September 3, 2004

VALPARAISO, Chile - After 95 years of division in the Episcopal Methodist Church of Valparamso, which gave rise to the Methodist Pentecostal Church, the current leaders decided to reconcile in an act celebrated on September 2.

The event took place in the Methodist Church of Chile, in the city of Valparamso. Participants included the Rev. Bernardo Cartes, bishop of the Methodist Pentecostal Church and the Rev. Pedro Grandon, bishop of the Methodist Church of Chile, as well as bishops, pastors and lay leaders from different denominations and coming from different regions in the country.

Participants, according the S&C Communications Report, held a procession to the Pentecostal Evangelical Church, where homage was paid to the Rev. Willis Hoover and later to the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Cerro Larrain, where the final Thanksgiving Service was held.

Luis Perez, pastor of the Methodist Church emphasized that "95 years ago, a branch of the Methodist Church was painfully torn away and planted in fertile soil that gave fruit to a new and lush tree. The separation was perhaps a product of a lack of doctrine, lack of knowledge and lack of love, but God looked upon both Churches with pleasure and made them bountiful."

Bishop Grandon summarized the events that took place in 1909, placing emphasis on the life of the Rev. Hoover as an instrument of God in leading the Pentecostal Revival in Chile. In his prayer he exclaimed "Lord, we are here to recognize our weaknesses before you, our mistakes and to once again be the united Church you desire."

For his part, Bishop Cartes said "brother Methodists, forgive us for the pain that we may have caused at a time when our limitations gave way to jealousy and strife. But, what is incomprehensible in an instant in the divine dialect is comprehensible. We have come back so that from now on we can be more brothers and more united. We have always loved you."

Later, both bishops held a fraternal embrace to the applause of participants.

ALC News Service