Continuation from last month’s newsletter article of Bishop Timothy Whitaker’s message on the life and mission of the Methodist Church in Cuba.)

The Covenant between the Methodist Church in Cuba and the Florida Conference
by Bishop Timothy Whitaker

While I was in Cuba, I met with the board of the church and found it is well-organized and vibrant. It has 121 temples or public buildings for worship, 750 missions and 1600 house churches. A new 800 seat facility is being built.

A key feature of the life of the churches is holding prominent baptismal services to celebrate the new life of new disciples of Jesus Christ. Worship continues to be a high priority of the churches; not only are they intentional in having joyous music, but they are also intentional in continuing the use of historic Christian liturgies to ground the church in the larger Christian tradition and Methodist heritage. A strong missional focus of the churches is outreach to person with needs, including alcoholics, the deaf, the blind, others with disabilities, and people with financial crises. I assured the board of the love of the United Methodists in Florida, and we prayed for the faithfulness and fruitfulness of both of our churches.

Bishop Pereira and his spouse invited Mr. Jonathan Farrar, the head of the Mission of the Interests Section of the United States (our virtual consulate), and his spouse to a luncheon. We had a good discussion of religious affairs in Cuba and the life of Cuban society. I was very impressed by Mr. Farrar and also his spouse, who is very active as a volunteer in church ministries to the poor.

I visited the site of the new Methodist Evangelical Seminary in the historic section of Havana, which had been an old deteriorated government building. The church has revived the building to house this new school. The seminary is designed to meet the needs of students who are already serving as pastors. While the Methodist Church continues to have a legal connection to the ecumenical seminary in Matanzas, its energies are being dedicated to this school. Dr. Fletcher Anderson, a member of our conference, is living at the new seminary and teaching courses in Hebrew and in Methodist history. It was a joy to visit with Fletcher, one of the great servants of Jesus Christ and of our church. I also enjoyed being with the Rev. Roberto Chaple, my translator, and a teacher of Old Testament in the new seminary.

The Methodist Church in Cuba is grateful for the gift of $72,000.00 from United Methodists in Florida following the devastating hurricanes of 2008. Progress in reconstruction is proceeding, but, as usual, it will take years before the recovery is complete in the most hard hit areas. Our gifts are being used primarily in Camaguey and Holguin. They are helping rebuild churches and to provide food and mattresses to victims of the disaster. One of the significant ministries of their disaster effort is to care for families where children died in the storms. Thanks to all who contributed to this fund.

I believe that God has blessed the relationship between our two churches. Members have developed a strong friendship in Christ. We share a common heritage and a common commitment to advancing the cause of Christ in our region of the world. Let us continue to intercede for our brothers and sisters in the Methodist Church in Cuba and in the Republic of Cuba.