Faith Features

It couldn't really have been more of an English shires introduction for Bishop Ulysses Prendes, staying with the vicar of St George's in Norton Letchworth in the lead up to the Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference.

Bishop Ulysses Prendes with the Morris men

The event will see more than 650 bishops from all corners of the globe gathering in Canterbury to discuss the church's future. But this week, Bishops like Bishop Ulysses have been meeting parishoners in diocese up and down the country, to get a sense of the church here in England. And Bishop Ulysses' reception was traditionally English: a far cry indeed from the Salsa beats of his home in Cuba!

After the Sunday morning service it was back to the vicarage garden for a cup of tea, a glass of Pimms and morris dancing as the garden was packed with local parishoners eager to enjoy the summer afternoon.

Morris Men

Under laden apple trees and union jack bunting, Bishop Ulysees tapped his feet to the beat of English Country Garden, performed by the colourful Letchworth Morris Men, decked in flowers, complete with the traditional garb of ankle bells, sticks and a pigs bladder. The Fool - clad in yellow and blue costume - took him to one side and explained the significance of rosemary - a herb for remembrance and carried by the fool in this pre-Christian folk dance tradition.

But the Bishop gave something of Cuba to the family service beforehand. The familiar Bible story of the Parable of the Sower was applied to the Cuban experience under Fidel Castro.

Bishop Ulysses Prendes with a piece of rosemary

Hope

Bishop Ulysses' sermon - delivered in Spanish but translated by a local Spanish speaker - he spoke of the need to hold on to the word of God and not let other concerns distract Christians from deepening their faith. He drew on his own experience in Cuba, telling the congregation how he had seen his Church diminish in numbers after the Cuban Revolution, as people feared that attending church would be greeted with hostility and even persecution by the ruling Atheist government of Fidel Castro.

It was a story of hope he said. Bishop Ulysees told the church, that much has changed since those days. As the Church was seen to have a positive impact on peoples' lives and seen to be making a different in society, the government softened its stance, even changing the constitution around 15 years ago. Now, he says, there's a good relationship between both the Anglican - and far larger - Catholic Church in Cuba. It's becoming easier for sponsors within the American Church to visit him and his congregations in Cuba,  as clergy are given greater freedoms.