Episcopal leadership was provided by Bishop William Dew, Jr., of Phoenix, Ariz., Bishop Baltazar Gonzalez of Mexico's North Central Conference and Bishop Antonio Aquina Marques of Mexico's Northwest Conference. Mostly populated by Mexican-Americans and Mexicans, the manmade border of river, steel and desert has had a long history of indigenous people who move freely from one side to the other and back again, according to Soltero. Environmental issues include not just air and water pollution and the depletion of the soil but the limited water resources. Sometimes economic solutions cause environmental problems. Through various mission projects and the denomination's Plan for Hispanic Ministries, the church tries to assist people living along the border.
People often live in cardboard houses and there are no services for water, electricity or sewage.
Church workers and volunteers there provide ministries for children and youth and construct homes and churches. But what the church is or should be doing locally is not always known. That's why the committee hopes to foster better communications among the U.S. and Mexican conferences themselves and between the Mexican and U.S. church in general. Three working groups were established in Tucson to follow up subregionally on the issues discussed. The overall goal is for leaders in the region to set up their own structure for ministry along the border by the Year 2000.