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DDG Companion News | July 31, 2018
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Completion and Consecration of Misión San Timoteo
Tampa Deanery Project - Years 1-3 (2016-2018)
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The Rt. Rev. Moisés Quezada Mota and the Rev. Luis Garcia
during the consecration of San Timoteo in Nizao on June 30. 2018.
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The front entrance of San Timoteo.
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This year's Tampa Deanery Project saw the not-quite completion of San Timoteo Church in Nizao (click for location). The consecration of the mission was on June 30th, 2018, the first such event for the new Bishop of the Dominican Republic, the Rt. Rev. Moisés Quezada Mota. Teams will return in 2019 to complete the second floor and help with landscaping and a community garden-farm.
Over the past three years, this Tampa Deanery Project has expanded to include members of other parishes and deaneries in the Diocese of Southwest Florida - from Clearwater, Manasota and Venice. Also participating were missioners from the Diocese of Northwest Texas; youth from Trinity School, Midland, TX; and a team from St. James, Farmington, CT.
A mammoth effort to meet the consecration date included building twelve long church pews, two celebrant's chairs, a bishop's chair, a baptismal font, a lectern, a pulpit and the top surface for the altar. Because of wet weather, the large pine boards had to be turned every few minutes to dry in the sunlight during the week. Final staining and varnishing will be delayed until dryer weather. Painting has been completed on the interior and exterior of the church.
Support of Tampa Deanery Projects over the past 20 years has helped to make these efforts successful and further God's work for the Diocese of Southwest Florida's Companion Diocese, the Dominican Republic.
-- Sally Thompson |
St. John's Episcopal Church, Tampa, FL
Editor's note: Two other churches built by Episcopal mission teams with coordination from the DDG are nearing completion and are scheduled for consecration later in 2018: Espíritu Santo in Las Carreras on October 20 (click for location), and Monte de Sión in the Altagracia community north of Boca Chica on November 10 (click for location).
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Missionary Karen Carroll Retires
After thirteen years and four months of dedicated service, Missionary Karen Carroll has retired from her position as head of the Mission Team Support Office in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic and has returned to live in the United States. Patricia Martin, a bilingual native of the Dominican Republic, a lifelong Episcopalian, and Karen's long-time assistant, will be in charge of that office for the time being and will be using the email address previously used by Karen for mission team correspondence, <
drequipos@gmail.com>. All arrangements for mission team logistics previously made by Karen will now be made by Patricia. In retirement, Karen will be using this personal email address: <
ktcarroll768@msn.com>.
Watch for a longer article about Karen's record of service in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic in the September 2018 issue of the DDG's bilingual newsmagazine,
Compañeros Dominicanos.
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Representation from the
Diocese of the
Dominican Republic
at the DOK Triennial Convention
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From left: Berkys Herrera
and the Skiltons.
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Daughter Berkys Herrera, a lawyer and the current President of the Daughters of the King in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic, recently attended the Triennial DOK meeting in Austin, TX, along with the Rt. Rev. and Mrs. William J. Skilton. She also serves as the Chancellor of the Dominican diocese. Bishop Skilton is a retired assistant bishop of the Dominican diocese and is the DOK's International Chaplain. He had the privilege of translating for Ms. Herrera at the International Banquet when the 24 international Daughters present wore their "national dresses." The convention is held every three years, and this year over 800 Daughters attended from June 20-24, 2018 in Austin.
Lindy Kirk, the International DOK Chair, wrote in the July DOK newsletter that she overheard these comments from some of the International Daughters who came from Africa, Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and Central and South America:
"It was an amazing, empowering experience of spiritual growth to be with my fellow sisters." "What a joy to experience so much love and friendliness from all the Daughters at Triennial." "I have never been to a such a large meeting and felt so welcomed."
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The International Daughters in their national dresses. Berkys Herrera is in the red, white and blue dress fourth from the right in the front row.
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For more information on the activites of the Daughters of the King in the Dominican Repulic,
click here
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Teaching VBS With Help
From The Dominican Government
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Dayamo Ramírez speaking to a VBS group in Jarabacoa in June 2018.
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In June the missioners from Christ Episcopal Church (Valdosta, GA) conducted Vacation Bible School classes for children in the village of El Pedregal near the city of Jarabacoa, the location of the Monte de la Transfiguración Episcopal church, school, and rural conference center. Since the 2018 VBS curriculum written by the Diocese of the Dominican Republic emphasized the Fifth Mark of Mission about caring for the enviromnent, the missioners invited Dayamo Ramírez, the head of the Jarabacoa office of the Dominican government's Division of Environment and Natural Resources, to speak to the students. In addition to Ramírez, his education specialist, Claudia Herrera, also made a presentation. At the end of their talks, the students were chanting in unison: "Sin agua, sin vida!" "Without water, no life!"
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The VBS students in Jarabacoa with their teachers and the guest speakers on the environment, Dayamo Ramírez and Claudia Herrera. Both of these photographs in this article are courtesy of the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. For more information on this agency of the Dominican government (in Spanish), click here:<
http://ambiente.gob.do>.
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DDG Board President Retires as Rector
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| The Rev. Ed Miller |
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The Rev. Edward O. Miller, Jr., the current President of the Board of Directors of the Dominican Development Group, retired on July 31, 2018, after 22 years of service as Rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in McLean, VA. In his retirement, he will be continuing in his role as DDG president
and active missioner in the Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic, and will be using this personal email address: <RevEOM@gmail.com>. Under his leadership, mission teams from St. John's have been responsible for several projects at San Gabriel, the Episcopal church and school in Consuelo, including the construction of a two-story building that serves as a technical school and parish hall.
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Links to online copies of recent issues of the
DDG Companion News:
For earlier issues archived on the DDG website,
click here.
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Contact the DDG:
Office: (813) 400-2722 | Fax: (813) 983-5082
PO Box 272261 | Tampa Florida 33688-2261
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