The community at Iglesia Episcopal de la Resurrección en Baltimore, July 2019

By Mary Klein, Diocesan Archivist

Read Hispanic/Latino Ministry in the Diocese of Maryland Part I

In December of 1995, following the departure of the Rev. Miguel Vilar as Hispanic Missioner, the newly consecrated diocesan bishop, Robert Ihloff, took the bold step of sponsoring the Latino congregation that had been shepherded by Padre Vilar as a Diocesan Mission . “It is my pleasure to make this worshipping community a mission of the Diocese of Maryland. As a new mission, I charge this congregation to choose a name for itself and continue to gather for worship on Sundays.” The congregation chose the name “La Iglesia de los Tres Santos Reyes” – the Church of the Three Holy Kings. This mission congregation was cooperatively sustained and encouraged not only by the Diocese of Maryland, but by the Delaware-Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as a way of cementing the newly ratified Concordat between the two church bodies.

The Rev. Anthony Vidal was made Deacon-in-Charge by Bishop Ihloff, assisted, part-time, by the Rev. Paul Collinson-Streng, a Lutheran pastor. One year after the mission was established, on December 1, 1996, the Rev. Roberto Maldonado, an Episcopal priest born in Puerto Rico, came from the Diocese of Central Florida to become the full-time vicar of the joint enterprise. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun, “One week the congregation uses a bilingual translation of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. The next week, parishioners sing and pray from the Lutheran Book of Worship.”

In his 1998 annual report, Padre Maldonado reported holding a Health Fair in conjunction with Church Home & Hospital, with 60 in attendance. He also continued the ministry to prisoners and their families, paying bi-weekly visits to the city jail, and monthly visits to the state prison, as well as making hospice and hospital calls to Spanish-speaking patients and families. He appeared on a weekly radio show, and was involved with Cologuio Magazine, which brought bilingual poetry recitals to the church. An important ministry was with the International Seafarer’s Center at the port of Baltimore. Fr. Maldonado held services three times on board ship, and the Seafarers’ van was used to bring sailors to Holy Evangelists’ to attend the Eucharist.

Iglesia Episcopal de Los Tres Santos Reyes article from the Baltimore Sun, undated
(click image to read the full article)

But 1999 brought difficult times for the small congregation. The Lutherans withdrew their financial support from the project, which forced Fr. Maldonado to work part-time. He chose to seek employment elsewhere and departed on September 19. The problems associated with maintaining a viable congregation included the unsettled lifestyle of many members: they would be loyal in attendance for several months, then be forced to move on. There was no Sunday School for the children, who very often were English-speaking, while their parents spoke only Spanish.

There were conversations held which included Bishop Ihloff, Deacon Anthony Vidal, Fr. Maldonado and Dean Van Gardner of the Cathedral, looking for ways to ensure continued ministry to the Hispanic population in Baltimore. A plan was devised, and Dean Gardner wrote a letter to Los Tres Santos Reyes’ parishioners in September, outlining a plan, which they accepted. Deacon Vidal would be assigned to the Cathedral, which would serve as host to the Spanish-speaking congregation, inviting the congregation to use the newly renovated Peace Chapel as their gathering place. The ministry of the Word would be shared in the Peace Chapel in Spanish, then the congregation would join the Cathedral congregation for the Eucharist, while the children went to Sunday School. The bishop was not willing to abandon the church building in Canton (Holy Evangelists), although maintenance and upkeep became increasingly expensive and difficult. The facility would be used to host Hispanic events, continue to work with the Education Based Latino Organization (EBLO), and to hold Fiestas on a regular basis. It was hoped that the congregation would become stable enough to eventually move back into the building.

Although Anthony Vidal had been a deacon since 1991, he consistently took on the role of pastor for the congregation of Los Tres Santos Reyes, and felt an increasing call to the priesthood. So, after thoughtful discernment, he was ordained to a priest by Bishop Ihloff on December 22, 2001. Vidal was made Hispanic Missioner in January of 2003, which included being pastor of the Hispanic congregation, and chair of the Commission on Hispanic Ministry, and a member of the bishop’s staff. Although the Los Tres Santos Reyes congregation continued to worship at the Cathedral, they wanted a more permanent place in which to hold more fellowship events, especially those which included food, so in March of 2004, the congregation began to worship at St. Timothy’s Church in Catonsville, on Ingleside Avenue.

By 2006, Anthony Vidal was becoming disheartened by what he perceived as the Episcopal Church’s increasingly “liberal” theological stances on various issues. That year, he accepted an invitation to become an associate at All Saints’ Church, Reisterstown, and many of the parishioners at Los Tres Santos Reyes followed him there, leaving the congregation left in Catonsville without a priest, and reduced in numbers. (In 2009, Vidal left the Episcopal Church altogether, and was re-ordained in the Roman Catholic Church.)

Celebration of New Ministry Program for the Rev. Roberto Maldonado-Mercardo

The Rev. Anthony J. Vidal, 1992

Bi-lingual Program for a Confirmation Service, May 25, 2005

Fulfilling the responsibilities of the Los Tres Santos Reyes congregation fell to the members of the Hispanic Mission Team, primarily to the Rev. Wes Wubbenhorst, who was bi-lingual. He took over the sacramental duties and held the struggling group together. One member of the congregation who served as lay Eucharistic minister, occasional preacher and lay reader was Hector Rodriguez. He was a former Roman Catholic priest, having been ordained in 1973, and was encouraged to seek Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. Although he could not yet serve as a priest, Mr. Rodriguez was made pastoral leader of the Hispanic congregation as well as the Hispanic Missioner in March of 2008, and in 2009 was named the Latino Coordinator. On October 4, 2009, Hector Rodriguez was received as a priest from the Roman Catholic Church into the Episcopal Church. That year, the congregation of Los Tres Santos Reyes had begun meeting at Church of the Resurrection on East Fayette Street, and Fr. Rodriguez was appointed vicar of the church, with oversight of both the Hispanic congregation meeting there, and the Anglo congregation, leading services in both Spanish and English.

By the fall of 2011, the original Anglo congregation of Church of the Resurrection had disbanded, and the Hispanic congregation was in need of reorganization and revitalization, with the departure of Fr. Rodriguez. In early 2012, a dynamic and energetic new era began in Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Maryland with the arrival of the Rev. Margarita Santana.

The first woman ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Diocese of the Dominican Republic, the Rev. Margarita Santana began her ministry as Canon for Latino Ministry in early 2012. Ordained to the diaconate in March 1991, and to the priesthood in June 1992, she came to the Diocese of Maryland with years of experience and a network of colleagues with whom to connect. Not only does she serve as pastor for Iglesia Episcopal de la Resureeccion, but she also assists with Spanish-speaking initiatives throughout our diocese, as well as serving on the Episcopal Church’s Latino Ministries board. The congregation at Resurrection has grown to a stable 70 members, but the same problems which has plagued the ministry in the past are still in evidence. Many members move frequently, and the added stresses of Covid, undocumented worker’ challenges, language barriers and lack of services make for a busy ministry. Members of the congregation come from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries including Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Spain, bringing with them their own celebrations, cultural norms, dialects, food and customs. The Rev. Santana says that she prefers to think of herself as the Canon for Hispanic/Latino Ministry, since there are those who are not from Latin America, but still speak Spanish, including Spaniards, and those hailing from the Caribbean. This multi-cultural congregation is a dynamic and exciting place in which to minister, and the weekly food distribution program is an essential part of the neighborhood presence.

For nearly fourty years, the Diocese of Maryland has made sure ministry to the Spanish-speaking community in Baltimore is in place and is committed to its ongoing success by its inclusion in the budgeting and planning processes. A contribution to this ministry, whose need is great and growing, may be made through the diocesan Bishop’s Annual Ministries Appeal.

The Rev. Margarita Santana at Highlandtown Elementary #237, September 2019