The small congregation at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Guadalajara has accepted the resignation of its pastor of nine years, Manuel Sonora.
“I felt much honored to be the first Mexican priest to be in charge of an English speaking parish,” Sonora said, referring to the beginning of his ministry at St. Mark’s in Septemeber, 2003. When he accepted the position, he moved to Guadalajara from Mexico City, where he was General Secretary of the Anglican Church in the Province of Mexico. In earlier decades, he had been a Methodist minister and high-school English teacher.
“He was willing to do many things for people in the community whether he knew them or not,” said St. Mark’s parishioner Nancy Brasch.
“Manuel’s age and financial considerations were the main reasons for his leaving,” added member Marcy Matthew.“I started the diocesan seminary and helped in the organization of an inter-religious group with the acceptance of the government authorities of Guadalajara,” said Sonora. He added the creation of a Spanish-speaking congregation which is part of St. Mark’s and a mission he helped start in San Luis Potosí to his list of accomplishments while at St. Mark’s.
Sonora recently published a book in Spanish, “La Luz del Mundo y la Sal de la Tierra,” which consists of some of his sermons from 2011. He said that his plans for the future are still undecided, but he wants to write more and look for more opportunities for service.
“I’m writing a history of Anglicanism in Mexico. It will be very controversial,” he laughed. “I want to say why Anglicanism never developed as much as other denominations, such as the Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Compared to them, Anglicanism has grown very little.”
Sonora noted that he has a very deep feeling of gratitude to the congregation for their support of his ministry and projects.
“We are ever so grateful to Father Manuel,” added parishioner Brasch. “We will miss him tremendously.”
“Fortunately, Manuel was able to speak good English,” Matthew mentioned, saying that she believes St. Mark’s new rector will have to be bilingual too, in order to say both the English and Spanish Mass.