Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey

About us

 

Our Mission 

Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey is a community called to share the Good News and make disciples everywhere.

We are committed to love God, above all things, and our neighbors.

Because of this, we strive to offer a beautiful worship, to be hospitable, to meet the needs of the community, and to share of ourselves with all cultures.

 

Who We Are

Iglesia Luterana Cristo Rey ("Christ the King Lutheran Church") belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Located in the heart of a low-income Hispanic district in central El Paso, Texas, Cristo Rey ministers to people on both sides of the international border. The worshiping congregation provides an inclusive place for cultures to meet and share their gifts. 

The congregation primarily consists of first–generation and second-generation Mexican immigrants but welcomes people from all backgrounds.

 

History

In April of 1990,  the Division for Outreach and the Rocky Mountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) founded Cristo Rey Centro Luterano as a ministry of outreach to the Hispanic community in central El Paso under the leadership of Pastora Maria Valenzuela.  May 1992 heralded Cristo Rey’s first worship service, attended by about five people.  Four of them have gone with God, but we still have the first member Sookie Parra who is 94 years old.

In July of 1997, Pastor Maria left for Chicago to accept a position with the Multicultural Commission of the ELCA.  In August of 1997, Pastora Rose Mary Sánchez-Guzmán accepted a call to be the Mission Developer at Cristo Rey.  She was formally ordained on March 21, 1998. On September 22nd of 2001, Cristo Rey moved from a mission congregation to a fully recognized and organized church of the ELCA with 99 charter members.  Since then we have been able to grow and expand our ministries in central El Paso, working across the border in Juárez, and in the colonias surrounding El Paso.

 

Our Area & Members

Cristo Rey is part of a neighborhood in transition from a residential to business district.

Many in our congregation speak English, but Spanish is our native language. The ministry of Cristo Rey, the only bilingual ELCA church in El Paso, is crucial to this large city and its Hispanic people.

 

Our Children

Our children and youth are one of the priorities for our ministry. We have a middle school and a high school youth group that meet weekly for Bible study, fun, and special presentations given by other non-profit organizations about issues related to their age. Children of all ages are a welcome to join our Sunday School, After-School Program, Summer Program and English classes.