The Bishop's Story

This is The Most Reverend Martín Barahona, Bishop of the Diocese of El Salvador since 1992 and Archbishop of the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America



Bishop Barahona met us at the Diocesan Center in San Salvador on the morning of our arrival.

From left to right we are: Michael, Molly, Fr. Tommy, John, Bp. Barahona, Joe, Susan, Me, Doris, Connie & Lois. Louise was not with us for this meeting. She is a managing nurse for the Maternity Ward at San Francisco General Hospital and was off for a visit to the main Maternity Hospital in San Salvador. That's a whole 'nother story that you can ask Louise to tell.

The Centro Diocesano is a lovely old building in a quiet residential area of San Salvador. The ubiquitous razor wire that covers all walls and roofs in San Salvador is the only clue to it's location. There are no machine gun toting guards in the driveway, although there is one in the driveway of the home across the street. Most homes in the area sport armed guards. But then again, we rely on alarm systems in the U.S. with armed response. This approach is quicker and cuts out the middleman, although it is visually unsettling.

Now Bishop Barahona is telling us his story. Actually, he is telling us three stories.

The first story is the history of the Episcopal/Anglican church in El Salvador---how it evolved from its beginnings as the house church for the staffs of the British and American Embassies in the early years of the last century and evolved into the Spanish-speaking indigenous church today---how after World War II, as the British Empire was receding and the American presence was growing around the world, responsibility for most of the churches in the western hemisphere shifted primarily to the Episcopal Church in the United States, while a few areas, such as Argentina and parts of the Caribbean remained the primary responsibility of the Church of England (a split in development that accounts, in part, for the divergent views of the Bishops in areas like Mexico, Central America, northern South America and Brazil, from the views of the Bishops in the Southern Cone)---and the challenges and opportunities facing the church in El Salvador today.

Bishop Barahona also tells the story of how he was one of the three bishops who laid hands on Gene Robinson as he was consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal Church....the first openly gay bishop. He tells how he still receives flack from the more.....ummmmh..."conservative" elements in the church for this act....He says that when he is sometimes asked, "Why do you support those homosexuals?" he responds: "I don't support homosexuals; I support human beings."

The third story Bishop Barahona tells us is a more personal one. Here is that story. Bishop Barahona has a lovely wife and two beautiful, intelligent and gracious daughters.

When the troubles began in El Salvador at the end of the 70's, Bishop Barahona was summoned by government authorities and told that he had 24 hours to leave the country. So, Bishop Barahona left that day with his wife and family to take up exile in Panama. They lived there for over 10 years. The Bishop told us that all of the colleagues that he had worked with in El Salvador were killed after he was forced to leave the country.

Ah....there was one last story that Bishop Barahona had for us. It was the story of how the Diocese had received a message from Elvira, with the Prison Ministry in San Miguel. It seems that some of the women prisoners have to sleep on the floor because of overcrowding; there aren't enough mattresses to go around. Is there anything we can do to help? The mattresses cost $20 each....about the price of 3 Burger King meals. We dig into our wallets. I hope the ATM machines work here.

Manuel's Story

This is Manuel' story. Manuel is a lay missionary. He lives in San Miguel. He is starting a ministry in the men's side of the San Miguel prison, like the ministry conducted by Elvira on the women's side of the prison.

Manuel is also working to establish a church in a marginalized settlement on the outskirts of San Miguel, called Las Brisas.

We drove with Manuel on the rough dirt trails through the area, past houses that were little more than piles of corrugated metal and discarded wood.

And we had the privilege of meeting famlies in the area and hearing their stories.

Finally we reached the location on a hillside overlooking the settlement, with cows grazing below. The views of the volcano in the distance with the city of San Miguel at it's base were magnificent.

We listened to Manuel tell, with quiet passion, his story of a dream for this community.

And we shared the peaceful moment of a sunset over this country that has such great heart.

The Acolyte's Story

This is the story of a girl and of her church. She is an acolyte at la Iglesia Anglicano de San Pablo in the settlement of San Juan de Letran in the Baja Lempe region of El Salvador. We attended services there on Sunday morning, March 9, 2008 and shared in Communion with the congregation.

This is a rural area, settled after the peace agreements primarily by former rebel combatants on land purchased and distributed under the terms of the peace accord.


Getting to church at San Juan de Letran involves dirt roads best traveled by cart or on horseback, particularly in the rainy season, when parts of the road must be nearly impassable. But the trip is worth it.

There is evidence of development activity with various NGOs and the European Union in the area. Like much of El Salvador, it is an area poor in material goods, and immensely rich in human spirit.





The new church building is beautiful, situated on a low hillside with shutters on all sides open to the breeze, and views of the surrounding countryside
















The people welcomed us warmly, the worship was heartfelt, and the singing was sublime.






























Click to join in the singing....

After the service we walked across the road to the site of a sustainable agriculture demonstration plot that Audrey, Eric, the deacon who lives a few houses away, and the jovenes, or youth of the church are building

This is also where the new clinic building is located. It is mostly an open air concrete block ramada, with locked rooms in the back to store supplies. A nurse visits the community once a week; the doctor and dentist visit once a month.

The day we visited, the community was getting ready to raise a simple roof over the open air cistern for the church. There was also a new water tank and generator for the agricultural project and clinic.

While I was standing next to the church talking with Eric and Noah and looking out over the surrounding countryside and enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze, I commented on the beauty of the place. Eric and Noah then told the rest of the acolyte's story.

"See that line of low hills about a mile away?" they asked me.

"That is called las lomas de los pajaros....the hills of the birds. During the violence, this area from the Rio Lempa eastward was controlled by insurgents. There was a government army base near the bridge across the river and a gun emplacement on the hills to the right. The government conducted a scorched earth campaign through this area, destroying everything. In October 1981 the soldiers formed a human cordon and swept all the villagers before them into a ravine where the hills of the birds reach the Rio Lempa. There the soldiers massacred 600 men, women and children." The La Quesera massacre is a living memory for the people of this area. Forensic teams sponsored by NGOs and foreign governments continue to search for remains and attempt to identify them. As the scattered remains are identified, they are given a Christian burial. For more detailed account of this work, check the website of the Central Baptist Church's El Salvador Partners Mission Group here http://salvadorpartners.blogspot.com/2007/01/nueva-esperanza-and-la-quesera.html