Mutuality and co-learning are guiding principles in collaboration between Seattle and Colombian presbyteries
Seattle Presbytery
‘This is truly a unique and exciting way to be church together’
by Scott O’Neill | Presbyterian News Service
Several partner churches in Barranquilla, Colombia, partner with local community children’s programs to run after-school tutoring programs. (Contributed photo)
LOUISVILLE — A simple question asked nearly a decade ago by a Seattle-area pastor interested in learning more about the Presbyterian Church in Colombia has blossomed into a partnership that reflects a mutual passion for theological and academic inquiry, worship, faith and the desire to simply “be” together.
The special connection is between Seattle Presbytery and the el Presbitero de la Costa (Presbytery of the Coast) in northern Colombia. It’s been developed and nurtured over the past eight years through social media, Zoom calls and face-to-face visits. Earlier this year, a delegation from Seattle reconnected with their Colombian siblings after a hiatus in 2021 by visiting the city of Barranquilla, a seaport capital of more than one million people and the home for most of the 12 churches that comprise the Colombian Presbytery of the Coast.
The Rev. Eliana Maxim, co-executive presbyter in Seattle Presbytery, stated that when the two groups began to explore what a partnership might look like back in 2015-16, it was important that the presbyteries enter any relationship as equals.
“We agreed on certain guiding principles for our ‘hermandad’ or sibling relationship. And at the center of them was a posture of mutuality,” said Maxim. “Our presbyteries entered into this relationship as equals, committed to nurturing relationships above all else, and allowing them to then determine how we would live out our commitment to one another.”
Now eight years in, Maxim, who was born in Barranquilla, feels like the fruits of their labors are starting to materialize.
“My primary goal from the very beginning was for us to decolonize traditional mission partnerships and create something completely different: equitable, mutual and deeply relational,” Maxim said. “We are beginning to see the fruits of our commitment, and this is truly a unique and exciting way to be church together.”