Covenant of a Partnership between a congregation

of The Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba and

a congregation of a Presbyterian Church Long Island

Sharing God’s Mission Together

Partnership Definition and History:

            Congregations of Long Island Presbytery and of The Havana Presbytery have intended together to participate in formal covenants based on the long standing relationships between the PC(USA) and IPRC, The Presbytery of LI and The Presbytery of Havana by having “sister” churches on Long Island and their counterparts in Havana Province in Cuba agree to a shared mission project.  The program, which began in the early 1980s, brings together people of diverse cultures with a common base of faith in the reality of Jesus Christ and His Church in the world.  The partnerships have thrived to this day in spite of political differences between the respective countries and because of the guidance of a theology of a “mutuality of mission”.  A “sister” church partnership between a LI church and a Cuban Church has the intention of strengthening and supporting the partnership at the Presbytery level by involving people at the local level in communication, visitation, projects, study and prayer.

Partnership Goals:

  1. To give all that is necessary for the mission of the worldwide Christ Centered Church to meet its goals.
  2. To give living expression to the unity of the Church in Christ beyond human boundaries.
  3. To know more about each other, our lives, our faith, our purpose, so we can better know about God’s work in the world.
  4. To listen to each other, so God can speak to us in new ways helping us to grow spiritually.
  5. To pray for and with each other so the Holy Spirit will energize us.
  6. To participate in joint mission projects as a witness to those seeking Christ, who are watching to see God’s love that crosses barriers of nations, cultures and economies.
  7. To support partnerships of Presbyteries and National Church Organizations to thus strengthen their mission activities now and in the future.

Partnership Activities:

  1. Communication Efforts:
    1. Exchange of Information – e-mail, postal mail, telephone, published materials, Christian Education books and magazines.
    2. To encourage learning the partners language. (Spanish-English)
  1. Exchange of Persons:
    1. By placing a high priority on meeting with each other – we will invite partner church members and leaders to attend and participate presbytery meetings, national conferences, women’s organizations, youth activities,
    2. Requests will be made to appropriate committees to set aside funds for the support of travel.  Recognizing that the churches of the US have resources not available to those of the Cuban Churches, the burden for travel of most Cubans will be supported from the US.  (This provision is not intended to make the partnership a money issue but the facing of a reality that someday may be alleviated.)
  2. Social Projects:
    1. Offerings will be taken to help with projects such as a hot lunch program and provisions of medical supplies not available to all congregation and community members.
    2. Construction projects may be proposed and implemented. An example of a building project is the reconstruction of the Nueva Paz “temple” which became a priority project in both sister congregations.  The project began in 1998, and while all of the needed funds have not yet been raised; in addition, not all preparation has been completed in Cuba, the project is proceeding deliberately and with necessary cooperation from both governments.  More effort is required on both sides to complete this project mainly using prayer as a request for God’s guidance in this matter.
    3. Celebrations of shared mission projects will be planned as a part of the visitation program. For example, the congregation of Nueva Paz has invited a delegation of the congregation from Northport, NY to be a part of the rededication of the completed temple in Nueva Paz.
    4. Home worship Bible study will be supported in sister churches through prayer and materials on a request basis.
  3. Joint Studies:
    1. We will do joint Bible studies thereby gaining new insights into our faith by reflecting on same texts throughout the year.
    2. Joint conferences will be planned around critical issues surrounding the church making an impact on our joint beliefs – lay leadership, youth studies, new members, guidance to those seeking to become ordained, music, liturgy styles, ministries of each culture, etc.
  4. Prayer:

We will pray for each other in a deliberate way on a regular basis, in worship, through letters or e-mail, for individuals and groups and the health of the congregations.

Addendum:

            Sister Church Relationships are a part of the primary partnership of The Presbytery of LI with The Presbytery of Havana, which in turn is under the PC (USA) and the IPRC of Cuba.  The LI Presbytery relationship is supervised by The Cuba Work Group of the Council on Mission of The Presbytery of LI.  The permit to travel to Cuba is granted by The Department of The Treasury, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  All of this is now under The Department of Homeland Security.  Recently Presbyterians in Cuba have been denied visas to come to the US.  The Cuba Work Group has a strict policy that church exchange visits will always be made legally with governmental permission and licenses.

 

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