The All Saints Episcopal Church
Iglesia Episcopal Todos los Santos

In the latter part of the nineteenth century many workers from the English colonies in the Caribbean came to Vieques to work in the burgeoning sugarcane industry. They came from such places as Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla, Antigua, Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke, and from the Danish colonies of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. Most spoke English and belonged to the Episcopal Church.

In 1870, the Spanish Crown gave their permission to open a school in Vieques for children of the Protestant faith with classes conducted in English. This was the first official incidence of religious tolerance in Puerto Rico and possibly in any of the territories under Spanish domination.

In 1880, Joseph Nathaniel Bean, known in Vieques simply as Mr. Bean, came to Vieques. Mr. Bean was born in Bermuda and was of African decent. He was working on the small island of Jost Van Dyke in the Virgin Islands, when he heard that Vieques, where so many British Virgin Islanders had gone to work, had no Episcopal Church.

Through the efforts of Mr. Bean and the English workers on Vieques, the All Saints Episcopal Church of Vieques came into being. Mass was given in English, until the middle of the 19th century when most of the English-speaking parishioners left Vieques after the demise of the sugar industry on the island. Today mass is given in Spanish.

The original church was made of wood and it lasted until 1932, when it was destroyed by a hurricane. The church was rebuilt in concrete and exists to this day.

In the interior of the Church is an altar with paintings by artist, Terrence Price. Look carefully at the painting to the right of the altar, and see if you can find the error in the painting.