by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations

SANTO DOMINGO—Amidst the noisy streets of puttering motorbikes and patch-worked cars recreated from used auto parts, a van carrying 10 South Carolinians rolls through neighborhoods that hardly resemble the comfy home environments left behind just 19 hours ago in the United States. The group’s focus is set on a day of discovery and comparison of cultures that will change their outlook of community and faith in a landscape surrounded by a rich history and poverty.

Members of the South Carolina delegation spend an afternoon at the beach and are joined by a family of visiting Episcopal missionaries: (left to right) Rev. Jed Hermes, deacon, All Saints Church in Florence; Carla Anderson, visiting Nebraska missionary; Rev. Mercedes Julian de Rivera, rector, San Estaban Church in San Pedro de Macoris; Rev. Tim Anderson, Nebraska missionary; John Anderson, Nebraska missionary; Calhoun W. Perkins, St. John’s Church in John’s Island; Dr. Jim Tolley, Department of Emergency Medicine, MUSC; Betsy Luke, St. Paul’s Church in Summerville; Margie Williams, St. Jude’s Church in Walterboro; Wilson Perkins, St. John’s Church in John’s Island. Not pictured are: Rt. Rev. William J. Skilton, Bishop Suffragan of S.C.; Rev. Craige Borrett, Rector, Christ-St. Paul’s Church in Meggett; Lonnie and Clarissa Hamilton, Calvary Episcopal Church; Cindy Abole, Public Relations and Catalyst staffwriter, MUSC.

The South Carolina delegation, composed of members of the South Carolina Episcopal diocese and representatives of MUSC, assembled at the historical Church of the Epiphany, a small structure founded in 1918 which serves as an interdenominational congregation of English and Spanish-speaking people located on the south end of the city. The Dominican Episcopal Church maintains companion diocese relationships with American parishes in Rhode Island and South Carolina, which frequently host work groups and medical teams from the United States.

The group is introduced to deacon Bob Snow and his wife Ellen, Nebraska natives and missionaries who’ve spent the last three years serving Epiphany and the Dominican Diocese. The Snows will serve as the group’s guides and interpreters throughout the week. Added to the host of guides for Saturday’s visits is diocesan treasurer and parishioner Virginia Norman, a Dominican native and former parochial school teacher.

Primary on a busy agenda is the group’s tour of five churches and missions during their seven-day visit. The tour offered participants with a great opportunity to discover and gauge economic conditions, social interaction and structure established within church communities.

Weaving through trash-littered streets and passing by vans and buses filled with commuters, the group arrives at its first church stop, San Andrés Episcopal Church and School located in a lower income neighborhood on the north end of town. Rev. José Roberts greets the group, touring them around his large church and school complex. At first glance, the church design is open-aired, making use of the 1970s-style circular design which adequately accommodates the heat and rain of a tropical climate. San Andrés is supported by a large but poor congregation of 150-200 families. The Episcopal Church supports elementary and secondary education throughout the country, sponsoring eight schools with a combined enrollment of 3,000 students. Roberts, who is originally from the north end of the island near Puerto Plata, began his ministry at San Andrés in 1984 and had previously served in Panama and New York.

“We work hard to make our community a better place for our youth and families,” said Roberts with a shy, but determined smile. Within three years at San Andrés, Roberts has struggled to improve educational standards at his school—matching the school’s curriculum, materials and student performance with rival government-supported Catholic schools and even poorer public school system. Key to Roberts' success is the ability to draw interest and support from school parents and the neighborhood community. He’s worked to provide much-needed computers and organize English classes with students and community members.

Next, the van travels eastward through the city passing rows of housing complexes entwined with clusters of shanties and single story dwellings reflecting the different levels of poverty found in this area of town. The group heads towards a small impoverished neighborhood which is home to one of Santo Domingo’s newest church structures known as San Felipe. The group is greeted by the church’s pastor, Margarita Santana, ordained as the first woman Episcopal priest serving the Dominican Episcopal diocese. The church structure, designed and contracted by Santana, a former architect, is labeled as a “model” church for the dioceses’ most populous areas. Unlike older homes purchased and renovated by the diocese to provide a church structure in busy urban areas, San Felipe boasts concrete walls, tall ceilings, stained glass windows and rooms to house an office, sacristy and bathroom on the first floor. Typical to second-floor church structures, the multiple-use meeting room accomodates the parish hall designed for Sunday School classes, meetings, temporary guest housing, weekday child care, visiting medical clinics and adult education classes.

Santana also ministers to San Felipe’s founding mission church of San Pedro y San Pablo which supports the Sabana Perdita barrios, located in one of Santo Domingo’s poorest areas. The church is a small two-room house converted to provide a small chapel area and sacristy. The rent for the church is supported by the diocese and its congregation under a special two-year contract.

The group’s final stop takes them to the middle-class Ensanche Ozama neighborhood and the Mission Santísima Trinidad. The neighborhood was originally founded during Dictator Rafael Trujillo’s regime and is located on the eastern side of the Ozama River across from colonial Santo Domingo. This large, former residence is currently being converted into a church, complete with chapel, office, classrooms and rectory. An adjoining structure is also being remodeled to provide a possible site for a pre-school and computer centers and child-care facility for the neighborhood.