St. Stephens Episcopal Church recently held the Bishops Clergy Conference in Douglas on January 27-29.
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They stayed at the Gadsden Hotel and had dinners at the church provided by the church members and a local restaurant.
There were several presentations given at the church. One was about the history of Mexico and local history of Douglas. Mark Adams, the Presbyterian minister and Seth Polley the Episcopal minister gave information about living on the “frontera”.
On Thursday, there was a panel discussion with representatives from Border Patrol, the medical profession, the police department, the Mexican Consulate, and other groups. Many of the priests also participated in a vigil Tuesday night before the conference started. The priest had the option of several tours in the area. One tour was to Agua Prieta and Naco where they visited the rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug addicted men, women and children.
They also toured a coffee business that makes and sells fair trade coffee.
This business is a cooperative started by a local Pastor and is run in conjunction with families in Chiapas. These families stay on their land in Mexico, earn a fair wage growing coffee, do not flee north, and are earning a living.
This gathering was the largest and most successful conference since the Bishop, Rt. Reverend Kirk S. Smith, became bishop.
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