Special to The Journal

The Rt. Rev. Michael B. Simmons, Ph.D., the pastor of the Alpha and Omega Church in Luverne, led a mission team to Brazil August 6-14.

The team included his wife, the Rev. Maria Antonieta Simmons, their granddaughter, Hannah Thrasher, from Columbus, Ohio, and two clergy couples from the Birmingham area.

They went to Belo Hortizone, a city of two million people, where they ministered in Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican churches.

They also visited a number of Roman Catholic churches.

Ministry events included evangelistic and charismatic services, children and youth ministries, teaching and preaching the Bible, training leaders, tract ministry at malls and markets and setting goals for the coming years.

The theme of the primarily Anglican Synod was &#8220Obedient to the Heavenly Vision: Christ for Latin America 2006.”

Clergy and lay persons from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and the United States attended the meeting.

Bishop Simmons and his wife Maria served as translators.

The host bishop was the Rt. Rev. Dr. Jose Moreno.

He developed a trilingual (English, Spanish, and Portuguese, the language of Brazil) liturgy, which was used during the Holy Eucharist (Communion) services.

During the Synod, Bishop Simmons was the chief consecrator of the Rev. Fr. Luis Acuna of Montevideo, Uruguay, who was consecrated the missionary bishop of Uruguay of the Anglican Providence of Christ, the Good Shepherds.

He was assisted by Bishop Moreno of Brazil and Bishop Humberto Axt of Salta, Argentina.

According to the Canons of the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), three bishops are required to ordain a priest as a bishop in the church.

Bishop Simmons also ordained the Rev. Maria Montenegro from Corrientes, Argentina, as a deacon in the Diocese of St. Mary.

As the suffragan to the archbishop for Latin America, the Anglican Province of Christ the Good Shepherd, and fluent in Castilian and Latin American Spanish, Bishop Simmons regularly leads mission teams throughout Latin America.

Recent trips have included Columbia, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

Forthcoming missions include Central America, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

A power point presentation of the Brazil mission, including many photos, was given at the Alpha and Omega Church during the evening service August 27, followed by a spaghetti supper.