Ayer en Instituto Episcopal San Cristóbal

We had our regular Eucharists at Parroquia San Cristóbal yesterday, but not very many people attended la Misa a las 10:30am. This is because our neighbor, Instituto Episcopal San Cristóbal, had a feria. The crowd at la Misa was so small (about 25 people) that I had everyone gather around the altar during the Eucharist. We were visited by a lovely couple who live in Los Angeles, California, but were married at San Cristóbal some sixty years ago when Revdo. Shirley was rector. Rt. Rev. Lemuel Shirley was the first Panamanian bishop of the Episcopal Church in Panamá. On a side note, I read that a new bishop of the Diocese of Paraguay in the province of the Southern Cone was elected over the weekend. He is the Rev. Patrick Butler and is a missionary of SAMS (South American Missionary Society). This means the majority of the bishops of that province are not South American but British and Estadoünidense ex-pats. Only Panamanians have been elected bishops of the Episcopal Church in Panama since the 1970's, and all the bishops of the dioceses in the province of the Anglican Church in the Region of Central America (IARCA) are Central Americans and citizens of the nations in which they are bishops. Yet yer FOCA types see the Southern Cone as the Latin American province! Sheesh! But i digress. . .

So, this feria was very noisy; they hired two DJs with great big noisy sound systems. They started up during la Misa and I had to send our Sexton, Mr. Hudson, over to threaten their lives (such a fine, Christian man I am!). Ricky Staple, our drummer, told me that those loud noises make him physically ill! The Lovely Mona went over and snapped some photos before la Misa, so that's what we're showing today.



Obligatory Mrs. Doyle photo



Entrance to the school with giant Coca-Cola can



Darla Brown (right) talking with a friend


Lots of stuff for sale






Profesora Patricia Lewis, Directora de Instituto Episcopal San Cristóbal, and member of the Vestry of Parroquia San Cristóbal


Some yoots were doing some sort of presentation in the Bishop Hayes Gymnatorium





Las Niñas



A Big Shoe



Big Slide


Trampoline (Yay Lovely Mona! You caught the kid in the air!)