Centro Pastoral Anglicano del Oriente
July 2008 update is available here.
For more information, go to the bottom of this page.

In the summer of 2006 a group of people from the community of La Canoa, Bajo Lempa, approached the Bishop about the possibility of establishing a work in the area. Bajo Lempa is located in the South East part of El Salvador, in the Department of Usulutan. Bajo Lempa covers the area of the lower part of the great Rio Lempa, and the estuary of Rio Lempa as it empties out into the Pacific Ocean.

Most of the communities of Bajo Lempa are composed of people who settled in the area after the Civil War (1980 – 1992), under the provision of the 1992 Agrarian Land Reform.

By November 2006 a new work and congregation was formed in La Canoa, called Cristo Rey (Christ the King). A Eucharist of dedication was offered on November 26, 2006, the Bishop celebrating.
In Upper Usulutan exist two other congregations: San Pablo, San Juan de Letran, and Santiago de Jerusalén, El Carmen, communities formed in 1992 by ex-combatants of the civil war.

In 2003 the Rev. Elizabeth Evans, a missionary from the United States, began to work in San Miguel, the large metropolitan area in Easter El Salvador. Her work focused on developing a presence of the Episcopal Church in San Miguel through several social service projects. As part of the church’s offering, Evans offered classes in English as a second language, support work at a local Franciscan orphanage, and worked in a local women’s prison. The prison ministry became the strongest ministry of this site, a mission called San Lucas, San Miguel.

Currently work has begun in San Miguel, at a new site, to form a congregation, San Lucas. The work at the women’s prison continues.

In 2007 all four of these mission sites formed the Centro Pastoral Anglicano del Oriente. A house and meeting place was obtained in the village of Jiquilisco, Usulutan.

A Team Ministry is in formation with representatives from each congregation forming the Team. Padre David Alvarado is the priest in charge; Cain López is the lay minister working in Usulutan and Bajo Lempa, and Noah Bullock, a North American, is the coordinator of the Team. Elvira Mejia continues to lead the work in the prison in San Miguel after Elizabeth’s departure.

Along with congregational development, leadership training and work with youth, other mission priorities have been developed in 2007.

A project called Hasta La Cosecha (Until the Harvest), initiated with the help of Bishop Tom Ely and the Diocese of Vermont, is still in formation.

JULY 2008 UPDATE: Many things are happening at the Centro Pastoral in Bajo Lempa. Go here for a PDF report with photos written by Noah Bullock and Audrey Denny.

Highlights include:

¶ update on the Hasta la Cosecha project

¶ the road to El Carmen and bridge project

¶ El Carmen youth garden project

¶ donation of property on which to build a church and flood shelter

¶ activism regarding a paved road that would serve elite hotels and pressure for people to "donate" their property to this project