It was good to be with my colleague bishops for a few days of conversation, reflection, and learning. We had the privilege of visiting the new Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service welcome center in San Antonio. This ministry provides services to refugees and asylum seekers who are in the United States. These folks come from all over the world and this center includes a special staff member to work with Ukrainian refugees. When we arrived at the building I remarked it looked very familiar. Turns out it is the same building that originally housed the offices of the The Southwestern Texas Synod before they relocated to Texas Lutheran University. I recalled visiting it as a teenager on a youth trip to meet the then bishop of the SWTexas synod.

We also visited a newly opened museum dedicated to the history of the black community in San Antonio. For many years San Antonio has been a city with a majority of people of color. However, the vast majority of those individuals are mostly of Latin American descent. However, despite only making up 6-9% of the population the black community in San Antonio has had a significant impact.. The museum is the passion project of Charles Williams Sr a prominent business man in San Antonio for decades. We had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Mr. Williams and learning more about the history of San Antonio that isn’t always as prominent in typical visits.

As several of our colleagues had never been to San Antonio we also did some tourist things such as visit the Alamo, take a river cruise, and also visit San Fernando Cathedral. Established in 1731 it is the oldest continuously utilized house of worship in the state of Texas. It also is the final resting place for the remains of several of the Alamo defenders. A fascinating place to visit.

Glad to have had this time with my colleagues. It helps to be together to share and learn from one another. To be encouraged in the work we do #InMissionTogether #NTNL