Worthy Christian News > Christian > US Churches Broken In Fires Keep Faith Amid Flames (Worthy News Focus)

US Churches Broken In Fires Keep Faith Amid Flames (Worthy News Focus)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

LOS ANGELES, USA (Worthy News) – Numerous Christians in and around Los Angeles were preparing to pray Sunday without a church building as many houses of worship were destroyed in the American city’s worst wildfires on record.

“WE are the church! We can worship anywhere,” said Paul Tellström, the pastor of Altadena Community Church, which was destroyed by the flames that killed at least 16 people in the greater Los Angeles area of the U.S. state of California.

Pope Francis expressed his condolences Saturday to Los Angeles communities affected by the devastating wildfires that he noted destroyed homes and churches, including the historic Corpus Christi Catholic Church.

In a telegram released by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis said he was “saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction” caused by the fires around Los Angeles.

Jewish and Muslim communities were also impacted by the blazes hitting these huge areas in Southern California.

In total, at least 11 churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other religious institutions were destroyed by the series of fires ravaging California, Worthy News established.

Between the fires impacting houses of worship, there were acts of heroism: Flames were already attacking the campus of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center when the cantor, Ruth Berman Harris, and three companions rushed in to rescue its sacred Torah scrolls, Worthy News learned late Saturday.

SYNAGOGUE GONE

Physically, that’s now all that is left of the 80-year-old synagogue, destroyed by wildfires that also destroyed a mosque, a Catholic parish, and a half-dozen Protestant churches.

Many members of these congregations were among the thousands of Angelenos who lost their homes this week.

As the threat of new fires persisted, clergy were left with the enormous challenges of offering comfort and pondering paths toward rebuilding and recovery.

“There’s absolutely nothing except for a few walls and the empty space,” said the Pasadena Jewish Center’s executive director, Melissa Levy.

Yet hundreds of its congregants have gone to the site “to say, ‘Goodbye’ to the places where they celebrated milestones in their faith and family lives, Levy added in comments carried by The Associated Press (AP) news agency.

There was also outdoor Christian worship near the destroyed Altadena Community Church, where several homes owned by members of the congregation of about 60 people were also reduced to ashes, said its pastor, Reverend Paul Tellström. “It’s shocking,” said Tellström. “It’s a reminder to us of all of the fragility of life.”

The church, built in the 1940s, was known for its colorful stained glass and hosting a popular choir.

The church’s Facebook website page shared images of the building engulfed in flames. Another photo showed parishioners singing outdoors.

Underneath the image, it read: “WE are the church! We can worship anywhere.”

“This is a big blow, but it will not impede our progress,” Tellström said. “The most important takeaway is that we are the church — not the building.”

METHODIST CHURCH

Altadena United Methodist Church also burned down, as did the homes of many members, according to Facebook posts by its pastor, Reverend J. Andre Wilson.

“Our building is gone,” he wrote. “But YOU and US are the church.”

Elsewhere, Ricardo Springs Il, a church member who came to see the remains of the building, said the congregation had been planning to host the wedding of a couple that recently joined the church this Sunday.

The devastation is “just heartbreaking,” he said. “God will see us through this.”

“My sons grew up in this church; my wife grew up in this church,” he told the AP. “It’s an awesome church community.”

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Altadena, a key city in Los Angeles County, was also destroyed. “It is with a broken heart that I share with you the news that our church building is lost,” the Reverend Carri Patterson Grindon, the rector, wrote on Facebook.

She said several community members lost their homes, and the church staff was organizing a mutual support network.

ONLINE GATHERING

The Parish of St. Matthew Episcopal church in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles County whose campus also includes a preschool through 8th grade school, reported that all its clergy residences were destroyed. However, its sanctuary, middle school, and other buildings were intact. The church has hosted online gatherings using the liturgy of Compline or night prayer.

“We feel your prayers,” the school’s chaplain, Reverend Stefanie Wilson, said, responding to the outpouring of concern from people far and near. We need them, we want them, and we feel that you’re with us right now.”

In Pacific Palisades, Corpus Christi Catholic Church was burned to ashes as well. Its website displayed a photo of the skeletal remains of the church, accompanied by this message: “I have no words. Our beautiful church in Pacific Palisades, as of this morning.”

Also destroyed was the Pacific Palisades

Presbyterian Church, which posted photos on its Facebook page showing the church intact before the fire and in ruins afterward.

Yet congregants made clear that they have kept their faith amid the flames. “Nothing in my faith has been rocked by this,” added Melissa Levy of the Pasadena Jewish Center. ” If anything, it’s been bolstered by the support we have received, and we can give.”

Synagogues still standing offer a place to worship, representatives said. The Los Angeles area is home to more than 600,000 Jews, the second-largest community in the United States.

The Pasadena synagogue also lost its preschool, and in Pacific Palisades, fires seriously damaged another synagogue and a Chabad center, the AP quoted Rabbi Noah Farkas, president of the Jewish Federation Los Angeles, as saying.

JEWISH AID

Synagogues away from danger hosted services over the weekend for congregants who cannot attend their regular temples, and volunteers helped with everything from food and cash assistance to providing a dedicated text messaging line for hundreds of displaced families who have no idea what, if anything, of their homes survived the fires.

“I’ve been here 32 years, and literally every person I know has lost their house,” said Rabbi Zushe Cunin of the neighborhood of his Chabad center. “Apocalyptic is the word I’ve been using.”

As clouds of smoke started building in the area earlier this week, Cunin said, he and other staff escorted about 100 children from their school to safety through growing traffic jams to the Pacific Coast Highway and then ran back to save the scrolls. The fire damaged classrooms and other spaces, though the sanctuary is intact.

Churches destroyed also included the Altadena Fountain of Life Church, where several community members also lost their homes, the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries noted.

Pastor Andre Wilson said, “Our hearts are broken,” after confirming on Facebook that the more than 100-year-old faith community lost its Altadena United Methodist Church in Altadena.

At least 50 percent of faith families have lost their homes, according to Reverend Garth Gilliam, North District Superintendent of the California-Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church.

“God is with us and closer to us than ever before,” Wilson wrote on Facebook. “So we will grieve what we have lost. We will comfort one another. We will support and assist one another through this.”

The Lifeline Fellowship Christian Center (Pasadena) was also lost. Bishop Charles Dorsey confirmed the institution’s total loss in an emotional Facebook Live discussion on Wednesday on what would have usually been a Bible study lecture.

MORE SUFFERING

The center, founded by Dorsey and his wife Lisa, stood for over 20 years.

Pasadena Church of Christ (Pasadena) was also suffering the loss of its building

as did Corpus Christi Church (Pacific Palisades), which held its first Mass in 1964, though the local Roman Catholic community dates back to its first parish meeting in 1950.

The church’s website homepage has a photo of a burned-out church frame with the ominous caption: “I have no words. As of this morning, our beautiful church in Pacific Palisades is praying for my hometown, the LAFD, and everyone affected by these horrific fires.”

Paul Escala, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, confirmed that the kindergarten-eighth grade school attached to the church suffered some damage, and part of its roof was burned. While the buildings remain intact, 154 students and 29 staff will be disbursed to other schools while repairs are made.

Catholics were also saddened that the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center (Sierra Madre), which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, was heavily damaged this week. Catholic sources said two groups of nearly 60 people had to be evacuated.

The Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church also noted the church’s destruction. “I hold tight to the steadfast knowledge that church is not a building or a physical space; it is her people and her community of faith,” Reverend Grace Park, one of the church ministers, wrote on the social media platform Instagram.

The St. Matthew’s Parish School (Pacific Palisades) saw its school’s namesake Episcopal church suffering severe damage.

MANY STUDENTS

The school, which had 70 staff and 334 students from preschool through eighth grade, was destroyed.

According to Schools Executive Director Ryan Newman, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is still working on a plan for students and teachers to finish the rest of the semester.

The school and church, however, claim at least 75 percent of their members lost their homes in the Palisades fire.

The Muslim community said its Masjid Al-Taqwa (Altadena) mosque was also burned after serving Altadena’s Muslim residents for more than 30 years and saw its total number rise from a few dozen to 200, according to internal figures.

The building had recently been renovated before the blaze. Media reported that fundraising efforts have raised around $500,000 so far.

Yet Christians said they keep their faith in Christ. “God’s will has nothing to do with this fire,” Los Angeles Episcopal Bishop John Taylor said. “God’s will is urgently desiring that people come together and devote themselves to each other’s healing.”