From 3rd-6th August, members of Anglican churches across Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Brasilia to deepen and nurture those roots.
The gathering of the Latin American Regional Steering Group celebrated the progress made over the past two years, strengthened the relationships and collaborations forged through the programme, and further deepened understanding of the regional context. 
The workshop reviewed the regional work plan set out in Panama in 2024, noted the significant progress that has been achieved (or made), drawing out lessons learned, and shaping a further two-year plan for 2026-2028. It was inspiring to see the depth of experience and commitment each participant brought from across the region, and encouraging to hear how practitioners and church leadership are increasingly connected, laying the foundation and creating the tools for an increasingly coordinated and coherent regional response.
Resilience in Action Across the Region
Communities and churches across the region face diverse challenges, yet common threads run through their work: partnership, preparation and prevention unite members even where geography, language and context differ. Among the stories shared, news from the Venezuelan church’s response to the earthquake, providing medical care and psychological support to the community, encouraged the group. Furthermore, in the Dominican Republic, a new committee has been established to coordinate disaster response. In the Windward Islands, the dioceses have developed a disaster response and coordination framework spanning diocesan, archdeaconry and parish levels, with some parishes already running workshops to prepare for hurricane season. In El Salvador the church is working through schools to support children’s mental health amid high levels of systematic violence across the country.
Looking ahead, participants will carry this momentum into renewed working groups focusing on three priorities: Leadership Engagement, Disaster Coordination, and Institutional Strengthening.
Cristina Gutierrez, Latin America and Caribbean PiRR Coordinator, shared her perspective:
“The meeting strengthened ties among those working on disaster resilience in Latin America and the Caribbean. These ties are crucial because, in an emergency, technical capabilities are important, but so are networks of trust, communication, and knowing who to turn to.
A connected region that shares knowledge and maintains collaborative relationships is better prepared to respond to a disaster.
In this sense, the Brasilia meeting was an opportunity to build collective memory and regional capacity. When an experience ceases to belong solely to the country that lived through it and becomes shared knowledge, the entire region becomes more prepared and resilient.”
In the last six years, Partners in Resilience and Response – a collaboration between the Anglican Alliance and Episcopal Relief & Development – has mobilised Anglican churches across the world to strengthen their capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters. The programme helps churches to build their resilience and response capacity, whilst also providing mechanism for accompaniment and support when a church’s own capacity is overwhelmed by crisis.
Since the global launch of the Resilience course in 2020, continuation at the regional level have seen regional resilience courses equip churches for disaster preparedness across Latin America and the Caribbean (2024), the Pacific (2024), Africa (2025) and, most recently, Asia (2026). These courses have produced a lasting resource for the Anglican Communion: a pool of people equipped to accompany churches in their regions, and who form a global community of practice. The programme has also mobilised regional churches through their Resilience Course graduates, forming Regional Steering Groups (RSGs) to coordinate disaster preparedness and response activities in their regions. The first RSG launched in Africa in 2023, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024, and the Pacific in 2025.
When crisis hits, no church stands alone. Together, we become resilient.
The Partners in Resilience and Response initiative – a partnership between the Anglican Alliance and Episcopal Relief & Development – equips churches across the Anglican Communion to build resilience against, and strengthen their capacity to respond to, disasters. You can read more about the initiative here: Partners in Resilience and Response – Anglican Alliance
