Members of the Diocese of Costa Rica and pilgrims from the Diocese of North Carolina shared their stories during last year’s Sacred Stories trip, one of many examples of our companion relationship. Another is the ongoing weekly Zoom Morning Prayer service. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Matt Addington
By the Rev. Liam Barr
The Episcopal Diocese of Costa Rica and the Diocese of North Carolina have shared a companion diocesan relationship since 1997. Over nearly 30 years of mission trips, pilgrimages and exchanges, countless churches in our diocese have been shaped by this partnership and our siblings in Costa Rica.
In November 2024, five members of North Carolina’s Costa Rica Companion Diocese Subcommittee traveled to Costa Rica to attend its annual diocesan convention at Santa María Episcopal Church in Siquirres. Over several days of prayer, business, and shared meals of patacones, gallo pinto and yipys chocolate bars, we gave thanks for the blessings God has made possible through this companionship and began discerning how God might be calling us into deeper relationship.
Before we left, that prayer was answered through an invitation by the Rev. Linda Watts to join a weekly virtual English Morning Prayer hosted by the Diocese of Costa Rica. In the months since, this space has become a living expression of shared mission and spiritual growth across language, culture and geography.
What follows is an edited transcript of a joyful virtual conversation with the Rev. Patricia Furtado, interim rector of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd/El Buen Pastor in San José; the Rev. Linda Watts, deacon-in-charge at Saint Joseph/San José Obrero in Limón and part of the cathedral’s pastoral care team; John Fredrick, a dedicated lay leader from St. Peter’s, Charlotte, and a member of North Carolina’s Costa Rica Companion Diocese Subcommittee; and me, the Rev. Liam Barr, reflecting on the growing relationship nurtured by Morning Prayer.
The Rev. Liam Barr (LB): Reverend Patricia and Reverend Linda, would y’all talk about the history of the weekly Zoom Morning Prayer?
The Rev. Patricia Furtado (PF): Zoom Morning Prayer began with the pandemic. We can say it began with COVID, and at that moment, we never expected this, and we just are not thinking to stop it. Because you have ministers that say, “Oh, COVID passed, let’s go back in person now.” And I say, “No, we will continue using the platform because it has been binding us together with other communities of faith.”
The Rev. Linda Watts (LW): We used to stream only on Zoom, but then we started transmitting live on Facebook. That’s how people learned about our Morning Prayer ministry. It wasn’t just for Good Shepherd anymore. We had people joining from other churches in Limón like St. Mark’s and St. Francis. Sometimes, even people from Panama and Canada join our English Morning Prayer.
PF: Yes, and Linda motivates others to join, too. Linda finds the preachers and volunteers. She sees someone and says, “Can you support us on Wednesday?” She really embraces her ministry of connecting us. It’s a gift. We stay committed to this ministry because it is a way of proclaiming the Good News and binding us together in love.
LB: Reverend Patricia, you said this is what “binds us together.” That really struck me, and John, I saw your head nod as well. What resonated with you about that?
John Fredrick (JF): For me, it’s very impactful. I travel quite a lot for work. Knowing someone in a community is praying for me—it means everything. It means I’m bound to this community. It’s a beautiful thing to know my burden is lightened. Morning Prayer on Wednesdays connects me to the community no matter where I am in the world. If I can figure out the time difference, I know I can join. I also find the reflections and sermons during Morning Prayer very moving at a visceral level. I feel it internally [and] emotionally, and they resonate beyond Morning Prayer.
LB: Morning Prayer has become a core feature of the relationship between the Diocese of North Carolina and the Diocese of Costa Rica over the past few months. What does it mean that we can worship together over Zoom?
LW: For me, it’s a blessing. When you told me people would be joining us from North Carolina, I was so happy. Even [Bishop Orlando Gomez] heard about it because I copy him in emails. At clergy meetings, he says, “Linda, I saw you’re planning something with North Carolina.” And I say, “Yes, Bishop. They’re already scheduled to preach.” And he said “Oh, wonderful!”
PF: It fills me spiritually. I’ve been involved with Good Shepherd for many years, since around 2008. I remember when the North Carolina mission teams came to Costa Rica. And I thought, someday I would like to go to North Carolina. Back then, we connected just once a year. Now, with Zoom, we can be in a relationship regularly.
LB: In reflecting on my own question, I actually grew up going to Costa Rica and then worked with the diocese for two summers in college. Those experiences were so formative for me. And I am now a priest, partially because of all of the ways I have been loved by the Diocese of Costa Rica. With Morning Prayer, the relationships I have built are not just for the summer—they’re ongoing. I get to live in them all year.
JF: I think Morning Prayer with Costa Rica gives us a global perspective—knowing that we share a larger and wider community. And understanding that we have the same struggles in common—it looks different in Costa Rica than it does in North Carolina—but how we manage them and process them as people of God is similar.
LB: One of my favorite questions to ask is what do you think North Carolina can learn from Costa Rica about how to be Christians?
PF: Sometimes the relationship is North Carolina bringing, and coming, and building, and that is all spiritual and necessary. But now we get to offer something back—our prayer, our leadership. Morning Prayer is now a motivation to share with North Carolina.
LW: Totally agree. This spiritual connection is real. We share our experiences, prayers [and] songs. Sometimes we sing for a long time. Morning Prayer is a space for support and spiritual nourishment.
JF: That makes me think of the parable of the mustard seed. I think we can learn some things about faithfulness, commitment and possessing a Christian strength for the journey from the folks of Costa Rica. In the United States in our current being, we’re often consumed with consumerism [and] desire for objects, and as Christians I see the faithfulness in the strength of the journey. I see faithfulness in the work that is being done in the Diocese of Costa Rica. That is a powerful piece to learn. You don’t need all the material things. It’s about what you do to build connections with people. We can learn from that.
PF: Yes! And everyone is welcomed at Morning Prayer. We don’t look at who’s new or old—everyone is welcome to participate. That’s how we exercise hospitality. Radical welcome. Even if it’s someone’s first time, we give them a role, something to say. It creates commitment to the work of Morning Prayer.
LW: That’s exactly what God calls us to do. To include, to welcome, to bind together in love. We share this love in songs, experiences and prayers. Let us continue praying that Morning Prayer expands. Not everyone in North Carolina knows about it yet, but we hope to invite all in North Carolina to join.
The Rev. Liam Barr is a curate in the Reimagining Curacies program. He serves Holy Innocents/Santos Inocentes, Henderson, and the New Hope Collaborative in Raleigh, and he is also a member of the Costa Rica Companion Diocese Subcommittee.
JOIN MORNING PRAYER
Zoom Morning Prayer takes place every Wednesday at 9 a.m. Costa Rica time and 10 a.m. (EDT) or 11 a.m. (EST), depending on daylight saving time.
If you’d like to join the Costa Rica English Morning Prayer community, contact the Rev. Liam Barr for the link. It is also livestreamed at facebook.com/catedral.elbuenpastor.5.
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