An impressive joint effort patterned after a Venezuelan youth orchestra begun by Los Angeles Philharmonic’s director Gustavo Dudamel is bringing noteworthy gains to poor kids in Guadalajara.

A U.S. entrepreneur who owned manufacturing businesses in Mexico and who in 1978 turned to the ministry is pastoring temporarily for the small, English-speaking congregation at St. Mark’s Anglican church in Guadalajara.

The small congregation at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Guadalajara has accepted the resignation of its pastor of nine years, Manuel Sonora.

A celebrated former consul general at Guadalajara’s U.S. Consulate died last month in a diving accident while on vacation in Belize.

Guadalajara is preparing to open its first University of the Third Age (U3A), providing educational opportunities for retired or semi-retired members of the community.

St. Mark’s Anglican/Episcopal Church will have a garden procession on Palm Sunday, April 1, noon. During the service, the choir will sing seasonal music and hymns. This service is bilingual, English and Spanish. On Easter Sunday, April 8, a solemn bilingual Eucharist and Paschal candle lighting begins at 11 a.m. St. Mark’s eight-member choir, joined by additional singers and accompanied  by Ana Silvia Guerrero on the organ, will sing Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and many favorite hymns. Afterwards, an Easter egg hunt will be held in the garden and snacks served in the parish hall. Everyone is invited to St. Mark’s. Two-minute drive north of Plaza Mexico, on corner of Aztecas and Chichimecas in Colonia Monraz. www.stmarksanglican.com.