Two Congregations Share Support

January 31, 2001

Source: The Tampa Tribune

On January 31, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported on the relationship between the two congregations that have been meeting in St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Tampa, Florida, on Sundays since 1992. In the morning Episcopalians "gather to worship with the Rev. Kevin Donlon, a second-generation Irish priest from New York...They are...a typical representation of mainly white, middle-class America." Around noon, "members of Florida's only Ethiopian Orthodox church" begin arriving from as far as Miami and Jacksonville. "Many are cabdrivers and factory workers - first-generation immigrants...Their spiritual leader is the Rev. Berhanu Bekele, a one-time refugee exiled from his homeland by political unrest." Besides sharing the same church building, the two congregations have "worshiped together and cooked for one another." The members of St. Mary's raised $12,000 at Christmas in a special collection to send Berhanu on a visit to his homeland. "Donlon said it is his church that has most benefited from the unusual pairing of Eastern and Western Christians. Each week, the Ethiopians set an example of devotion not often seen in the more lax American culture, where the average churchgoer attends services two out of four Sundays. [Their] spirit seems to be carrying over to St. Mary's. Five years ago when Donlon arrived, the church was in danger of closing." St. Mary's membership has now grown to 300 families and it plans to build a new church and school next fall. In return for St. Mary's gift to him, Berhanu "urged his congregation to help with St. Mary's $10 million building fund...The Ethiopians presented St. Mary's a check for $8,000." The design of the new church will incorporate Orthodox icons and other indigenous relics to "symbolize the enduring relationship between the two churches."