Birth of a Church

by Joseph Nangle

In 1964, Fr. Nangle, a young Franciscan priest from the U.S., was assigned to found a new parish in a middle-class neighbourhood in Lima, Peru. This book tells the inspiring story of his journey with that parish - eleven years that saw the impact of Vatican II and Medellin - and what happened when they made an "option for the poor." Unlike most accounts of liberation theology, set among the poor and marginalized, this story highlights the impact of renewal on a middle-class parish. Ultimately it is a story about new life and conversion; it is an image of a church reborn.

165 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in Lima, and I've also had the opportunity to become friends with Joe Nangle. So this book has been a wonderfully immediate and vibrant read for me. Currently, I am working at an upper-class, private, catholic elementary school. There are some striking similarities that I notice between the parish Joe describes, Most Holy Name, and the school where I work. Reading this book has been at once consoling and challenging, much like the type of ministry described in its pages. I hope that it will be a great tool to inspire and spur me on to following Jesus in a way that seeks the transformation of the world (por medio de obras de vida), starting from right when and where I am.

With that said, the story in this book has a lot to say to many types of people. At the moment, I am thinking of a lot of the committed Catholics I know in the United States: lay people, brothers, sisters, and priests. Where is our Medellín? How can people in the US continue to put Vatican II on the ground, without getting tied up too much (as this book points out) with liturgical matters and less central concerns? What fundamentals are we missing? How do we craft a mystical and consoling language, on the one hand, and a challenging and prophetic one, on the other? As I see it, we are called to both announce the coming of the Reign of God but also denounce what stands in its way--perhaps with special attention to some of the assumptions we refrain from subjecting to hard, evangelical questions.

I am filled with gratitude, having been able to receive this gift, this story of conversion and hope.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A riveting conversion story, not of a person, but of a community. In 1960, a young, middle-class North American friar was sent to Peru to found a church for up-and-coming Peruvian professionals, and to build an R & R place for missionaries.
The first building constructed was a parish house that could serve both goals. The next priority for the parishioners was a parochial school. That is built, eventually adding classrooms as needed, staffed by Sisters from Pennsylvania.
The model the missionaries had in mind was the only one they knew: the typical North American
Catholic parish model. All went along as planned. Then, in the mid 1960's, the Second Vatican Council happened, bringing together the hierarchy, theologians and other experts from around the world. On returning home, Latin American bishops and theologians held conferences in Medellin, Colombia, deliberating how to implement the documents that came out of the Council.
A leading Peruvian theologian, Gustavo Gutierrez, subsequently formed a discussion group of priests in his native Lima. Joseph Nangle was one of those invited to participate. And for him, it was life-changing.

Of course he had noticed the three separate social classes of people living in his 'parish'. But like most Peruvians, an awareness of the social structures that created and sustained the society were assumed. Gross inequality was obvious, but accepted--as it had been for centuries.

In light of the Council documents, a renewed study of Scripture, and believers would say-- God's living presence and care for every person-- the homilies Nangle preached began to change from concern for individual salvation to concern for one another as a community. In time, he began to encourage the notion that children of servants be allowed to come to school--and so change was born, with all the accompanying pangs of birth, new choices to be made, old habits to be amended.

It is an engaging story, not least bec Nangle is an engaging storyteller.
For me, it gave deeper meaning to the term Liberation Theology. It is a case study for what happens when a group's identity and expectations are challenged. How it all works out in this case is the story.
It is one that has implications and lessons for anyone interested in social change, or even anyone who follows the news items re. Latin American countries.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Courage to walk not just talk social justice.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are privileged enough to know Fr. Nagel. Joe (as he prefers to be called) told Rick and I this story over a period of three months while writing this book. He is amazing and this is must read that informs the spirit of empowering people to seek their own solutions to injustice rather than imposing our own "colonizing" solutions.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good recounting of the work of a missionary in Perú in the 1960s and 1970s. I found it very helpful for my sense of mission in Honduras. The reflection and analysis are very good. I recommend it highly.

My only problem is that the Kindle edition is badly edited and seems to have left out a lot of punctuation.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

In thinking of how to transform a church from a middle to a lower focus, I stumbled upon Joseph Nangle's history of just that. In the early seventies, he led that sort of transition as a Franciscan priest in Peru. Very interesting account.