Southern California houses of worship filled with congregants on Sunday who reflected on a horrifying week, seeking spiritual solace amid the region’s deadly wildfires. Clergy offered messages of unity and comfort while also putting out the word for aid for the myriad houses of faith that fell to the flames.
“This is what church means,” said Bishop Matthew Elshoff at a gathering of Catholics, including parishioners of the Pacific Palisades’ destroyed Corpus Christi Church. “This is what church means in our lives.”
A major theme in readings, sermons and actions across faiths was community, helping other human beings as one family.
It was through that community that many are finding ways to cope with destruction wrought by the Palisades and Eaton fires, among scattered other blazes, which by Sunday had claimed at least 24 lives.
Many congregations have parishioners who lost homes or knew people who lost their dwellings and possessions. And many church leaders, themselves affected by the sweeping losses, used the first weekend since savage winds and fire exploded on Tuesday to update their communities on how they were mobilizing.
That was on the mind of Cardinal Roger Mahoney as he officiated Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood Sunday morning.
As he opened Mass, he read a message from Pope Francis:
“His Holiness Pope Francis assures you and the communities affected by this tragedy of his spiritual closeness. Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, His Holiness sends heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss. He likewise prays for the relief efforts of the emergency services personnel and imparts his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord.”
Mahoney, archbishop emeritus of L.A., told the congregation that among them were people who belong to the parish and who lost homes. Ultimately, donations were taken at the end of Mass for those congregants who needed financial assistance through the church.
Similar scenes played out Sunday across the region, at houses of worship of all stripes across Los Angeles County.
Spirited by unity and a desire to help its neighboring congregation, St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica welcomed Pacific Palisades parishioners from Corpus Christi Church to its Mass Sunday morning.
Earlier in the week, the Palisades fire destroyed the 60-year-old church.
“It’s just unthinkable to be in this situation,” said Danielle Villalobos, coordinator for children’s faith foundations with St. Monica’s. “I think it’s still sinking in.”
Along with St. Monica’s longtime Pastor Lloyd Torgerson, the service, which drew more than 200 people, was led by Bishop Elshoff.
“We flourish as a church when we are challenged to live our faith,” Elshoff said. “We are not meant to live our spirituality in isolation, but rather we live that as a community.”
The Palisades fire — which had forced a new wave of evacuations as it lit up the ridge line in Mandeville Canyon — grew by less than 100 acres overnight, according to Cal Fire estimates. By Sunday, it was estimated at 23,707 acres and 11% containment, the percentage of a fire’s border officials believe the flames will not jump.
The Eaton fire also remained about the same size — an estimated 14,117 acres — while the containment estimate jumped overnight from 15 to 27%.
In their path, they leveled entire communities.
Across the county from Santa Monica, in the San Gabriel Valley, about 100 people, including 23 pastors from local churches in ministries in Pasadena and Altadena, held a citywide prayer service for healing and restoration Sunday night.
There were different languages, from various faiths and denominations. But the message of unity in the face of the destruction was common to all.
The Clergy Community Coalition, founded 20 years ago in response to Pasadena’s high crime rate, found itself responding this week to the Eaton Fires.
Pastor Mayra Macedo-Nolan, executive director of the coalition of 200 local churches and ministries, said the gathering was a show of unity among faiths and groups, secular and otherwise.
“It matters when we’re with one another. This fire will change the trajectory of so many stories. What happens next is partly up to us,” she said.
Sen. Adam Schiff acknowledged the heavy weight carried by the people gathered at Vintage Church in Pasadena.
“There’s so much sadness and loss and at the same time so much resilience,” he said. “I want to make sure we rebuild and rebuild with urgency when this is over. We have difficult times to get through before we see the end of this. My heart breaks with yours.”
At the same time, he said Californians are irrepressibly optimistic, and “at times like these more than ever we need each other.”
It was a sentiment Pastor Jean Burch of Community Bible Church of Greater Pasadena agreed with.
Burch’s congregation is in Altadena, and while it did not burn, its members cannot meet there.
“There is confusion and chaos and discomfort, so we pray for our community and our firefighters as we wait for a better day,” Burch said.
At Montebello Plymouth Congregational Church, Rev. Mitchell Young asked if there were any more names to pray over.
He’d just gone through a long list of congregants of Altadena Community Church, who have lost their homes. More names came.
About 100 people attended the service, with a couple more via Zoom, Facebook and YouTube, that brought two United Church of Christ congregations together in the wake of the fire that gutted the historic Altadena house of worship.
“We are not the building, we can worship anywhere, and that’s what true for today,” said Rev. Paul Tellstrom, pastor at Altadena Community. “We can move in whatever direction we want to, with God’s help.”
In Pasadena, more reflection.
“We’re just going to take it one day at a time,” Priest in Charge Tim Rich told congregants in a packed sanctuary at All Saints Church in Pasadena. “We will get through this together.”
As the Eaton fire broke out on Tuesday, All Saints was quick to open the church as a shelter as evacuees from Altadena and Pasadena fled.
With ferocious winds ravaging Pasadena, people made their way to the church that night, finding the Rev. Susan Russell, priest associate at All Saints, and a hastily organized team – which included even a Rabbi from a temple in Highland Park, who ushered in and directed evacuees.
Rich said the church was assessing conditions each day, organizing a drop-in and supply center which will remain open each day, at least for another week.
“We’re going to be walking a balance between providing direct services and offering direction for people to find professional resources,” he told congregants.
The morning worship included readings such a passage from Isaiah:
“Do not be afraid….when you pass through the seas, I will be with you…When you pass over the rivers, you will not drown. Walk through fire and you will not be singed. Walk through flames, and you will not be burned. I am your God. The holy one of Israel. Your deliverer.”
The service culminated in a rendition of the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
At Victory Bible Church in Pasadena, organizers set up a resource center for all impacted by the Eaton fire. The sanctuary opened early for prayer. Essential items were made available in the church’s Henry Hall.
It all culminated in a vibrant morning service, opened with song, hands raised.
Pastor Jonathan DeCuir thanked area churches from Long Beach to Anaheim for their support for his church, a predominantly Black congregation with many members in its community hit hard by the fires.
He noted at least 12 pastors in the area lost their homes in the fire. And he told congregants nine churches burned down.
“We’re not going to sit back and watch. We’re gonna do more stuff besides pray,” he said, noting an effort in the pipeline seeking more affluent residents to “adopt” homeowners who lost their homes.
Jews spent the week, and this weekend, galvanizing support and taking in congregants who lost homes, were evacuated and who lost their own temple.
On Saturday morning, in the wake of the Eaton fire’s devastation — including the destruction of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center on North Altadena Drive — the Chabad of Pasadena held its regular Shabbat service and study group at its East Walnut Street campus, also welcoming some members of the displaced congregation.
Along with opening its doors to displaced residents who needed immediate shelter, the congregation has organized a relief fund that has already raised close to $30,000.
Chabad has also provided a safe haven for the sacred Torah scrolls of the PJTC, which was able to evacuate them in time.
The Chabad congregation itself has been severely affected.
Earlier in the week, Rabbi Zushi Rivkin, director of Chabad of Pasadena’s Pasadena Jewish Academy, told Chabad.org that he estimated between 50 to 80 homes of his congregants were destroyed, according to a message on Chabad’s website.
He said the fire partially destoryed another 150 community members’ homes.
The Chabad has stepped up to find them lodging, including in their own homes.
In Pasadena, perhaps Pastor DeCuir summed up the moment in time most succinctly, noting that in his church’s community alone, 82 congregants needed a place to stay and 142 needed financial support.
“We gotta come together,” he said, “and we gotta push with each other. Amen?”
His flock responded: “Amen.”
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