My First Christian Base Community

On Wednesday, I visited my first ecclesial base community. When I begin full-time work, I will be working in ecclesial base communities in several regions of El Salvador, so this visit was an important first of many to come. The community’s name is San Ramón. It was deserted and destroyed during the war, but 36 families repopulated it after the war. During the 1990’s, religious life in San Ramón was led by a series of priests, but after a series of scandals and indications that a priest-led church was not best for the community, the community elected in 2000 to become an ecclesial base community. As told to me by a woman in the community, for San Ramón to be a Christian base community means this: San Ramón does not have a priest or other clergyperson as its religious leader. Instead, everyone who wants to has full leadership and participation in the community and church. The community has a service on Sunday, a “Celebration of the Word”, and 6 groups of community members take turns leading songs, liturgy, reflections on passages from the Bible, and communion. The community believes that emphases on inclusion and shared leadership are important because Jesus emphasized these methods in his ministry and in his teachings to the first leaders of The Church. The faith of Christian base communities rest in a God and Jesus who care especially for people like them (poor, left out, sick, etc) and who desire abundant life for everyone on earth (not just a privileged few). The people in the communities desire a close relationship between this faith and reality, in the sense that they place special effort on discerning how God’s Word relates to and directs us in today’s world. There is a closer relationship between the church and the community, and between faith and decision-making, because of this connection between faith and reality. Monthly, the community meets to hear from all about the concerns and needs in the community and to discern the appropriate and timely actions to take as a community. For example, 2 high-priority needs in the community at this time are a radio network to relay news and community information out to all, even to those who cannot make it to the community center for meetings and Celebrations of the Word and assistance to young people who are in transitions of immigration: leaving to go to another country or returning to the community. I could talk for a while about San Ramón or other Christian base communities, but I will leave you with this, the name or title that San Ramón has given itself: “Pueblo de Dios en camino”. A translation is “community of people of God on the way”. On the way to discovering and becoming more of how Christ meant for us to be the body of Christ and the people of God. On the way to achieving more hope, freedom, justice, and love for all people.