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Note #6289 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

5-December-2000
00432

U.S. and Cuban Presbyterians celebrate partnerships

Dramatic tour of formerly atheist nation is "the culmination of a dream"

by Jerry L. Van Marter

HAVANA -- After the American Presbyterian visitors were greeted by their
Cuban Presbyterian hosts in the town of San Nicolas, "Sonia" sat down at a
rickety piano in the sanctuary and played the Cuban national anthem.

	The tinny notes of the old piano rang like a melody from a honky-tonk
saloon.

	Then -- stunningly -- Sonia played "The Star-Spangled Banner." And finally,
accompanied by an octogenarian soloist, "How Great Thou Art."

	When the music ended, there was not a dry eye, Cuban or American, in the
house.

	"This shows that, even in a Communist country, God can break down all
barriers," said the Rev. Hector Mendez, the pastor of First Presbyterian
Church of Havana and moderator of Havana Presbytery, one of the three
presbyteries of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba (IPRC).

	            "Partnership of partners"

	Twenty-seven U.S. Presbyterians traveled to Cuba on Nov. 13 for an
eight-day "Celebration of the Iglesia Presbiteriana Reformada en
Cuba-Presbyterian Church (USA) Partnership in the New Millenium." The
visitors represented eight presbyteries in the United States that have
partnerships with IPRC presbyteries. They were greeted by more than 20 IPRC
officials in this first-ever gathering of all the partners.

	"This is the culmination of a dream (that originated) in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, three years ago," said the Rev. Dean Lewis, a retired longtime
PC(USA) national staff member who heads an informal network of Presbyterians
called "The Cuba Connection."

	Noting the proliferation of PC(USA) partnerships with the Cuban church
since South Louisiana Presbytery formed the first formal agreement with
Matanzas Presbytery in 1986, Lewis said, "We dream of a time when all
partners work together and share information and resources, so these
bilateral partnerships become a unity."

	Lewis coined the term "partnership of partners" to describe that dream.

	The dream was quickly embraced by participants in the celebration. Through
worship, Bible study, storytelling and intense conversations, they strove to
develop a consensus on what a unified network of partner presbyteries might
look like. On their final day together, Nov. 20, all the participants
endorsed a statement titled "Sharing God's Vision."

	The document envisions partnerships characterized by Bible-based
spirituality; more open lines of communication; closer coordination;
financial accountability; strategic planning; and advocacy for normalizing
relations between Cuba and the United States.
	
	            Hardship and growth

	Despite the suffering of the Cuban people during Castro's stagnating
revolution and the U.S. embargo that for 41 years has failed to topple the
Castro regime, the IPRC is growing; the evangelism and social ministries of
its 30 congregations seem pretty much unhindered by the government or the
harsh economic reality of life in this island nation.

	Cuban Presbyterians don't spend much time pondering the failures of the
revolution or the crushing burden of the embargo. "Everybody asks what we're
going to do after Fidel," noted a bemused Rev. Ismael Madruga, the IPRC
moderator. "We don't know! We don't have anything to do with that! The
church belongs to God!

	"We need your prayers, because we have a lot of situations to solve here,"
Madruga told his PC(USA) partners, "and we pray for you -- because you do,
too!"

	The IPRC's litany of needs sounded familiar to the U.S. visitors: too few
pastors, too many buildings in need of expansion or repair, too little money
to address the problems of Cuban communities.

	Although medical care, housing and education are free in Cuba, basic
necessities are expensive, wages are paltry, and staple foods such as beans
and rice are rationed. IPRC pastors are paid an average of about $20 a month
-- nearly double the average income of Cuban workers. The Cuban peso has
little buying power, so many professionals -- doctors, lawyers, engineers
and the like -- drive taxis or work in other tourist-related industries
where they can earn dollars.

	Cuban Presbyterians are unapologetic about needing money, but they keep
their financial needs in perspective. "We will never beg," Madruga said. "We
will tell you our necessities, and then it's up to you."

	The U.S. delegation visited several churches that have been restored in
recent years. Improved trade with countries other than the United States has
made construction materials more available and affordable in the past few
years. Admiring the sparkling condition of First Presbyterian Church in
Santa Clara, southeast of Havana, the Rev. Dick Ploth of Long Island
Presbytery said, "When I was here two years ago, this place was falling down
and every window was broken."  Much of the reconstruction was financed by
Long Island Presbytery.

	Similar transformations greeted the delegation in the towns of Remedios and
Camajuani. The church in Remedios, which two years ago was in such poor
condition that it could not be used, now looks brand-new. In Camajuani, many
windows are broken and plaster is missing from large sections of the
ceiling, but repairs are under way. U.S. partners have been instrumental in
those renovations, too.

	            1990: A turning point

	In 1959, shortly after the revolution, Castro declared Cuba an "atheist"
state. For the next 30 years, life was very difficult for the church in
Cuba. In 1962, all private Cuban schools, including the IPRC's prestigious
Colegio Progresiva in Cardenas, were nationalized. Castro's hostility to
churches, combined with the U.S. sanctions, made it almost impossible for
U.S. Presbyterians to visit or support their sister churches on the island.

	Two-thirds of the IPRC's pastors fled in the years just after the
revolution. Church attendance dwindled to a handful -- even at Havana First
Church.

	But in 1990 came the meeting that every IPRC leader calls "a turning
point." After meeting with a delegation of Cuban religious leaders, Castro
declared that Cuba was a "secular" state, rather than an "atheist" one.

	This seemingly innocuous change, of which U.S. Christians were barely
aware, had a profound effect on Cuban churches. "This was the work of the
Holy Spirit," Madruga said, "and since then people are flocking to the
churches."

	On Nov. 19, folding chairs had to be set up in the narthex of Havana First,
as more than 400 worshipers packed the pews of the sanctuary. Before the
thaw with Castro, Mendez recalled, "We were fortunate to have 50 people in
church on Sunday."

	"We say 'Halleluia!'" Madruga said, "but it was very difficult at first,
because we weren't prepared. It is much better now." He noted that many new
programs have been started, including a national youth organization founded
last year. "Our 30 churches are very alive churches," he added, "and I'm
sorry I can't say that about all the PC(USA) churches I've visited."

	The IPRC, like the PC(USA), is facing a clergy shortage. Only 20 pastors
serve the 30 churches, 15 preaching points and 5,000 members that now
comprise the IPRC. But that situation looks ripe for a turnaround: 15
Presbyterians are now enrolled in the ecumenical seminary in Matanzas, a
cooperative institution of Presbyterians, Anglicans and Methodists. If all
15 complete seminary and go into pastoral ministry, the shortage will be
largely alleviated.

	The Matanzas seminary is in partnership with McCormick Theological Seminary
in Chicago (the Matanzas and Chicago presbyteries are also partners). Daniel
Rodriguez, a delegation member who teaches at McCormick, and the Rev. Dora
Arce, a Matanzas pastor who also teaches there, said the partnership has
enriched both schools through student and faculty exchanges and helped the
Matanzas seminary improve its library and add needed dormitory space.
	
	           Causes for celebration

	"The word 'celebration' is accurate for this gathering," the Rev. Carlos
Emilio Ham, pastor of Luyano Presbyterian Church in Havana and the IPRC's
general secretary, told his Cuban hosts and their American partners. "This
is a joyful feast of these people of God, to be together in partnership. But
there is a far deeper and spiritual meaning -- to prepare ourselves, in both
countries, for service in our churches and societies, as the relationship
between our countries changes."

	Asserting that a warming of U.S.-Cuba relations is "a matter of when, not
if," Ham said , "This gathering will be famous, as we take these stories
back to our countries, churches and people."

	Two bittersweet ceremonies were part of the "celebration."  

	The Rev. Homer Rickabaugh, associate for international presbytery
partnerships in the Worldwide Ministries Division, is retiring at the end of
this year. A "Noche Cubana" party on Nov. 15 celebrated his 12 years of
service in building partnerships between PC(USA) presbyteries and partner
presbyteries around the world.
	And Ham is preparing to leave Cuba -- for Geneva, where he will become
director of evangelism for the World Council of Churches. Mendez, a member
of the WCC's Central Committee, called Ham's departure "a hole for us here
in Cuba, but a real blessing for the global Christian community."

	A Nov. 19 morning worship service at Havana First Church included a service
of special recognition of Lewis; Julia Ann Moffett, the WMD's coordinator
for Cuba, the Caribbean and Central America; and Lucy Fetterolf of Long
Island Presbtery, who has been involved in PC(USA)-IPRC partnerships since
the early 1980s, for their tireless efforts to build bridges between the
people and churches of Cuba and the United States.

	            Bible study: "Let's go see how they are"

	Participants in the celebration spent several hours a day in Bible study,
and with the help of able scholars, found much to guide them on their way.

	"We are doing what Paul and Barnabas did," Cuban theologian Rene
Castellanos told the group, citing Acts 15:36 ("Come, let us ... visit the
believers in every city ... and see how they are doing."). To go and see
others requires movement, he said, quoting British theologian Leslie
Newbegin: "The church is an excursion, not an institution."

	Sometimes movement produces collision, or conflict, he said. In conflict
situations, Castellanos said, "the church must seek conciliation. We must
not cross our arms and accept it."

	Three Pauline criteria for resolving conflict must be held in balance, he
said: the tradition of the church (I Cor. 15:7); the witness of scripture (I
Cor. 15: 13-18); and personal experience (I Cor. 15: 8-12). Again referring
to Newbegin, Castellanos said Roman Catholics rely too much on tradition,
Protestants too much on scripture and Pentecostals too much on personal
experience. "The church universal must balance all three," he concluded.

	The Rev. David Cassie, executive presbyter of West Jersey, found parallels
to contemporary Cuba-U.S. relations in Ephesians. Noting that Ephesus was a
crossroads, a cosmopolitan international port city with many cultures trying
to coexist, he said: "We are all prisoners of our own cultures. That's why
we have these relationships, and why we must visit each other."

	Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Cassie went on, Paul "simply
concluded that all these disparate folks were one, and declared that the
wall of separation is down." That was an act of faith, not intellect, he
said, and faith can only come from worship -- "that act by which we gain our
extraordinary perspective on God."

	God's act of creating community out of diversity is the biblical concept of
koinonia, Rickabaugh said. While leading a Bible study on Philippians, he
said that Pauline letter "is a clear and strong reminder of what it means to
be partners in proclaiming the gospel." He noted that the concept of
koinonia as sharing translates into Spanish as "participating with me." This
sharing of the gospel and community "is the key element of partnership," he
concluded.

	            The road ahead: patience and prophecy

	A failing Cuban revolution and a stubborn U.S policy on Cuba have combined
to make the road ahead for IPRC and PC(USA) partners a hard one to find,
much less to stay on.

	"The lack of information and bad information have created many stumbling
blocks," said the Rev. Carlos Camps, an IPRC elder statesman. "The work you
have done is not easy," he told his American guests, "and will continue to
require much patience."

	Fetterolf praised the churches' relationship as "a single community of
faith working together." Urging continued unity and efforts to involve more
Presbyterians in both churches, she said, "We know that when a general
marches out without an army, the war is lost."

	The Rev. John Best of Long Island Presbytery said stories of the Cuban
church "give hope to our small churches and to our formerly large churches
that have shrunk. The growth of the church in Cuba shows us that renewal is
possible anywhere."

	The Rev. Muriel Miller of Chicago Presbytery said coming to Cuba "has
changed my life, and I pray that as we tell our stories, other lives will be
changed as well."

	Orestes Gonzalez Crux, the IPRC's treasurer, said: "We have also been
changed by these visits. I believe relations between the U.S. and Cuba will
be stabilized in my lifetime, and these partnerships ... will be shown to
have had a great influence."

	Quoting the Roman philosopher Livy, Nell Johnston of South Louisiana
Presbytery said: "We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them. I
trust and pray that we are building bridges of understanding and love."

	"I have learned much from you," Camps said, "but I also feel we have much
to teach you. I would like to hear a more prophetic voice from the PC(USA)
-- as Calvinists we believe in separation of church and state, but our
churches have prophetic voices to raise within our own societies. Castro
hears ours. I hope your government hears yours."

Editor's note: Profiles in Partnership, detailing the partnerships between
PC(USA) and IPRC presbyteries, will be published in the next issue of THE
NEWS. -- Jerry L. Van Marter

Statement of the IPRC-PC(USA) Cuba partnership celebration (English and
Spanish)

	            Sharing God's Vision

	We, Presbyterians from Cuba and the U.S., representing the Synod of the
Iglesia Presbiteriana Reformada en Cuba (IPRC) and its presbyteries of El
Centro, Matanzas and Habana, the Worldwide Ministries Division of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and partner presbyteries, including Cascades,
Chicago, Long Island, Monmouth, Santa Fe, South Louisiana and West Jersey,
the Cuba Connection, McCormick Theological Seminary and other interested
Presbyterians met at the Centro de Actividades Nacionales del la Iglesia
Presbiteriana (CANIP), November 12-20, 2000, to celebrate our partnership in
mission since 1986, and look forward to the new millennium before us.

	We recognize that this is God's mission and that we join God in it through
partnership. We reaffirm through Bible study and our own experience that
mission in partnership has several dynamics. First it requires movement (see
Castellanos Bible study, Acts 14:21 and 15:31) and that movement is neither
linear nor chartable.  Second, it is contextual.  This includes the
religious, social, political and economic realities of this specific time,
as well as personalities.  The movement in specific context leads naturally
to collisions (Castellanos Bible study). Third, mission in partnership is
transformative. It opens doors where transformation is possible.
Transformation occurs when there is true mutuality.

	Paul's letter to the Philippians (Rickabaugh's Bible study on partnership
and Philippians) reminds us that partnership in the gospel means five
things: 1) our sharing in God's grace; 2) our sharing in the spirit; 3) our
sharing in the sufferings of Christ; 4) our sharing in the troubles of
others, and 5) our sharing with others by both giving and receiving.

	In the letter to the Ephesians, we affirm that Christ has broken down the
dividing wall of separation (Eph. 2:14). But, we confess that at times we
have been busy rebuilding barriers.

	This celebration gave opportunity to share the experiences of our journey.
Each partner shared stories and gave testimony to what we have done and
learned together. We identified six themes that represent a challenge as
well as a vision for the immediate future.

	1) We recognize that a spirituality of partnership, and our partnerships
are strengthened when they are grounded in Bible study, intercessory prayer,
theological reflection and include the sharing of personal experiences.

	2) We recognize that the new form of cooperation such as the one we are
experiencing, requires new lines of communication and coordination which
involve all partners involved.

	3) We recognize the need to establish basic principles of financial
accountability and planning that depend on the oversight and wisdom of the
structures of the respective churches.

	4) We recognize that the activities of the partnerships call for the
establishing of priorities, for strategic planning and for creating a
schedule of all partnership activities.

	5) We recognize that we face the challenge of making our partnerships truly
mutual, where each partner experiences a full sense of giving and receiving.
Because this relationship is circular, we cannot break this circle,
otherwise we will not experience God's intended transformation, and the
walls that divide will not come down. The mutual nature of the relationship
recognizes specific current realities in our churches, which include the
economic situation in Cuba with specific consideration to the material needs
of the Cuban churches and the spiritual needs in the PC(USA) to which the
IPRC can bear witness of faithfulness.

	6) We recognize that: 
		a) our mission partnership calls U.S. Presbyterian partners to the work of
advocacy for the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations
		b) it calls us all to work together to prepare for the ministry after that
normalization.

November 20, 2000

COMPARTIENDO LA VISIÓN DE DIOS

Nosotros, presbiterianos de Cuba y de los EE.UU., representando el Sínodo de
la I.P.R.C. y sus presbiterios Central, Matanzas y La Habana, la División de
Ministerios Mundiales de la Iglesia Presbiteriana (USA) y presbiterios
compañeros incluyendo los de Cascades, Chicago, Long Island, Mammouth, Santa
Fe, South Lousiana y West Jersey, la "Cuba Connection", el Seminario
McCormick y otros presbiterianos interesados, se reunieron en el Centro de
Actividades Nacionales de la Iglesia Presbiteriana (CANIP), en noviembre 13
al 20, del 2000, para celebrar nuestro Hermanamiento en la Misión desde el
1986 y esperamos anticipadamente con gozo lo que nos traiga el nuevo
Milenio.
Reconocemos que esta es la misión de Dios y que nos unimos a Dios en esta
misión en compañerismo. Reafirmamos a través del estudio bíblico y nuestra
propia experiencia que el compañerismo en la misión tiene varias dinámicas.
Primero, requiere movimiento (ver el estudio bíblico de Castellanos, Hechos
14. 21 y 15.31), y que ese movimiento ni es lineal ni se puede trazar
previamente. Segundo, es contextual. Esto incluye las realidades religiosas,
sociales, políticas, económicas de nuestro tiempo específico, tanto como
personalidades. El movimiento en contextos específicos lleva naturalmente a
colisiones (estudio bíblico sobre Hechos). Tercero, el compañerismo en la
misión es transformador. Abre las puertas donde es posible la
transformación. La transformación ocurre cuando hay  mutualidad.
La Carta de S. Pablo a los Filipenses (el sermón de Rickabaugh sobre el
compañerismo y Filipenses), nos recuerda que el compañerismo en el evangelio
significa cinco cosas: 1) nuestro compartir en la gracia de Dios, 2) nuestro
compartir en el Espíritu, 3) nuestro compartir en los sufrimientos de
Cristo, 4) nuestro compartir las penas de los demás y 5) nuestro compartir
con los demás dando y recibiendo. Con la carta a los Efesios, afirmamos que
Cristo ha derribado los muros de separación que nos dividían. Pero,
confesamos que algunas veces hemos estado muy ocupados reconstruyendo
barreras. Esta celebración nos dio la oportunidad de compartir las
experiencias de nuestro viaje. Cada compañero compartió narraciones y dio
testimonio de lo que hemos hecho y aprendido juntos. Identificamos seis
temas que representan un reto tanto como una visión del futuro inmediato:

	1) Reconocemos que una espiritualidad del compañerismo, y nuestros
compañerismos se fortalecen cuando se fundamentan en el estudio bíblico, la
oración intercesoria, la reflexión teológica, incluyendo el compartir las
experiencias personales.

	2) Reconocemos que toda forma nueva de cooperación, tal como ésta que
experimentamos, requiere nuevas líneas de comunicación y coordinación que
incluya a todos los compañeros implicados.

	3) Reconocemos la necesidad de establecer algunos principios básicos de
responsabilidad financiera y planificación que dependa de la supervisión y
la sabiduría de las estructuras de las iglesias respectivas.

	4) Reconocemos que las actividades de los compañerismos requieren el
establecimiento de prioridades para la planificación estratégica y para
crear un calendario de todas las actividades del compañerismo.

	5. Reconocemos que nos encaramos al reto de hacer de nuestros compañerismos
una experiencia de mutualidad auténtica, donde cada uno experimente un
sentido pleno del dar y del recibir. Y debido a que esta relación es
circular no podemos romper este círculo, so pena de que no experimentemos la
transformación que Dios desea y los muros que nos separan no se derribarán.
La naturaleza mutua de la relación reconoce las realidades específicas de
nuestras iglesias, que incluye la situación económica cubana con una
consideración específica de las necesidades materiales de las iglesias
cubanas y las necesidades espirituales de la Iglesia Presbiteriana (USA) a
la que la I.P.R.C. puede ofrecer un testimonio de lealtad.

	6. Reconocemos que: a) nuestro compañerismo en la misión demanda a la
contraparte presbiteriana de los EE.UU. a trabajar para la normalización de
las relaciones entre los EE.UU. y Cuba. b) Demanda que todos nosotros
trabajemos conjuntamente en prepararnos para la misión después de esta
normalización.

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