These hostile times for Spanish-speaking people in Virginia are even harder for those who are homeless, unemployed, or underemployed. But in Springfield, on the same day each week, they receive hope and opportunity — and so do the Episcopal clergy and volunteers serving them.
“We started with a cup of coffee to one or two people, and the group has grown by word of mouth to more than 20 most weeks,” said The Rev. Elvira Beracochea of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, which is also home to the Spanish-speaking mission, La Iglesia Episcopal de Cristo Rey. “The love of God and their friendship and trust keep the group together.”
From those first cups of coffee, she and some volunteers from St. Christopher’s—with the support of Cristo Rey parishioners—began modestly offering free English classes to Spanish-speaking neighbors. The neighbors also wanted help to find work. They needed food, clothes, and shelter, and the needs grew during the winter months, when opportunities for landscaping, construction, and temporary work dry up.
Meanwhile, the two congregations were “talking about ways to work together and how to love our neighbors,” Beracochea recalled. As the needs of the Spanish-speaking neighbors grew, and donations from parishioners weren’t enough, the two churches sought diocesan help.
A 2024 Bishop’s Appeal grant of $2,000 seeded this timely effort, strengthening the hope, friendship, and trust between and outside the churches. The grant helped attract more partners, like the nonprofit Pathway Homes that brings a mobile shower trailer twice a month. Today, Cristo Rey and St. Christopher’s continue serving amid the threat of immigration sweeps and deportation.
“These are difficult times, but in my experience, the Bishop’s Appeal grant program helps churches to come together and work in ways that bring hope, friendship, and trust even in difficult times,” Beracochea added.
“All this gives us hope because we see and feel God at work. There is lots of good news to share about what God is doing in Springfield and there are many needs as well.”
“We Show Up and We Support”
Aided by the Bishop’s Appeal grant, St. Christopher’s/Cristo Rey’s support for these new friends took other forms — like locking doors and keeping watch during this ministry and during Cristo Rey worship.
“I never have had to lock the doors of a church while the people were inside in fear of ICE coming by, but I had to do it here,” said The Rev. Katherine Ferguson, who served as a Cristo Rey supply priest until summer 2025.
Speaking at the recent Annual Convention of the Diocese of Virginia, Ferguson described seeing unfamiliar faces come up to the church door, look in, and leave because it was locked.
“It was the only way I could be reasonably sure that the congregation was safe,” she said. “People cannot live like this. This is not the way we need to live in this country.”
St. Christopher’s quickly posted, at every door, “a policy to deal with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] coming to visit us,” said its rector, The Rev. Carey Connors, at the Annual Convention.
“We are simply ensuring that all inside are safe until we are presented with the correct warrant for a specific individual,” she added later. “In posting a protocol for a visit from immigration officers, we are guarding against random sweeps. We are in essence slowing the roll while we check with our attorney who has offered her services.
“The kind of warrant they need to take someone from our premises is very specific and not something we can argue with. However, we are finding that they often come with a less official warrant and scoop up anyone in the room who looks like a target.”
The Bishop’s Appeal grant supported “the very people that they would like to get off the streets, so we have been very proactive and would very much appreciate the support of the diocese as we support this community,” Connors added.
Helping the poor, the weak and sick and welcoming the stranger is our Christian responsibility, Beracochea added. “Other countries have programs to welcome immigrants and help them get integrated in their new society. We do not have such programs anymore,” she added. “There is need of affordable legal support as well because getting immigration legal help is very expensive, in the thousands of dollars.”
Setting an Example for the Diocese of Virginia
St. Christopher’s/Cristo Rey help set an example for the Diocese of Virginia, which recognized the urgency of protecting Latino neighbors by passing Resolution R-3a recently at the 231st Annual Convention.
“A real and pervasive sense of dread, fear, and vulnerability” affects more than 1 million immigrants in Virginia, the resolution notes. Ten percent identify as Latino, and a significant population is concentrated in Northern Virginia.
The resolution spotlights parishes like St. Christopher’s/Cristo Rey and encourages other congregations, clergy, and people to discern and implement new ministries that would show scriptural love for these vulnerable neighbors.
Through the resolution, the Diocese of Virginia committed to follow the lead of St. Christopher’s/Cristo Rey and not knowingly collaborate with unlawful immigrant detention practices. This includes not allowing agents like this onto church property without a signed judicial order, supplying immigration status information of anyone connected to the parish, or giving personal information to authorities. “We have always and will continue welcoming all,” Beracochea said
For Connors, the baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of all human beings calls her to stay after her Sunday services to attend Cristo Rey.
“It is a small, small thing I can do, but it reflects the inherent brokenness that we are living with right now,” she told the Convention. “It’s really important that we show up and we support our communities.”
Faith and Prayers of Two Congregations
A Bishop’s Appeal grant signals a project worth investing in, and parishioners at St. Christopher’s/Cristo Rey responded. They have given $2,250 for grocery cards and donated hot meals, snacks, coffee, and teaching supplies. Every month, cash and in-kind contributions add to that number.
“Of course, it sometimes seems we do not have enough resources to meet all the growing needs of our neighbors, but somehow, thanks be to God, we have just enough to meet the immediate needs of a meal, or a pair of shoes or work pants,” Beracochea said.
In serving their neighbors, the two congregations are living out the Diocesan mission to “love Jesus, embody justice, and be disciples.” St. Christopher’s, which is 70 years old, also affirms its identity as “Alleluia People.”
Each winter, the parish hosts Annual Hypothermia Shelter Week and welcomes up to 45 unsheltered people to sleep and eat warm meals in a safe and welcoming place.
“We are a people who understand that moving to a new area means making connections—again,” the church website says. “At St. Christopher’s, we are intentional about welcome and inclusion.”
“The faith and prayers of our two congregations do make a difference in the work that the Bishop’s Appeal grant helped us get started. We have 6 or 7 regular volunteers every week, and donations in kind and cash come in every month. The Rev. Connors and The Rev. Bryan Vélez García, the new Vicar of Cristo Rey, inspire and lead the congregations to love our neighbors, and this and other ministries give them the opportunity to do just that.”
The weekly volunteers always prepare a hot meal and fresh fruit, organize clothing, and socialize with the Spanish-speaking neighbors. Most of the funding has paid for supermarket gift cards and public transit cards for people who needed to get to medical appointments and a nearby day center for unsheltered people. The conversations help the parishioners learn Spanish, too.
“We could not have gotten where we are now without the Bishop’s Appeal grant,” Beracochea said. “I think the grant program is a great resource for deacons who are called to a ministry of servanthood and lack resources to do so.”
Loving, Merciful, and Just—Even If the World Is Not
Born in Uruguay, Beracochea is a vocational deacon who helped apply for the grant less than a year after Bishop E. Mark Stevenson appointed her to serve St. Christopher’s in September 2023. As a global health consultant, she has worked in more than 60 countries to improve the management of healthcare services in the poorest settings.
She no longer calls the weekly gatherings a ministry but a time when “friends learn and help each other and find out who Jesus is and why he died on the Cross.” In Spanish, she shares the Gospel “and that our God is loving and merciful and just, even if the world around us is not.”
As neighbors turned into friends, they educated her on what’s most important: “To respect everyone and to meet each person where they are. We need to take the time to listen and get to know each person.”
Trust is integral to these connections, built through a consistent, loving response—a response fueled by the Bishop’s Appeal grant—to essential needs for food, clothing, and connection.
“Most importantly we have built strong fellowship with and among our Spanish-speaking friends who feel less alone and have a place they can turn to for a meal, friendly conversation, and a clean toilet,” Beracochea said. “Maybe someday, we pray, we will be able to offer this every day.” She now advocates for a day center in Springfield and regular language and job training programs for new immigrants.
The opportunity for Episcopal parishes to serve as welcoming havens is enormous, she believes: “I think that there are many people that would come to our churches if something like what we are doing here existed in more churches.”
Meanwhile, each week’s gathering at St. Christopher’s/Cristo Rey closes in prayer before the familiar visitors leave. The volunteers and Beracochea clean up, and they always finish by praying “for our friends to be safe the rest of the week.”