Reforma

Mexico City is great.  Today I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx, the Taj Majal, and the Statue of Liberty.  All without leaving the city.  Yesterday when I went downtown to the Old Christ Church for the Friday service and lunch I saw something that intrigued me, and I thought, I have to return to have a closer look. 

But first about Reforma.  Properly, it is Paseo de la Reforma.  Paseo used in this way doesn't quite translate into English -- un paseo  is a walk, so Paseo de la Reforma means something like "Promenade of the Reform."  It is a wide boulevard that streches the length of the city from East to West.  There are three lanes in each direction, plus a kind of access road on the side in each direction, and a median in each direction.  The medians are just as wide as the 3 lanes of road, and each median is planted with flowers and shurbs.  The whole is shaded by palm trees and other sub-tropical vegetation.  This is the month when the jacarandas are in bloom, and they are a quite stunning vivid shade of lavender.  Seen against the backdrop of the dark greenery, they are quite dramatic. 

All along the medians of Reforma are all kinds of statuary and sculpture.  Some are unique works of modern art -- some serious, some funy and tongue-in-cheek.  For example, I saw and oversized sofa and easy chair made of metal -- I'm not sure if anyone sits on them.  There was also a huge set of playing cards.  But there are also abstract sculptures as well.  But most important, to the Mexicans, anyway, are the many stuatues of local heroes.  The most significant of them are at the ejes, which are the traffic circles at the intersection of the most important Avenues. 

Above is the Angel of Independence, who watches over the city from one of those important intersections.  Everybody calls her el ángel --  I don't know why the angel is a woman, but that seems to be commonly accepted.  She is the symbol of the city in the way the Satue of Liberty is the symbol of New York City or the Eiffel Tower is the symbol of Paris.  Below are a couple of other pictures to show the area, which is a busy commercial district of hotels, offices, and government buildings. 

In the large picture just above you can barely make out the lavender of the jacarandas against the green of the other trees. 

Reforma is a 'public space' in the very best sense of that word.  There was a kind of craft fair set up along the median for a couple of blocks.  In addition to the typical stuff that might be found at any craft fair anywhere -- beaded jewelry, handmade soaps, dolls, etc -- there were also the locally made embroidered blouses, silver jewelry, and these startling mosaic pictures made with very thin and fine colored stems of plants

It was also along Reforma that I found the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, The Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx.  These sculpures are on temporary exhibit, put together by various artists, and all using recycled water bottles! 

Things are different here...

Of course, I knew that they would be.  Here are some highlights of the last couple of days:

Yesterday (Tuesday) I decided that since I had been in the city for a whole week and worked every day without a break, I should try to take some time for myself.  So I took the metro (which is incredibly cheap at 3 pesos -- the equivalent of about 24 cents) to the Centro Histórico.  The Zócalo is the main square or plaza of the old city, and the major landmark there is the Catedral Metropolitana

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This is the main entrance to the cathedral, which is enormous.  Because Mexico City is built on a dry lakebed, the building has shifted over the years -- floors are uneven, for example.  The style is baroque, with lavish ornamentation and embellishment.  Here, for example, is the retablo, or the main altar. 

Because flash photography is not allowed I really was not able to take the quality of pictures I had hoped for, but this does give something of the scale.  This is all carved cedar painted with 24 karat gold.  Here you can see some of the detail:

Every square inch of the surface, it seems, is covered with decoration: leaves, flowers, vines, clusters of grapes, angels, shells... It's pretty overwhelming not only because of the elaboration, but also the sheer size.  Plus the volume -- there are five side chapels on each outer aisle plus the main altar is flanked by two side altars.  And all of them are elaborately decorated and carved.  One other aspect of these altar pieces is that each has embedded within it paintings of various saints or scenes from the life of Christ. 

Here, for example, is the portrait of my patron, St. Francis of Assisi:

Upon exiting the cathedral, I got in line to visit the Templo Mayor.  This is one of the reasons why I say "Things are different here."  This is an archeological site just beyond the zócalo, where the major pyramids of the ancient Aztecs were located.  After the Spaniards came and conquered the local indigeneous tribes, of which the Aztec were only one, they essentially destroyed the important religious and cultural sites of their predecessors.  Of course they weren't able to destroy them utterly, and about thirty years ago when the city of Mexico started some public works project or other, they discovered the ruins.  Thousands of years of ruins -- something like seven layers had been constructed one on top of another, each more grand in size and scale than the previous.  So right next to the major downtown square in the historic center is this enormous archeological dig -- scholars, students, educators, scientists are all gathered doing their work while tourists (like me) peer down from catwalks above the site. 

This gives some idea of what it looks like:

 

What I found different about all this is that Mexicans, by and large, are very knowledgeable about and very proud of the indigenous people and their heritage.  In the US, we know little about the history of our country before the Europeans settled and colonized.  Here there are many streets, neighborhoods, schools, etc. named for the indigenous heroes  -- case in point -- the downtown neighborhood known as Cuautémoc.  I'm sure that part of the pride that these people feel is that so many are of mixed race, both European and indigenous blood. 

After the tour of the archeological site I entered the museum, which was an enormous and very thorough display of the cultural artifacts of the indegenous peoples of this central area of Mexico.  It was quite a long day.  When I finally left, I found a lunch place a few blocks away in Mexico City's Chinatown.  The food was, frankly, awful.  I won't be back.  (I should have known better.) 

Then after more walking around, I went into the local Sears.  Things are different here ... Sears is very upscale in Mexico, and considered a very expensive department store.  It is definately NOT a store for the ordinary person the way Sears is in the US.  Pricey clothing, perfume, jewelry, furniture.  It was different.

One of my main adventures was taking a bus back to the neighborhood where the Church is located.  I was really pleased that my Spanish was good enough to ask questions about which bus, where, how much, etc. 

I thought that was the end of my day (and you thought that was the end of this long blog post) but when I got back to the apartment in the church office building, the sexton, Missué, was waiting to talk to me.  Things are different here.  She wanted to be sure that I knew that the ambassadors would be here in the morning, and that I should make an effort to introduce myself to them and make myself known to the internation community. 

Honestly, I thought maybe I was having a language problem, not understanding exactly what she was saying.  The conversation went something like this...

Frank: "How many of them will there be?"
Missué: "Oh, thirty or forty."
Frank "Thirty or Forty!" 
Missué: "Yes, they meet here occasionally because this is a central location.  Then they take a bust together to the meeting place.  We have coffee for them so they can socialize." 

I didn't remember this part in the job description, but sure enough this morning I met about thirty or forty ambassadors.  Honestly, I was thinking of it as a kind of evangelistic project -- maybe I would meet an English speaking ambassador who was an Anglican.  And sure enough, I did.  Delrose Montague, Ambassador from Jamaica, is a very elegant and gracious lady and also an Anglican, and inquired about services.  Maybe we'll see her here here for Holy Week or Easter. 

I also met ambassadors from Belize (who knew Bishop Sylvestre Romero), Austria (who was most interested in the fact that I had studied in Vienna for a summer course while I was a college student) and Dominican Republic (who had been educated at an Episcopal School in the DR and knew many Episcopal clergy there!)  I also made the acquaintance of ambassadors from Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Korea, Iraq, Pakistan, Iraq, Morrocco, and many others as well as representatives from the UN and the OAS. 

Things are different here...

My First Sunday at Christ Church

When the congregation of Christ church gathered for worship yesterday, Sunday March 25, we began by singing one of my very favorite hymns (I joke about my 'top forty' favorite hymns).  Hymn #304 has a great text by the modern English hymnodist Brian Wren.  The third stanza:

As Christ breaks bread and bids us share,
each proud division ends. 
That love that made us makes us one,
and strangers now are friends.

By the end of the morning, that was certainly how I felt: people who had been strangers to me at the beginning of the day had become friends. 

This is the altar at Christ Church.  On my right is The Rev. Martha Jordan, who is one of the three priest associates.  On my left is The Rev. George Gumler, deacon.  I am wearing one of the parish's chasubles which is made out of a sort of rustic woven fabric. 

I was told that the congregation that showed up was larger by more than 50% than they were accustomed to seeing.  I call this the 'zoo effect'-- i.e let's all go and see this new animal.  They seem to have liked what they saw and heard, since I did receive much positive feecback about the sermon. 

I also invited the children forward at announcement time (which they do at the END of the service at Christ Church) for a little talk with them.  They had made a welcome poster in their Sunday School class which they presented to me. 

After the service, there was a lavish coffee hour, with some elegant refreshments -- actually I shouldn't call it coffee hour since they also had wine for the special occasion of my arrival.  There was also quiche, seafood mouse, cheese and crackers, finger sandwiches and other assorted stuff.  It was quite a welcome. 

The Spanish-language service followed at 12:30 service, and I was told that the attendance for that service was almost double what they were accustomed to. 

I am joking that they won't be sending me back the the US after all, so I guess I'll unpack and stay a while.

Old Christ Church

The original building that housed the congregation of Christ Church is located near the historic center of Mexico City.  The congregation first gathered for worship in 1871, and the building was dedicated in 1898.  From the old pictures of the church in its heyday, it must have been a truly lovely Victorian neo-Gothic style building.  Later on, in another blog I will write some about the history of Mexican Anglican Church (they stopped using the term 'Episcopal' in 1995, when they became an independant province of the worldwide Anglican communion.) 

Over the years, the building suffered damage from many earthquakes, and the neighborhood around it began to change from a residential to a commercial district. I was told by a long-time member of the parish that when a previous rector had to step around a dead body on the sidewalk in order to enter the church grounds, it was decided that the time had come to move to a better neighborhood outside the center of the city.  This process began in the 1970's, and culminated in the complex that can be seen on my previous post. 

Unfortunately, due to the complexities of Mexican law, the old building was not able to be sold, and so remained unoccupied and unused for many years.  Eventually, the decision was made to turn the old building (and parish hall with offices and classrooms) into a kind of community center, which is what Old Christ Church on Artículo 123 has become. 

Now known as Santa Juliana de Norwich, it is essentially an outreach ministry of Christ Church in the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood.



During the week, a number of activities are held, although I'm not exactly sure as to the nature of all of them.  On Tuesday, after the earthquake, I stopped by Old Christ Church with Deacon George, in order to view the damage (of which, fortunately, there wasn't much) and there was some kind of gymnastics class being held.  Fridays is the day of worship at Old Christ Church, and a service is held in the Old Church, and then a common meal.  I was honored to be the celebrant (technically, I am the rector of this congregation as well, although it really is a ministry that belongs to Deacon George and Father Javier, another priest of the diocese who has been leading worship there for several years.) 

What can be seen from these photos is that the building has been heavily damaged over the years.  At the time of the move to the new Church in Lomas de Chapultepec, the pews were taken up, and the stained glass windows were removed.  All of these have found their way to the new church.  Over the years, the carved wood panels that were once on the walls were removed.  The stunningly beautiful gilt and polychrome carved wooden tryptich from this old church now stands behind the altar at the new Christ Church.  However, Father Javier and Deacon George have made a real effort to beautify this worship space as much as possible.  You can see the purple drapes hanging from the stabilizing rods that are keeping the walls standing.  Despite the rather derelict appearance of the building, the effect of the whole is actually dramatic. 

When the service began at 2PM, there were three of us at the altar, and three in the pews.  By the time the service was over, there were about twenty people in the pews.  Deacon George preached, and I had the privilege of celebrating.  They used Eucharistic Prayer C from the Spanish translation of the American Prayerbook ("galaxies, stars, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth our island home..." which language seemed odd to me given the context.)  Music was provided by a pre-recorded tape, and the hymns were very old-fashioned Anglican hymns, all translated into what seemed to me rather elegant and high-brow Spanish.  All in all, it was a very moving experience to me.  The gospel was this coming Sunday, John 12 ("Sir, we wish to see Jesus...) which is one of my favorite texts. 

Following the service, the group gathered in the parish hall for a simple meal. 

The meal was potatoes and nopales in salsa verde.  Nopales are cactus -- it was the first time I had tried it.  They are about the color of a cooked green pepper, with a flavor reminiscent of a mild squash, but a somewhat slimy texture.  Although this seems to be a Mexican favorite, I don't think I will go out of my way to be ordering it next time I'm at a local restaurant.  The meal was accompanied by frijoles and tortillas.  To drink there was the ubiquitous "agua", which in this context means water flavored with fruit juice and far too much sugar. 

Of course the communicants were grateful for the meal, and thankful to be sharing it with the clergy -- I was welcomed very warmly, and treated like an honored guest.

Following the service I prayed with and anointed a young man with AIDS who is facing what sounds like a rather gruesome surgery today. 

One of the other fascinating aspects of Old Christ Church is that it is a national historic site in Mexico, and the former parish hall and offices now house the British-American Museum.  Currently, the parish hall hosts occasional art exhibits, particularly for aspiring artists that might not have any other place to showcase their work. The long-range plan is to have some kind of a permanent archival exhibition of the life of British and American expatriates in Mexico over the years.  Other community events are hosted from time to time as well, including a Medieval festival, a St. Patrick's Day dinner, and concerts. 

All in all, a fascinating place, with a  ministry that reaches into the past and the future in diverse ways. 

Christ Church in Mexico City

Here I am standing outside of the front entrance to the Church.  Behind me and to the left is the parish hall, which was built before the church building.  The congregation actually worshipped there for several years before the current building was constructed.  You can see that it is constructed of a sort of a rustic brick, which actually has a very warm and welcoming look.  The church complex is in Lomas de Chapultepec, a very lovely suburban neighborhood.  The Church is located 2 blocks from Paseo de la Reforma, a main East-West artery through the city. 

This is a view of the Church building from the street, facing Montes Escandinavos.

 

This is a view from the cross street, Sierra Madre.  The church was designed by Mihares, who is one of Mexico's premier modern architects.  Evidently this building is one of -- or maybe his only -- church design.  It has won many awards.  This afternoon I had the opportunity to meet his protege, who came to meet with the Buildings and Grounds chair and the treasurer to discuss some work that needed to be done in the ceiling.  Not only colonial buildings constructed in the 1700's need work but so do buildings built 25 years ago! 

This is the main entrance to the church, which sits in a patio, between the office building (to the left) and what is called the White Room, (to the right) a small gathering space used for special events and smaller group meetings.  Although the building looks a bit severe, perhaps even cold in this photo, it's actually a very warm and welcoming space.   

The parish hall also faces Montes Escandinavos. The whole compound is gated, and a security guard is on duty from about 8AM until after 9PM, as there are many community meetings that take place on the church property during the day. 

My Welcome to Mexico

This is the fourth church that I have served in my nearly twenty-five years of ordained ministry.   I think I may finally be getting this right.  Today, I began my first day of ministry as rector of Christ Church in Mexico City in the company of my clergy colleagues, including my bishop, at the cathedral.

La Catedral de San Jose de Gracia is possibly the oldest Anglican building in this hemisphere.  It was built as a convent church in 1661, and through a series of extraordinary circumstances it ended up in the hands of the nascent Anglican community at the end of the 19^th century.  Although it is from the Baroque era, as are many of the Mexican colonial church buildings, the style is more Romanesque – wide arches instead of pointed ones, thick walls, and very small windows.  The exterior, however, does show some of the exuberant decoration of the Baroque period.  Like most of the old buildings in the colonial center of the city, the building is a bit lopsided – floors are not quite level owing to the many earthquakes over the centuries.  (More on this later)

Since I am without my own transportation, I was picked up by one of the priest associates of Christ Church, who took me to the center of the city.  Martha actually grew up at Christ Church, of American parents, so is fully bi-lingual and bi-cultural.  She was full of helpful insights and information about the parish, about the clergy I was about to meet, and about life in general in Mexico.   Traffic in the city can be horrendous, and so we left an hour for travel.  It took less than thirty minutes to arrive at center, so we were the first ones there. 

I actually enjoyed the few moments of quiet which enabled me to take some photos of the interior of the Church. 

Here is the mural above the altar, the baptistry, and a painting of St. Joseph and the child Jesus:

 I was most warmly welcomed by my colleagues, some of whom speak very good English (one priest associate was from Diocese of New York).  They obviously enjoy one another’s company – it was truly a warm fellowship, and several of those whom I met offered ‘whatever I can do to help’.  Another said “Let’s go out for a drink some time.” 

The program for the day began with Holy Eucharist.  I feel so blessed that I was able to fully participate and that I knew the responses – it was actually very moving.  Unfortunately, the sound system was truly terrible – way too much echo for me to understand what was being said so I missed most of the sermon.  But – I thought it quite a lovely coincidence that the Cathedral Dean had chosen to use the propers for St. Joseph’s Day (March19), so it felt like a very special celebration. 

After Eucharist we had coffee (good Anglicans that we are!) in the Parish Hall, and sat down with the Bishop to hear some of his reflections, particularly about liturgy as the group was facing Holy Week.  Bishop Carlos has very specific ideas about liturgy, and what is to be done and what is not to be done.  He managed to be clear and direct about his expectations without being heavy-handed. 

This is my bishop, The Most Rev. Carlos Touche Porter and Fr. Andres, who is the Rector of the Cathedral Parish:

Here are a few other of my colleagues:

As announcements were being made, I suddenly began to feel a bit woozy.  I didn’t sleep too well last night, or so I thought.  The wooziness did not abate; in fact, it got worse.  “Temblor” is the Spanish word for earthquake, and when I heard one of my colleagues utter that word I felt a bit scared. 

Welcome to Mexico, I thought, as I followed the group out onto the patio between the buildings.  It was really shaking and it went on for a long time.  The bishop led us in prayer, especially in prayer for those who would be harmed by the quake.  There was a bit of levity when the shaking stopped and we all went back into the parish hall.  I said to the group, “Thank you for the welcome.  Now I’m going back,” which they thought was terribly funny.  I’ve actually been worried that I would lose my sense of humor in Spanish. 

The speaker for the event was the wife of George, who is the deacon at Christ Church.  She spoke about resistance to change.  (At least that’s what I think the theme was)  She was quite a good and engaging presenter, but my Spanish wasn’t quite up to the task, so I missed a lot of what she was saying.  Much of it had to do with ‘out of the box’ thinking, which sounded odd, at least to my ears, in Spanish. 

Lunch was served.  There were various kinds of tacos and taquitos with salsa, guacamole, salad, and vegetables.  It was quite tasty, and, not surprisingly, very authentic.  I was really touched when one of the ladies who was working in the kitchen asked me to bless the cross she was wearing.

  All in all, a very eventful, very interesting first day.