By Bishop Michael Rinehart
A lot has transpired since the days of the pandemic, when the President of the Lutheran Church of Peru, Pastor Adita Torres, died of COVID. Many know that Peru had the most COVID deaths per capita than any other country in the world: 6,000 per 1 million Peruvians. In Ecuador, it was 1,800 per million. In the U.S., 2,400 per million. The church was devastated.
When it became safe to travel again, we considered a synod visit. The church asked if only the bishops would come for this first time back and have a retreat with the pastors. Peru has three global companions, The LaCrosse Area Synod of Wisconsin, The British Columbia Synod, and the Gulf Coast Synod. In the fall of 2022, Bishop Felix Malpica and I went down for a visit. View some photos of that visit. It was a time of story-telling and a time of healing. There were many tears.
Then, last fall of 2023, the ELCA held the first Latin American Consultation since 2019, here in Texas, for leaders of the Latin American Churches and their companions in the U.S. and Canada. View photos of that event. Pastora Ofelia Dávila, the new President of the Lutheran Church of Peru, and Wendy Leyva, the treasurer, attended. We caught up and made plans for a synod visit in August of 2024.
In the past, more and more congregations became engaged in ministry with congregations in Peru, so the Synod trip grew larger and larger, peaking at somewhere around 55 or 60 people. It was a huge group to manage. After that, congregations started planning their own trips.
Tracy Mikes from Grace Conroe took people down to Peru to engage with their companion congregation, San Juan Camino de Esperanza. Christ the King Houston took folks to the congregations of Trujillo. Lord of Life visited their sister church, Filadelfia. Then the pandemic hit. Communication broke down. Congregations on both sides lost members and had leadership changes. The congregation-to-congregation relations came apart at the seams.
Our hope for this summer’s visit was to make a plan for the future. St. Paul Columbus took a group of youth and adults down at the end of July. Their sister church is Cristo Rey, but they did a lot of work at a non-denominal church whose pastor is the father of one of our translators through the years. I posted some of their photos in the Gulf Coast Leaders Facebook Group.
Our group went down August 1. July 28 is Peru’s Independence Day, so school is out the week following. It’s the best time for a visit from their perspective. View some photos from our visit. We took 17 people from the LaCrosse Area Synod and the Gulf Coast Synod. Those from our synod were from Holy Comforter Kingwood, St. Paul La Grange, Lord of Life The Woodlands, and Tree of Life Conroe.
Our trip began with an orientation, then a Children’s Festival with 100 children from the various Lutheran Churches in Lima on Saturday. On Sunday we divided into five groups and worshiped with five Lutheran churches, staying for lunch followed by conversation and a tour of the neighborhood. Monday, we met with leaders of the Lutheran Church of Peru, and Tuesday, we visited archeological and cultural sites to understand more fully the culture and history of the country.
On Wednesday, a member of the Lutheran Church of Peru Executive Council accompanied us to Cusco where we met with members of Talitha Kum Lutheran Church in Cusco and visited Machu Picchu. When the groups returned to the U.S., Bishop Felix and I stayed behind to meet with the pastors and leaders per their request.
Words cannot express the power of the visit and the many feelings that accompanied it. We learned volumes. When Adita died, Pastora Ofelia moved from San Juan over to Filedelfia where Adita had been serving. Ana Maria Jara was ordained pastor to serve San Juan.
Vida Nueva developed architectural problems that will cost a bundle to fix. Currently the congregation is not worshiping. Belén (Bethlehem) seemed to be stable, though they report no contact with their partner (Spirit of Joy). Likewise, St. Paul La Grange has not heard much from Immanuel Collique, so they may shift to Belén. Filadelfia is hanging there and trying to make some building improvements.
Pastor Cassandra Nagle (Lord of Life The woodlands) leading a participatory prayer in Spanish.
Jorge retired from serving the four congregations of Trujillo and they are struggling mightily. There is talk of closure and a significant conflict over building ownership. Leaders have asked us to put the relationship (with Christ the King Houston) on hold.
Cusco does not have a pastor right now and none are available. A pastor from Lima comes every month to provide the sacrament and provides an online presence the rest of the time. They are currently not holding worship, although children’s ministries are alive and well on Saturdays. Fiel es Dios, in the jungle, is remote and hard to reach. Their pastor was not able to join us. They are a sister church with Holy Comforter. Emaús does not have a building (or a companion congregation), so they worship outdoors.
The mighty women of Talitha Kum in Cusco, with Executive Councilmember Jesús.
The Lutheran Church of Peru pays its pastors with the help of an ELCA grant, which has been declining 5% per year. As a result, they are facing a $12,000 deficit. Offerings are minimal and don’t cover expenses. They have several health and justice initiatives that are covered through grants from the ELCA, the Lutheran World Federation, and the Lutheran Church in Germany. One of their top priorities is becoming a sustainable church. They asked our help in thinking through ways of getting there.
That’s the 30,000-foot view at this time. The church believes that congregation-to-congregation relationships are still life-giving and viable, but they know they will need more infrastructure to become sustainable.
Bishop Felix believes the best way we can help is to assist them in creating a fundraising structure. I concur. When serving communities of poverty, ministries must find outside sources of income. Given the unfavorable exchange rate between the Peruvian sol and the U.S. dollar, U.S. gifts go a long way. With an annual fundraising goal of $50,000, they could cover the deficit, pay the fundraiser, and have money for other ministries. They would need training, media savvy, and a robust web platform.
I am sharing this information with our Peru Team. If you would like to become involved, contact me or the Peru Team Chair, Pastor Alan Kethan, at pastor.akethan@gmail.com. In the meantime, would you consider adding the Lutheran Church of Peru to your prayers of the church on Sundays?
