Bishop Guerra Comes To Tucson - Details

EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF GUATEMALA VISITS ARIZONA TO CELEBRATE
WITH ST. MICHAEL'S AND OFFER NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MIGRATION

His Grace the Rt. Reverend Armando Guerra Soria, Episcopal Bishop of Guatemala and Primate (Presiding Bishop) of the Anglican Region of Central America, visits Arizona from September 23 to 30 for a series of public and private meetings at the invitation of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church (Tucson), St. Michael’s Guatemala Project, and the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. The Presiding Bishop will offer fresh perspectives on migrants and migration and participate in Michaelmas (St. Michael’s Feast) 60th anniversary activities, as St. Michael’s celebrates the church’s founding in 1953 and Guatemala Project’s 20 years of advocacy with Maya in rural Guatemala.

Guerra has served as Episcopal Bishop of Guatemala for 31 years, including some of the fiercest years of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war. He holds divinity degrees from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, and is President of Guatemala’s Ecumenical Council.

Principal public programs with Bishop Guerra, in English or Spanish depending upon audience, are the following:

• Monday Sept. 23, 5 p.m., Phoenix: Welcome and light meal with Guatemalans and others. Iglesia Santa Maria, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 6501 N. 39th Avenue (N. of Bethany Home).
• Wednesday Sept. 25, 3:30 p.m., Green Valley: "Migrants, Migration, and Faith – A Guatemalan Perspective." Program and discussion. St. Francis-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, 600 S. Canada Drive [from I-19, Esperanza Blvd. exit, then south on La Canada to the church].
• Saturday Sept. 28, 7 p.m., St. Michael’s: Michaelmas Eve concert, followed by a reception with Bishop Guerra. Arizona Baroque performs Latin American Baroque music of the 17th and 18th centuries. The reception features Latin American foods from Mision San Miguel and Tucson’s Guatemalan community, as well as "Baroque" light fare from concert organizers.
• Sunday Sept 29, 9:30 a.m., St. Michael’s: Festal High Mass, the Rt. Rev. Kirk Smith, Episcopal Bishop of Arizona, celebrating. Brunch with both bishops follows in the Parish Center.

Additionally, Bishop Guerra will tour border areas with Samaritans, visit Operation Streamline at the Federal Courthouse, interact with the Guatemalan community and Guatemala Project teams, and meet with Roman Catholic Bishop of Tucson Gerald Kicanas, Episcopal Bishop of Arizona Kirk Smith, the Guatemalan Consul General, and others. Planners have also requested meetings with members of Arizona’s Congressional delegation.

All activities are free. Donations in any amount welcomed.

Bishops on the Border: Pastoral Responses to the Immigration Crisis, a new book edited by Bishop Smith, and information about St. Michael’s Guatemala Project will be available at events.

The Episcopal Parish of St. Michael and All Angels Church and School
602 North Wilmot Road
Tucson, Arizona 85711
(520) 886-7292
FAX (520) 886-8636
John R. Smith, Priest and Rector