Case Study
Our congregation was founded in 1996 as a mission of the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry, a program of the Dioceses of East Carolina and North Carolina. In 2002 it was established as a parish, La Iglesia de La Sagrada Familia, in the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina. The only stand-alone Spanish-language congregation in the diocese, La Sagrada Familia administers a rural property jointly with the Farmworker Ministry, far from any urban centers. Many congregants come long distances to participate in parish life.
Our congregation has met faithfully for more than 20 years but has never had a church building in which to worship. We meet in an open-air pavilion or in a crowded double-wide trailer or meeting room at the Farmworker Ministry when necessary due to extreme cold or heat. We are now finally beginning to construct our first church building on the property!
The congregation consists mainly of farm workers, Latino families, and some Anglo congregants. Many parishioners, particularly the younger ones, are bilingual in English and Spanish. Services are conducted in Spanish, with translations for our non-Spanish speakers. The average age of our congregants is under 40, and several young adults have grown up in this parish. Children participate actively in parish life.
Our congregation began and continues as a mission outpost, and our purpose is clear: to proclaim the Gospel, to celebrate the sacraments, to live out the Christian values of faith and community, and to reach out to others. We actively welcome all to our church.
From its origin, La Sagrada Familia has been a cross-cultural community. The congregation originated as part of the Farmworker Ministry. Over time, families from various Latin countries, and, more recently, some Anglo parishioners, have joined the congregation along with the farm workers. Our congregants are largely working-class Episcopalians and are uniformly welcoming to newcomers from all backgrounds. As more non-Spanish speakers join our church, we anticipate holding more bilingual services and events.
La Sagrada Familia's connection with the Farmworker Ministry ensures that parishioners have contact with and work with people of different backgrounds and ethnicities, from the mainly Anglo board of directors to the varied recipients of the biweekly food bank at the ministry.
The parish intentionally avoids institutional prejudices. We listen with genuine respect to our parishioners, who help determine our path, and we accept and celebrate their different gifts and cultural traditions.
One example is the tradition of celebrating La Virgen de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe), who is a Mexican cultural icon and patroness of Mexico. We display an image of La Virgen when we hold our services, and we celebrate her feast day on December 12. Another Latino custom we share is the Quinceañera, celebrating a girl's 15th birthday. This event usually includes a short religious service followed by a party. Because many parish teenagers have lived most or all of their lives in the United States, these services might be in English or Spanish—or both! Traditions like these that take place within an Episcopal context enrich our parish and the lives of our congregants. We welcome the different customs of our parishioners through an Anglican lens.
Many of our bilingual congregants are equally comfortable in a Latino or Anglo environment. Thus, they serve as a bridge between the cultures. As Latinos, most of our parishioners are, in a sense, outsiders in this country—and yet in some ways they understand the wider culture and challenges of the U.S. better than insiders.
Our parish has cultivated close bonds with other, predominantly English-speaking parishes in the region through various programs and activities. An example is our relationship with St. John's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, with whom we have celebrated Christmas services and multi-cultural traditions such as Las Posadas (the reenactment of Joseph and Mary's search for an inn) and the Day of the Dead.
Three key methods that we have used in building our cross-cultural church and community are:
- Intentional listening. Sermons, congregational forums, and other Christian formation opportunities are always two-way conversations in which everyone can speak and be heard. Congregational input is always sought and considered when leadership is making decisions.
- Intentional empowerment. All resources, financial and otherwise, are handled transparently using minimally dual control, and all members can participate in that process. There are no unilateral uses of monetary resources, ever.
- Intentional invitations. We focus on meeting people where they are—in their daily lives and activities. These relationships formed outside the church allow us to extend intentional invitations for people to come into our church. Our congregation is effective in reaching out to others and has brought many new congregants in this way. We meet people where they are by visiting the farmworkers' camps and bringing workers to church on Sundays. We often conduct Quinceañeras, house blessings, and other services for people right in their homes.
The most important thing that La Sagrada Familia could have done differently would have been to construct a physical church years ago, before construction became so costly. While we know that a church is composed of people, not buildings, a physical plant helps us all to see and understand the church's tangible presence. It helps people to carry out more effectively our mission of worship and outreach to others. And it helps draw people in.
This congregation has worshipped faithfully for more than 20 years without having an actual sanctuary in which to gather, and without a physical building to signal to outsiders that we are a lively and active church. Despite this obstacle, the people of La Sagrada Familia have built a strong community and have reached out and welcomed others by example and word of mouth. It is truly remarkable, and a testament to the parishioners' faith, devotion, and persistence, that this congregation continues to exist despite this drawback.
We are finally now beginning a construction project. With an actual church building, imagine what this congregation will accomplish!
Fred Clarkson
Bio: I was born in Bogota, Colombia, to an American mother and a Colombian father whose father was British, hence my last name. I moved to the US with my parents when I was six. We lived in Maryland and New York State until I was a teenager, at which point we moved back to Bogota, Colombia. When I was fifteen, I went to live with my grandparents in California. I attended the University of St Andrew's in Scotland, and after graduation, I worked in banking and related businesses in the US until 2002. I went into the discernment process in the Diocese of Virginia and entered Virginia Theological Seminary in the fall of 2005. I graduated in 2008 and was ordained a Deacon in May of that year and a Priest in November 2008 after having taken my first position as Vicar of St Matthew's, Salisbury, and Good Shepherd, Cooleemee, in the Diocese of North Carolina. I moved to Houston, Texas, in February of 2013, where I served as Rector and Vicar of St Timothy's Episcopal Church. In the summer of 2017, I moved to East Carolina. I began working as the Spanish-language ministry Coordinator for the Diocese of East Carolina. In January 2021, I was also appointed priest-in-charge of La Sagrada Familia Episcopal Church in Newton Grove, NC. I am single, and I have one dog.