The Orthodox Church in Guatemala
134 churches. Six clergy. Half a million faithful.
A few years ago a Catholic bishop entered the Orthodox Church, and his entire region came with him. Today one bishop, two priests and three deacons serve them all.
5:00 · The road
The clergy leave before dawn.
The parishes run from villages above 7,000 feet around Huehuetenango down to Nueva Concepción and the plantation towns of Escuintla on the Pacific coast, where work is seasonal, in bananas and coffee.
The drive between them is two to four hours each way. The clergy leave at 5:00 in the morning to begin a 9:00 liturgy in a building that was Catholic a few years ago. More often than not, they eat their meals in the car.
9:00 · Liturgy
Between 150 and 300 faithful at every service.
They come because they do not know when the next chance will be to attend a liturgy, receive communion, baptize a child, or speak with a spiritual father.
The bishop who brought them was received with no clergy, no staff, and very little support of any kind. Two more clergymen soon joined him, and together they set out to root these communities in the Orthodox faith.
Inside · The church today
One table stands in for the Holy Table.
The buildings are still set up for a Catholic Mass. Most have no icons on the walls, no iconostasis, no vestments, no candles. The priest carries the only Gospel book from village to village.
After the liturgy · Baptisms
"You have to see the parishioners waiting for the bishop."
I was humbled by them. Men and women in their finest clothes, mothers carrying babies on their backs, many of them arriving on foot or in the beds of pickup trucks from communities all around.
At my first stop, I witnessed the baptism of eight infants and thirty-two adults. Two days later, at the next parish, five infants and fifteen adults. At my final liturgy, the same again.
Midday · The meal
Afterward, a meal for everyone.
They were always smiling, always glad we had come, and afterward they prepared a meal for everyone. I left thinking we should be doing this work every single day. Human strength is the only thing standing in the way.
Evening · Six clergy
Half a million souls. One bishop, two priests, three deacons.
- 134
- parishes across the highlands and the coast
- 6
- clergy to serve them: one bishop, two priests, three deacons
- 40
- baptisms witnessed in a single morning
- 20
- regional churches to be furnished first
The first step is to establish twenty regional parishes, each serving four to six surrounding communities, each with its own priest. A sponsor covers a priest at $750 a month while the parishes grow into supporting their own clergy.
Three ways to help