The Park Family in Peru

Anderson's ordination

160 YEARS/60 YEARS

In May, Good Shepherd congregation, where we serve here in Lima, celebrated 160 years of existence and 60 years since the dedication of its current building. We are the oldest non-Roman Catholic church in the country. Originally it couldn't even look like a church on the outside. Our current building looks very much like an English church, as that is what we were until only about 10 years ago. Our Spanish-language ministry is now stronger than ever. But we have just lost Fr Juan Bernardo and Maria Isabel Marentes to Belize. They haveaccepted a call there to serve in a bilingual church and will begin there this month. Please pray for their transition as well as for our Spanish-speaking congregation here.

John has been busy each month with different activities to celebrate the anniversary and to reach out to the community. On Twelfth Night in January, we held a Christmas service of Lessons and Carols. February brought a Christian music concert by Nazareno (a group from one of our shanty town churches). In March, we had a movie night showing 'On the Town' with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, from 1949 when the church was dedicated, and in April, aformal tea for the older members of the congregation and their friends.

May's anniversary weekend we had a formal dinner, ordinations, and celebration eucharists in Spanish and English. The dinner on Friday brought together many people who had a history with the church, including some who flew in from the United States and brought pictures of the first services held in the building. Members of the congregation put together a fabulous time line of the history of the church. We had a buffet with typical Peruvian food and dancers and musicians performed through out the evening. One of our desserts for the evening was Suspiro al Limeno. It's a very sweet dessert made with evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk cooked together with egg yolks. Then it is topped with a meringue that has a syrup made with pisco mixed in and sprinkled with cinnamon. Hopefully, I'm adding a recipe section to the website!

On Saturday, our deacon from the English congregation, Anderson Sanchez, was ordained to the priesthood along with Ruben Mancilla who works in the mission church in Juliaca in the south of the country. The Cathedral's lay minister Pastor Zevallos from the Spanish congregation was ordained to the diaconate. He currently serves as head of the diocesan NGO (non-governmental organization) where all our special ministries are located. That's his ordination photo above.

Then Sunday both the English and Spanish congregations had special eucharists with our Bishop Bill Godfrey celebrating. We had put together a special choir just for the occasion and sang an anthem during communion. That way the two of us who teach Sunday School could be back in time to sing!

John also leads a Bible Club, which is a Bible study in English for those who speak English as a second language. It is small, but there are several regulars who are improving their English skills while they study the Bible.

The three ordinands with Bp Godfrey.