episcopalarchives.org   

In a beautifully melded English and Spanish liturgy, amidst Latin trumpet flourishes and music written by Skinner Chavez-Melo, the Rev. Canon Leopoldo Jesus Alard became the Rt. Rev. Leo Alard, seventh Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Texas Sept. 9. More than 1,100 friends and family stood witness as 22 bishops laid hands on him.

Canon Alard knelt in front of Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning. He was engulfed in a sea of red vestments as bishops surrounded him with outstretched arms. Bishop Browning prayed, "Father, make Leopoldo a bishop in your Church. Pour upon him the power of your princely Spirit," as rainbows of light poured through the 20-foot stained glass windows in the convent chapel of Episcopal High School in Houston.

When the bishops stepped back, Bishop Alard emerged to be vested in his red chimere, gold pectoral cross and ring. The Rev. Dena Harrison, who received the second highest number of votes in the May 12 episcopal election, presented Bishop Alard with his stole. His crozier, carved by boys in an Episcopal orphanage in Honduras, was a gift from the Diocese of Honduras.

Thunderous applause erupted when the Presiding Bishop presented to the congregation the newly consecrated bishop, his wife, Aida, and 7-year-old daughter, Rebecca.

'Faith Makes Us Believable'

Be faithful, seek out the bewildered and the lost," Bishop Anselmo Carral had said in his sermon. A longtime friend of the Alards, Bishop Carral admonished the new bishop to know his people and not minimize the common person. The now retired Assistant Bishop of Texas continued with a charge to Bishop Alard: "Faith makes us believable and its absence is impossible to disguise. Passion makes us persuasive and will help you accomplish much. Authority is what we need as ambassadors of our Holy Father and grace will keep a priest a listener."

Bishop Alard's father and brother were in attendance at his consecration, as were many friends from St. John's Church, his former parish in Homestead, Fla. The bishop's ring is set with his grandmother's amethyst, smuggled out of Cuba by his mother in 1961 when the family fled their homeland. Bishop Alard's great-grandmother was a founding member of the first Episcopal church in Cuba.

Alard was born on March 11, 1941, in Havana, Cuba. His great-grandmother was a founding member of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. In 1961, he and his family fled Cuba and sought sanctuary in the United States. He studied at Stetson University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, and later at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Caribbean in Puerto Rico from where he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1967. He also studied in Switzerland and at the University of the South. He was awarded a doctorate from the Seminary of the Southwest in 1996 and another from the University of the South in 2000.  

Alard was ordained a deacon in 1967 and priest in 1968. He then became vicar of St' Mark's Church in Chattahoochee, Florida, while in 1972 he became the rector of St' John's Church in Homestead for 15 years and was headmaster of an Episcopal school.  In 1986 he was appointed as canon for Hispanic ministries and director of the Center for Hispanic Ministries of Province VII. In 1995 he also became canon for multicultural ministries in the Diocese of Texas.  Former canon for multicultural ministries in the Diocese of Texas, he was also vicar of the diocese's fastest-growing congregation, Santa Cruz.

Bishop Eaton's Weekly Message

Returns this fall

E f M Group Forming

Education for Ministry is a program of theological education created by Sewanee's School of Theology. Through individual and group study, worship, and the process of theological reflection, participants in an EfM community move toward a greater understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom and discover opportunities for responding to their own personal call

We are seeking lay persons who wish to gain insight into their personal ministries. Interested person should contact Krisan Lamberti at 305-962-1450.  Time and place will be announced when enough (6) people sign up. 

Additional Information

Hurricane Fiona inundates Puerto Rico, knocks out power 5 years after Maria’s devastation

episcopal news service.org

Hurricane Fiona knocked out power across Puerto Rico on Sept. 18 while dropping as much as 30 inches of rain in some parts and causing “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding,” according to the National Weather Service. The storm is just the latest natural disaster to impact the U.S. territory, which was devastated five years ago by Hurricane Maria.

Fiona also hit the Dominican Republic hard as it continued west, and Episcopalians in the region are still assessing the damage while mobilizing to help neighbors in need when the storm subsides.

“Just five years after Hurricane Maria caused such devastation in Puerto Rico, the people there are now faced with Hurricane Fiona. I ask Episcopalians and other people of goodwill to pray for Bishop Rafael Morales and the clergy and laity of the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico as they stand with their fellow Puerto Ricans,” Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said. “Please pray also for Bishop Moises Quesada and the clergy and laity of the Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic, and for all those impacted by this horrendous storm. And I thank God for Episcopal Relief & Development and their efficient response to this crisis.”

The Diocese of Puerto Rico canceled Sunday services across the island and in a Sept. 18 Facebook post, Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado identified “flooding, landslides, blocked roads” across the island, “but even more, hope and resilience.” Morales said he expected on Sept. 19 to have a better sense of the local impacts as the diocese looks to offer assistance. “Stay safe,” he said.

The eye of Hurricane Fiona swiped Puerto Rico on Sept. 18, briefly making landfall midafternoon on the island’s southwest coast with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, The rain from the storm has been heaviest across the southern half of Puerto Rico.

Early morning Sept. 19, Fiona made landfall on the east coast of the Dominican Republic. It is expected to turn northward this week as it heads into the Atlantic, though rain from the storm could continue to pelt Puerto Rico into the afternoon Sept. 19.

Morales told ENS later that he met that afternoon with his diocese’s Emergency Affairs Committee. The diocese’s is developing its response, which will include four aid centers, in the municipalities of Trujillo Alto, Mayagüez, Ponce and Maricao. Starting Sept. 21, the diocese will offer food, water, hygiene products and spiritual and psychological support to those affected by Hurricane Fiona.

In the Dominican Republic, The Episcopal Church has a significant presence in the east, where Fiona made landfall, Bishop Moises Quezada told ENS.

“We are making preparations to help the victims in these places and other surrounding communities that are being devastated by the passage of this natural disaster,” he said. “The clergy and the parishioners have remained in chains of prayer and in constant communication.”

Episcopalians in Orlando, Florida, where many Puerto Ricans moved after Hurricane Maria, have been following developments on the island closely as they prepare to support recovery efforts and welcome any who may be displaced by the most recent storm. In that work, the Episcopal Churches of Christ the King and Jesus de Nazaret have helped coordinate communications between government officials and relief agencies in Florida.

The Rev. José Rodriguez, the vicar of Jesus de Nazaret and co-rector of Christ the King, led a Zoom meeting on Sept. 19 for people in Orlando interested in joining outreach efforts. Rodriguez noted how the experience of receiving individuals and families displaced by Hurricane Maria in 2017 may provide lessons for receiving those displaced by Hurricane Fiona.

“We’ve asked our federal legislators that if FEMA is bringing families to Orlando, to work really hard at placing them in places where they will succeed,” Rodriguez said, explaining communities should be chosen that have adequate housing, transportation, employment and safe places for children to play.

“A hurricane in Puerto Rico causes displacement. We don’t know if there is going to be a big wave of displacement or if it’s going to be small,” he said, but residents should be ready to show that “central Florida is welcoming to all people.”

Tony Ortiz, a member of the Orlando City Council, also joined the Zoom meeting and echoed Rodriguez’s words. “We’re ready,” Ortiz said, though it remains unclear how many people from Puerto Rico will move to Orlando after Hurricane Fiona. “We’re waiting with open arms,” he said. “I know when the time comes, everybody’s going to be joining in.”

Rainfall continued to be the biggest worry in the afternoon on Sept. 19, the Rev. Bryan Vélez, who serves as vicar of Church of the Good Shephard in Fajardo and as a chaplain and 1st lieutenant in the 156th Wing of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, told ENS.

Vélez’s parishioners were safe, he said, and that he was awaiting instructions from the National Guard on its community response.

The Diocese of Puerto Rico – with about 5,000 Episcopalians and 52 congregations across the island – also can look back on the experience of Hurricane Maria for lessons in how it now responds to Fiona. On Sept. 20, 2017, Maria made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the island’s southwest side, bringing 155 mph winds, massive rains and flooding across the island.

Puerto Rico’s 3.3 million residents are U.S. citizens. About 3,000 deaths were blamed on Maria. After the hurricane, diocesan staff sprang into action and divided the island into four quadrants, assessing damage and distributing food, water and other emergency supplies. With the backing of Episcopal Relief & Development, Episcopal churches in Puerto Rico became points of distribution for emergency supplies, even as 66 of the diocese’s 87 buildings also had sustained damage in the storm.

“Puerto Rico has an excellent disaster response committee and system that is in place as of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The church will rally in support of those in need in their communities. My hope is that the wider church will support those diocesan efforts,” the Rev. Glenda McQueen, The Episcopal Church’s partnership officer for Latin American and the Caribbean, told Episcopal News Service. “It is important for Episcopalians and all those living on the island and the church in Puerto Rico to know that they can count on Episcopalians for support.”

It is too early to say what the needs will be from Hurricane Fiona, but Episcopal Relief & Development is in contact with Episcopal and Anglican diocesan leaders in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos.

“Our partners are preparing for and assessing the needs in their communities while dealing with continued rain and flooding created by Hurricane Fiona,” said Angel Venegas, Episcopal Relief & Development’s U.S. disaster program officer. “We stand ready to assist in the coming days and weeks.”

Sharing the Blessings on Manhattan's Streets

thelivingchurch.org

Rush-hour traffic streams north on Madison Avenue, and people hurry along the sidewalk on their way to work. Similar scenes are unfolding all over midtown Manhattan, but at 35th Street, with buses stopping noisily just feet away, a priest in white alb and green stole stands quietly waiting in front of the church on the corner.

Few people notice, and even fewer stop. But those who pause and venture over have an encounter unlike that of any other morning commuter. They meet the Rev. Adrian Dannhauser, and to meet her is to feel God’s presence.

“The tradition of my childhood was so much focused on testimony, witness, and evangelism,” says this former Southern Baptist. “That evangelical view is part of what I am. It’s why I’m out there. My evangelism is not proselytizing. It’s just sharing God’s love.”

Dannhauser, 44, who was recently designated as the Church of the Incarnation’s priest in charge, has been out there on the sidewalk every Tuesday morning from 9 to 9:30 for more than five years. With the 158-year-old neo-Gothic Episcopal church behind her and an A-frame sign with the chalked message “Ask Me for a Blessing. God knows you need one” beside her, she is a pastoral presence for people she may never see again, as well as for those who return weekly.

spiritual encounters can now be widely appreciated through the publication of Dannhauser’s book Ask Me for a Blessing (You Know You Need One), with a title slightly modified from her sign at the suggestion of her editor at Broadleaf Books. In a foreword, Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry compares Dannhauser to Jesus, who started his ministry in a house of worship before taking it to the streets: “The stories she relates are sometimes humorous and often poignant, and throughout all of them is the thread of human need, heartfelt connection, and divine love.”

Sidewalk ministry brings with it the unexpected, like the time Dannhauser had an unusual request for a blessing. A man looked at her and asked, “Why does everyone want to have sex with me?” This would leave many priests floundering for a way to respond, but Dannhauser discerned the hurt behind the question and recognized the need for healing.

“Tell me more about that,” she said, which led to a discussion of his feelings of being objectified. “We had a pretty fruitful conversation about dignity and worth. My pastoral skills definitely kicked in.”

Those skills kicked in a half-dozen times on the last Tuesday in July. At first most people either didn’t notice her or glanced at the sign and kept going. After about five minutes, a man in his 40s who said he had seen her there before made that the day to briefly discuss family matters. Not wanting the encounter to be too much too soon, Dannhauser blessed him with an air cross rather than on his forehead.

“You just kind of have to feel it out,” she said after he left. “It was more of a conversational prayer.”

Lenore Ritter, a member of the vestry, arrived next for her weekly blessing, followed by Nelson Rosa, who works in insurance across the street and stops whenever he sees Dannhauser there.

“You get peace of mind,” he said. “Anything you can do in this crazy world. It’s like Mom telling you it will be OK, but she’s not here.”

Another man was on a call but asked Dannhauser when she would be there again and said he’d be back.

In contrast, the next encounter was a long one. A Jewish man in his 70s asked, “Is this a special holiday?” before questioning her about Christianity and sharing his concern that the number of Jews was diminishing. Her blessing for him was a prayer that more people would find God through Judaism. He expressed surprise that she didn’t try to convert him.

“He was a talker,” she said later. “That happens. I don’t usually take that long, but when I get to talk about Christianity I will.”

Her final petitioner was a woman who hesitated before putting on her mask and waiting for the Jewish man to leave. She said she needed “God all over in everything.” Dannhauser prayed that the power of Jesus would be in her life, that whatever she touched would flourish, and that God would make her a blessing.

In between these up-close encounters, a bus driver slowed and waved and Dannhauser made the sign of the cross for him.

The evangelical side of Dannhauser that inspires her sidewalk ministry is part of the reason the Rev. J. Douglas Ousley hired her as his associate rector in 2015.

“We both had an evangelical background,” said Ousley, who retired in December 2019 after 34 years as Incarnation’s rector. “I felt that gave her an enthusiasm for the gospel, yet she had a modern perspective on social justice. She just had a personality that bubbled over with joy and enthusiasm.”

Ousley admits he was skeptical about the blessings but gave his approval because they could be a way to combine “both religion and direct action, and we could pray for people.”

Although he says this ministry should have “a strong, outgoing person,” the introverted rector filled in a few times. His favorite memory is from one morning when he was with a person while another waited.



“When New Yorkers see a line, they think there’s something important.” The line began to grow. When people reached Ousley and found out he was offering a blessing, some left but others stayed. “People told me amazing personal things and asked for prayers.”

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