Pasadena: A “Church Town” Since Its Earliest Days

PASADENA HISTORY

The original All Saints Church at Christmas, 1886 (Photo – PDHC)

These days, all churches all over the country are closed, sermons are broadcasted online. This is an unprecedented situation for Pasadena which was a “church town” since its earliest days.

By Marina Khrustaleva

The first church shared by Presbyterians and Methodists was erected in 1876, and for the next two decades over 30 congregations were actively building their edifices. The most flourishing of them have changed three or four homes before the Great Depression hit, selling or donating their older facilities to smaller congregations. It’s a researcher’s delight to trace little church buildings moving around the town and swapping owners every several years.

The oldest church still standing on its original place is the stone Church of the Angels in Garvanza (1889) – a lyrical monument to a late husband, an excellent example of Pre-Raphaelite art. But I want to tell about two less famous churches, both originally built in 1886 and relocated several years later. Like many other little old churches outside of the city core, they serve racially diverse congregations.

Friends Church (Photo – Marina Khrustaleva)

The Friends Church

The Friends Church was built by the Quaker congregation at the southwest corner of Marengo Avenue and Mountain Street. Its pointed tower is visible on the 1893 pictorial map of Pasadena. In 1894, it was moved to the northwest corner of Raymond Avenue and Villa Street and enlarged. The bell tower moved to the corner and a new cross-gable was added to form the entrance. But the part facing Villa Street is the original one: irregular shingles under layers of white paint, Gothic Carpenter-style wood trim, and old-fashioned stained glass windows reveal its age.

Interior of Friends Church (Photo – Marina Khrustaleva)

The Friends Church turned into the Emmanuel Lutheran Church after WWII, and later became the Holy Assembly Church of God in Christ. It belongs to a very welcoming black congregation. Under the white rounded ceiling, in the golden light coming through tall stained glass windows, their prayers are full of drive and live music.

North Congregational Church (Photo – Marina Khrustaleva)

North Congregational Church

Another living remnant of the same era is La Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia, the Church of God of Prophecy, on the northeast corner of Claremont Street and Raymond Avenue. It was built in the same year, 1886, far from here, in the middle of the orange grove on Colorado Boulevard, east of Worchester (now Garfield) Street. If you want to find this location, go to the goat statue across the street from The Paseo – here it was. The chapel was built for the All Saints Episcopal congregation as a mission of San Gabriel Episcopal church. Just three years later, a new spectacular sanctuary designed by Ernest A. Coxhead was built at 123 North Euclid Avenue. In 1892, a little chapel was purchased by the North Congregational Church, moved to a new location and significantly enlarged.⠀

Interior of North Congregational Church (Photo – Marina Khrustaleva)

The new owners added a bell tower, an altar part, a nursery, and a community room. But there are still original features: the hipped gable roof, gothic windows with opalescent glass, and the trefoil decorative motif. It adorned the fascia of the front of the church on the oldest photograph (when the church was still on Colorado Boulevard), but now it can be found on the wood trusses inside. The 1898 organ by Los Angeles Pipe Organ Company is still there, although not operable. Behind it are two wonderful small stained glass windows in vibrant deep colors. The Hispanic congregation using the church since the 1990s unites parishioners from Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.