the two churches agreed to establish a bilateral committee to reconnect, re-establish friendships and encourage partnerships and companion relationships between the two churches.
“No church lives in isolation,” said the Rev. Glenda McQueen, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society’s officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, adding that the church is Brazil presents an opportunity for partnerships. “The church in Brazil is responsible for the mission of the church in this part of the continent, but the church in Brazil also needs and invites her brothers and sisters in the church in other parts of the world to come and share, to come and learn. To come and experience God in this context, and for us in The Episcopal Church this is a wonderful opportunity for mission and ministry.”
Being a young province of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil’s energy and abundant life serve not only as an example for others, but as an opportunity to be re-energized, to learn and to grow, and to share that energy, said McQueen.
The Episcopal Church continues to send missionaries to Brazil: Church-appointed missionaries Monica Vega and Heidi Schmidt are serving the province, and Young Adult Service Corps missionary Rachel McDaniel is serving the Diocese of Southwestern Brazil. Two additional YASC missionaries are expected to head to Brazil later this year. The Diocese of Central Pennsylvania and the Diocese of Sao Paulo, and the Diocese of Brasilia and the Diocese of Indianapolis have existing companion relationships.”