A Visit to the Methodist Church, Uruguay November 2007

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1 A Visit to the Methodist Church, Uruguay 7-19 November 2007 Purposes of the visit 1. To strengthen existing links between the British and Uruguayan Methodist churches. 2. To explore new ways of mission opportunities particularly in relation to Buena Voluntad. 3. To make contact with NMA s and particulary, in relation to 2. above, Gustavo Garello. 4. To explore further potential mission contacts between the two churches and possibly the exchange of personnel. 5. To discuss the implications of the 2007 Conference decision concerning international mission relationships. 6. To take forward earlier discussions between the Revd s Stephen Poxon and Diego Frisch about relationships between Uruguay and the North Lancashire district. 7. At a personal level, to discover if and how my professional expertise may be helpful to the educational activities of the Methodist Church in Uruguay. Structure of the visit An extensive programme was arranged for me by the President of the Methodist Church in Uruguay, Oscar Bolioli, and his staff. This involved -meetings with the national directors and some members of the national assembly, -visits to churches and social projects in Montevideo, including opportunities to visit homes and localities in the city, -visits to major towns in the rest of the country including Durazno, Artigas, Bella Union, Salto and Paysandu which included meetings and visits as well as worship in a variety of settings, -a two day visit to Bueno Voluntad, participating in classes and meeting the Institute's commission -a short visit to the Crandon School in Montevideo -social occasions with the senior staff of the church and their partners -recreational and reflection time -accommodation in good quality hotels and transport around the country in coaches with on occasions overnight travel being required. Context The relationships between the Methodist churches in Uruguay and the United Kingdom have been warm and fruitful for a number of years. Assistance has been given to the church and a healthy relationship has developed with the North Lancashire district which - 1

2 has expressed itself in financial assistance to the church in Uruguay, and particularly its social projects, and recently two exchanges of young people from both countries. The Methodist church in Uruguay has approximately 1000 members with a similar number of people who are active sympathisers with the church. This is a reduction upon the number of members in living memory but there are clear signs that the church is making contact with young people and children, in a family context, which is now leading to growth. Uruguayan society continues to show wide disparities in social and economic well-being. These are to be seen not only at individual locations within the major conurbations but throughout the country as a whole where the level of affluence in the south would appear to far surpass that in the more rural north. An economic depression some five to 10 years ago has yet to be fully resolved and there is evidence in many places of the difficulties which previously well-to-do families were having in maintaining their levels of prosperity. All these impact upon the wellbeing of the Church and the nature of its mission. It is important to record that at the time of my visit the church leaders were much occupied by a developing conflict between the church and the government over proposed tax liabilities and the implementation of employment laws including increased pay levels. This was not an issue which affected the Methodist church alone but arguably the impact of these new measures will have an effect upon a small church which goes way beyond the proportional effects upon larger institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church. The root of the problem would appear to be that there is little or no government legislation which adequately defines the charitable sector, including organisations for cultural and religious activity. There is considerable disappointment and frustration in the church about these new developments since they will endanger planned opportunities for mission in areas of social need. There is a further difficulty in that it appears that legislation will be more strictly enforced whereby those who have reached retirement age will be prevented from continuing in a similar role in paid or even in a voluntary capacity. The church is energetically managing its affairs through a 10-year plan which owes much to the active leadership of Oscar Bolioli. This was introduced after wide discussion and is now gaining a greater acceptance as it enters its second year of implementation. The national directors each have responsibilities for developing aspects of the plan and were able to report progress and developments to me as well as expressing some frustrations which inevitably arise in these matters. The national directors are people of energy and experience in several walks of life and in the time that I shared with them demonstrated good working relationships. I was also interested to learn of the Church s development of the role of lay pastor and met a number of such people who are providing excellent leadership to the church. Montevideo In the centre of Montevideo I visited the national offices of the Methodist Church, the main church itself in the centre of the city (where I attended Sunday morning worship and gave greetings to the congregation from the Methodist people in the United Kingdom). It was a joy at this church to be received so warmly and to witness two children being received into the church by baptism. I estimate that there was a congregation of perhaps 75 to 90 people but a number of people were involved in the preparations for a garden party being - 2

3 held that afternoon for children from an orphanage which is partly the responsibility of the Methodist Church. I also visited two small Methodist churches which are in much less privileged parts of the city. Each of these churches, under the leadership of a young minister, was seeking to offer social assistance to people in their area. In one case that took the form of seeking to ensure that the local people were well clothed and fed whilst in the other case the emphasis was placed upon providing accommodation for front-line health services. Here the church sought to provide premises whereby health professionals could work within the community and doctors/psychologists sometimes taught the congregation prior to worship. At these churches there were also signs of work with children and young people, sometimes involving the provision of meals, and evidence of good Christian educational work with children. I also visited a community near the city s airport where the church has deployed a lay pastor in order to create a church. He introduced me to several families in this deprived neighbourhood where I was most warmly received in homes. One house, a selfconstructed property, was the home of a mother who was a nurse and a father, a supermarket butcher, and three young children. This family, of restricted economic means, were at the heart of a network which was being developed as a church. The next stage was to look for a building to make into a community centre where an early priority would be to open a thrift shop. A Christmas celebration was to be held this year involving approximately 10 families and 20 children. Church growth was clearly in evidence in this area. Durazno The Methodist church in this town was celebrating its 100th birthday during my visit. It was my privilege to be part of a service of thanksgiving and a subsequent party to celebrate this occasion. People had come from many other parts of the country to take part including a very senior regional government official (who declared himself to be a Roman Catholic) who spoke warmly in the service in praise of the work of the church. Ministers from other denominations were also present and the occasion provided an opportunity to make awards to many members of the congregation for their long and dedicated service. Artigas Artigas is one of the towns in the north of the country where there is a Methodist presence. From here, following a 1 hour road journey on unmade roads, a visit was made to Yacare which is the site of a state school where the church has developed a fish farm, a small restaurant which again is a church development and then the church itself where we had a meeting with a few people from the community. The fish farm had had a successful first year and many more fish had been bred than anticipated. The fish had in fact been relocated temporarily whilst the construction of the pool was strengthened. All this had been accomplished with the full co-operation of the various state authorities. A return to the church at Artigas allowed participation in an outdoor prayer meeting led by the pastor. This service was the only (modestly) charismatic event, of those I attended, in that it was most strongly led by the pastor who clearly had a strong following amongst the congregation. One of the ideas which began to be discussed here was the possibility of - 3

4 creating links between children in Uruguay and North Lancashire where their experiences could be made real to each other. It was the planning of the local Christmas celebrations and the difference between these and those which were being planned simultaneously in Lancashire which brought this to mind. Bella Union In Bella Union I saw perhaps the most developed localised political involvement of the church. The local pastor and his wife lived in very humble accommodation in this large town and generously accommodated us there for breakfast after an overnight journey. The church here has put an enormous amount of effort into revitalising a local health clinic and to ensuring its longer term viability by involving trades union leaders. This is an area of Uruguay where there has been very low investment in industry and the trade union leader at the time we met displayed a quiet determination to make a difference within the community. The polyclinic, as it is called, needs substantial investment even to recover the facilities which it had several years ago but which were removed and put into state provision by the new government in ways which are no longer accessible by the local community. At this centre I also met an official of regional government who spoke most warmly of the efforts of the church to revitalise aspects of the community. The needs were very great with an urgent need for basic sanitation for much of the town Clearly he saw the church as a major player in the town s development and the political influence which the church was exercising was fully evident. Salto Only a few hours were available to stop in this town en route to Paysandu. In addition to seeing some of the natural attractions of the town (it is an old spa town with some pretensions of tourism) I had the opportunity to meet the local pastor and two of the young men who had come on the exchange to North Lancashire earlier in the year Paysandu Salto and Paysandu are in the west of the country and very close to the border with Argentina and both have a historical status as spa towns. The mission development at Paysandu is hugely exciting in its potential for a nationwide impact. Here, on the outskirts of the town, are land and facilities owned by the Church which over time are being transformed into an outdoor camp for use particularly by young people. Considerable assistance is being given by the American Methodist Church both in terms of money and volunteers and a Uruguayan family live rent free on site in return for continuing the developemtn work on a day-to-day basis. The opportunities, given the resources which will be available on completion, are enormous. This is a beautiful site on the edge of a river and in a neighbourhood which offers safety, peace and quiet. Professional architects connected to the Church have given their services free to plan an environment of a high quality. I estimate that it is 1-2 years away from being able to take the first groups of visitors but business plans are now being drawn up which will show how this work will be financed and staffed. The opportunities for - 4

5 Uruguayan young people to come out of their restricted domestic environments and to live together, learning something of God, of themselves and of each other will be substantial The church s work in education As an educationalist it is to be expected that I will have taken a particular interest in the involvement of the Uruguayan Methodist Church in education. I shall comment separately upon the two major centres which I visited. The first was Crandon, a huge private school in Montevideo. This is a school which caters for children and young people from a very young age through to university admission. The premises it occupies are very impressive and the facilities within of a high quality indeed. Materially it is an outstanding school and I have no reason to believe that this is not also true of its educational performance although I saw no teaching taking place as a result of the timing of my visit. However, the behaviour of the children and young people was of a high order and there was much evidence of the involvement of parents and families particularly at the lower end of the school. A remarkable emphasis is placed upon the teaching of English from a very young age. A very full formal curriculum is supplemented by the school s involvement in the community and within the Church s social projects in particular. Numbers at the school, I am told, are rising and so long as economic prosperity continues to grow in the country there is every reason to believe that the school has a very good future. However, in discussion, I learnt that the government has many plans for legislation in the field of education and it was not yet clear whether these were likely to present an opportunity or a threat to the school. The Goodwill Institute. I visited the Institute on two separate days, and held a further discussion with Ruth Watson, who is closely associated with the Institute, and a child psychiatrist colleague of hers, on another occasion. On my visit to the Institute I participated in an art therapy class, met with the staff and some of the students and spoke at some length with the Commission, who are responsible for the governance of the Institute. I was asked to give my professional reflections to the Commission about the work that I saw being undertaken there and I was invited to be blunt, and not to pull my punches. The Institute is an ambitious project which is already doing valuable work. It serves an area of Montevideo, called Cerro, which is a deprived area of the city with many social needs. There are just over 100 students. Most of them are aged between 14 and 18 but some are now adults, and many have acute educational and health needs. They entered the Institute with no or very few formal educational qualifications, often having effectively left school before the normal school leaving age. Many have great difficulty in functioning as independent human beings and learners and the identification of deep-seated psychological difficulties is in some cases an early objective for the staff. The financial resources available to the Institute are very modest and come mainly through two government social programs. The Institute is accommodated within an old factory, adjacent to the Methodist Church. This Church also accommodates a number of private educational ventures for very young children. It is well lit by natural light but is in a poor state of repair. Very limited resources are available either to repair the building or to provide the level of equipment which is required to meet even basic educational objectives. Indeed, the educational objectives - 5

6 often have to be confined to what is achievable within the resources which may become available on an irregular basis.. The building is mainly on two floors and access from one to another is by a staircase. There is a lift shaft but the actual lift has been removed for safety reasons. There is thus immense difficulty for one student who is in a wheelchair. There is also a downstairs basement area where carpentry and gardening courses are provided. Again access to these is only by a staircase. The Uruguayan Methodist Church is in negotiation with the American Methodist Church to fund a substantial refurbishment of this building. The cost would be in the region of 50,000 American dollars and there would then be the question of re-equipping some of the work areas. At an early stage I indicated my immense admiration of what the church was seeking to do. This is not only an educational venture but it is an expression of love and ministry to the surrounding area. As I have reported this is not taking place in isolation for the Institute is located alongside a Methodist church, part of which is occupied during the week by secular organisations offering services to young children and their families. Thus we have here a centre of expertise for the whole community from which children find their way into appropriate levels of education according to their needs and potential. However the Uruguayan education system is such that there may well be young people who are not capable of progressing into employment or further study and indeed there is a substantial subculture whereby the dominant means of obtaining economic resources is by begging rather than employment. It is with these young people that the Institute is trying to improve matters in Cerro. Courses are offered in catering, dressmaking, hairdressing, horticulture, carpentry and computing. Work in social skills and in art therapy, as well as visiting teachers for physical education, complement this vocational programme. However, there are major difficulties. The quality of the equipment on offer is frankly pitiful and I suspect this is one factor which will mean that the skills which the students are gaining are not at a level which will enable them easily to gain employment. Also, and this is an even bigger issue, there is no organised and progressive curriculum in any of these vocational areas. Finally, I am far from convinced that in spite of the best efforts of the staff concerned enough is known about the health, social and educational background and achievements of the students to provide satisfactorily for their future educational needs. Team Focus Whilst in Uruguay, I took the opportunity to discuss with Oscar Bolioli the proposed changes in the connexional team and the possible impact they would have on partner changes..recommendations 1. That the national church in the United Kingdom urgently considers whether it is able to reverse any of the recent decisions which are leading to reduced funds to the Uruguayan church by accepting either new or revised grant applications, in order to meet the unexpected shortfall in resources available to the Uruguayan church as a result of changes in government legislation. - 6

7 2. The national church in the United Kingdom considers as soon as possible whether it might be possible to adopt an existing pastor as an NMA. Several possibilities were identified..3. A number of recommendations relate to the agreement drawn up by Stephen Poxon and Diego Frisch and are as follows: -that at this stage, unless there is a very clear option to consider which would overcome the potential difficulty arising from language, no action be taken to bring a mission partner to the UK on a long-term basis -however, a short-term placement of one or more Uruguayan pastors might be a better option. Language could still be a difficulty but a short-term training placement with costs met by the UK church could assist with financial pressures. It may also be possible to include in this funding preliminary English language training in preparation for the placement -exchange visits by lay people, students and ministers should be encouraged. The visit by young people in each direction was felt to be valuable although there were suggestions for improvements to the arrangements which included the better preparation of hosts. A specific proposal in respect of exchange visits for lay people is mentioned later in the context of education -the possibility of a gap year placement for up to a year of an English young person in Uruguay was well received although there had been earlier experiences which have not been so encouraging. However, having now seen Crandon School I am convinced that the opportunity is there for gap year work and should be explored urgently either connexionally or in the district -sharing theological issues by various methodologies would be welcome but no specific proposals emerged beyond those which will be mentioned below in respect of children. Perhaps such networks would best develop following personal visits and therefore could arise out of pastor and lay exchanges mentioned elsewhere - there is a real potential for twinning arrangements between individual churches here and in Uruguay. The lives of many people would be enriched in this way and the only question really is how to initiate them. As I understand it there has already been considerable contacts between one or two churches and those led in Uruguay by Diego Frisch and perhaps this would be the starting point I then have two specific proposals as follows; -first, I would like us to explore the extent to which it might be possible to create links between the children of both countries. New technology obviously will be very important here and I have taken one initiative which might be a starting point. That is I have asked the Uruguayan church to let me have as many images as possible of the way in which Christmas is being celebrated in Methodist churches in that country this year. It might then be possible to display these in future synods and to create a similar collection ourselves which could be sent to Uruguay next year. From this might develop links between children in particular churches or indeed between children individually. This may then give some meaning to links between the two countries even before exchanges take place in the teenage years and later. - 7

8 -second I want to raise an urgent proposal in relation to the Goodwill Institute. The way in which links between professional educators in the two countries could be achieved was discussed at some length when I was in Uruguay and the approach I describe was the one which was preferred. Rather than send a small group of people to Uruguay to give advice at a more detailed level than I was able to do, it was felt that it would be much more profitable for a small group of teachers from Uruguay to come to the United Kingdom for say 10 days to visit a number of schools and colleges to follow a structured programme which would enable them to gain an understanding of the way in which the individual needs of learners was approached in this country. From this would come proposals about the levels and type of assistance which the Goodwill Institute needed in future. Ken Wales November 2007 (A longer version of this report and some photographic images are available on request.) - 8