The Reverend Wilfredo Benítez, Rector of Saint Anselm's

The Rev. Wilfredo Benítez serves as Rector of Saint Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Garden Grove, CA. He is a native of the Bronx, New York, and the son of Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants.

Fr. Wilfredo is a graduate of the Universidad InterAmericana de Puerto Rico, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree; he is also a graduate of the Bank Street College of Education, in New York City, where he received a Master of Science in Education degree, in Bilingual Counseling. His seminary education was completed at the General Theological Seminary in New York City, where he received a Master of Divinity degree.

Prior to becoming a priest at the age of 35, Fr. Wilfredo had a career first as a Community Organizer in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and later as a College Counselor at the City College of New York, C.U.N.Y., and E.M. Hostos Community College, C.U.N.Y.

Fr. Wilfredo was ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, in New York City, in 1991. He has been serving Saint Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church since 1993 and is now canonically resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Fr. Wilfredo's own ministerial inclinations lean toward the pastoral, the prophetic, and the mystical. He is a great lover of fine arts, religious art, and folk art. His photography website can be found at benitezrivera.com.

A strong believer in the mind, body, spirit connection, Fr. Wilfredo is also a student of the martial arts and currently holds a First Degree Black Belt in Tang Soo Do, Korean Karate. Building bridges across ethnic and religious boundaries, is another area of strong involvement for Fr. Wilfredo. He is a founding member of the Interfaith Council of Garden Grove, Westminster and Stanton, and currently serves that organization as President. In the last year he has become an active member of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) and is engaged in organizing the first chapter of CLUE in Orange County. He is also on the Board of Directors of Progressive Christians Uniting.

Fr. Wilfredo feels blessed to serve as Rector of St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church, a parish he describes as very down to earth, very loving, inclusive, and inviting.

The Rev. Minh-Hanh Nguyen,
Associate Rector of Saint Anselm's

Ordained Minister of Word and Sacraments – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

Rev. Minh-Hanh was born in Saigon,Vietnam. She was raised in and married into devout Christian families.  Towards the end of a long career in vocational rehabilitation for persons with disabilities, Mo. Minh-Hanh attended Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and was ordained in The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 1999.  She had served two English speaking Lutheran congregations until January of 2006, when called to be Associate Rector of St. Anselm Episcopal Church, under the Full Communion Partnership between the two church organziations. Her passion: proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ in both words and deeds, contextual preaching, and activism for peace and justice.

She says it is indeed a joy to be "officially" embracing the Episcopal doctrine of Reason in her ministry.

As Associate Rector, she will be dividing equal time between her ministries to the Vietnamese and the whole Saint Anselm multi-ethnic language parish. Send her email at

St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church
13091 Galway Street
Garden Grove, CA. 92844

The Rev. Wilfredo Benítez, Rector

Phone 714 537-0604
Fax: 714 537-0621
info@SaintAnselmGG.org