All Saints Episcopal Church (Pasadena, California)

Last updated

All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena
Iglesia de Todos Los Santos en Pasadena
AllSaintsEpiscopalChurch Pasadena007 2009August30sm.jpg
All Saints Episcopal Church in 2009
All Saints Episcopal Church (Pasadena, California)
34°08′53″N118°08′34″W / 34.1479631°N 118.1428578°W / 34.1479631; -118.1428578
Location Pasadena, California
Country United States
Denomination Episcopal
Tradition Broad Church
Churchmanship Progressive
Website All Saints Church
History
Status Church
FoundedNovember 1882;141 years ago (1882-11)
Founder(s)Mr. and Mrs. CC Brown, Rev. Trew
DedicatedApril 18, 1885 (original)
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s) Roland Coate, Reginald Davis Johnson, Gordon Kaufmann
Style Gothic Revival [1]
CompletedDecember 1924 (1924-12)
Administration
Province Province VIII
Diocese Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Clergy
Bishop(s) John Taylor
Priest in charge Rev. Tim Rich
Priest(s) Rev. Alfredo Feregrino (Associate Rector) & Rev. Sally Howard (Associate Rector) & Rev. Mark Chase (Associate Rector)
Assistant priest(s) Susan Russell
Laity
Organist(s) Dr. Weicheng Zhao & Grace Chung
Liturgy coordinator Melissa Hayes
Youth ministry coordinator Rev. Jonathan Stoner, Interim Director of Children, Youth & Families. Merry Simkins, Administrative Assistant for Children, Youth & Families and the Music Office.
Parish administratorAna Camacho, Amanda McCormick

All Saints Church is an Episcopal church located in Pasadena, California and part of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. The current building is the third home for activities of this church. [2]

Contents

The church has a reputation of being one of Southern California's most liberal churches and one of the largest Episcopal churches in the country. Reported average attendance is 394 (2022). [3] Former Rector Ed Bacon said that political activism "is in the DNA of the church."

In 1980, All Saints was listed by the National Park Service on the National Register of Historic Places as a Contributing Structure to the Pasadena Civic Center District.

History of the parish

In November 1882, eleven people gathered in the home of Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Brown for services conducted by the Reverend Trew. In 1885 the congregation dedicated its first church building at the corner of Colorado Blvd. and Garfield Ave. on April 5 (Easter Day). The parish continued to grow rapidly, and a new site was purchased at 132 North Euclid for the building of a 600-seat church. First services were held Easter Day, April 21, 1889. The congregation outgrew the church building, and a new church building was built in 1923. It was designed by architects Roland Coate (1890–1958), Reginald Davis Johnson (1882–1952) and Gordon Kaufmann (1888–1949), and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [4] [5] [6] It opened in 1924.

All Saints bought additional property in 1926–7, where it built a parish hall and rectory. The architects for these buildings were Cyril Bennett and Fitch Harrison Haskell, designers of the Civic Auditorium. They were also designed in the English Gothic style, and form an integrated courtyard with the main church. The Parish Hall suffered extensive damage during two fires in 1976. [2]

A series of long rectorships began with the arrival of the Reverend Leslie E. Learned in 1908:

All Saints leaders and parishioners agreed that the church needed to add to its building space to house the increased scope of its activities. Having grown to 3,500 members in the congregation, 125 ministries and 13,000 meetings per year, the facilities built in the 1920s were inadequate for the 21st Century. [8] In 1999, the church hired architect Michael Palladino to design a suitable space. He developed a four-building complex employing a contemporary design, but using many of the same architectural materials as the existing complex. The proposal was presented to the Pasadena planning commission in 2007, and was estimated to cost $46.0 million. In 2008, the commission ruled that the proposed project could not proceed until a new full environmental impact report (EIR) could be produced and approved. [lower-alpha 1] The draft report was issued in July, 2010. [8]

Public criticism of the proposal continue all the while, and it took five years to get the necessary approvals from the city. Meanwhile, estimated construction costs escalated dramatically because of extensive revisions to make the project even more grand. According to the chairman of the building committee, the 2015 cost to complete the project would be over $70.0 million. During this time several large donors had either died or moved away from Pasadena. Furthermore, Ed Bacon was scheduled to retire from the church in May 2016. Therefore, Bacon announced that he was putting execution of the project on hold until his replacement could restart it. [10]

History of social activism

Although a casual look at the chronology listed below might suggest that All Saints began to be serious about social activism only in the mid-1960s, Rector George Regas clarified this point in a 1990 interview. Regas stated that his predecessor, John Burt was a very strong advocate for social activism. Regas claimed that no (mainline) churches were even talking about such issues as racial justice in the early 1960s. Regas compared Burt to a biblical prophet calling the faithful to be aware of their own shortcomings and urging them to get busy in their own house and communities to remedy these social ills. [11]

IRS investigation

In September 2006, the IRS issued a summons against All Saints demanding that the church turn over documents related to the controversial sermon. All Saints Church's response was that the IRS was violating the church's First Amendment rights and that the Church would challenge the IRS's actions in a summons enforcement proceeding in the United States Federal District Court. The church then established a charitable fund to raise money for its legal defense.

The Pasadena Star News reported that All Saints would remain defiant against the IRS. Rector Ed Bacon asserted that political activism was "in the DNA" of the church.

Result of IRS investigation

On September 25, 2007, CCH reported in Federal Tax Day:

On September 10, 2007, the IRS notified the congregation that it was closing its investigation. The IRS determined that the sermon was political campaign intervention. It offered no explanation as to why the sermon violated the ban on political intervention. The IRS also did not indicate if it intended to impose excise taxes under Code Sec. 4955 [see 26 U.S.C.   § 4955] on the church or its officers. However, it did not revoke the church's exempt status. [20]

According to the Pasadena Star News, the IRS told church officials that the sermon constituted an endorsement of a candidate. Rector Ed Bacon demanded that the IRS apologize and that the IRS be investigated. [21]

The Church's legal counsel has asked the IRS for a clarification of the decision, and for assurance that the IRS did not act under pressure from the White House. The Church has also requested that the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) examine the IRS's investigation. [22]

Sabeel controversy

In 2008, relations with the local Jewish community were strained when the Church hosted the pro-Palestinian Sabeel conference. [23] [24] Rabbi emeritus of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, Rabbi Gil Kollin, said: "As a neighbor, I was disappointed. A conference of this kind is going to make me feel uncomfortable and get a lot of our congregants upset." [25] The local Jewish temple had previously supported the church in its IRS dispute.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Miscavige</span> Leader of the Church of Scientology (born 1960)

David Miscavige is an American Scientologist who is serving as the second and current leader of the Church of Scientology. His official title within the organization is Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center. RTC is a corporation that controls the trademarks and copyrights of Dianetics and Scientology. He is also referred to within the Scientology organization as "DM," "COB" and "Captain of the Sea Org."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i is the ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Church of the Anglican Communion in the United States encompassing the state of Hawaii and Episcopal congregations in Micronesia. It is led by the Episcopal Bishop of Hawaii pastoring the Hawaiian Islands from the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in Honolulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is a community of 48,874 Episcopalians in 147 congregations, 40 schools, and 18 major institutions, spanning all of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties, and part of Riverside County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Croswell Doane</span> American bishop

William Croswell Doane was the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States. He was bishop from 1869 until his death in 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasadena Civic Center District</span> Historic district in California, United States

The Pasadena Civic Center District is the civic center of and a historic district in Pasadena, California, United States. The district is roughly bounded by Walnut and Green Streets and Raymond and Euclid Avenues.

nonpartisan organization, in American politics, is a non-profit organization organized United States Internal Revenue Code that qualifies certain non-profit organizations for tax-exempt status because they refrain from engaging in certain political activities prohibited for them. The designation "nonpartisan" usually reflects a claim made by organizations about themselves, or by commentators, and not an official category per American law. Rather, certain types of nonprofit organizations are under varying requirements to refrain from election-related political activities, or may be taxed to the extent they engage in electoral politics, so the word affirms a legal requirement. In this context, "nonpartisan" means that the organization, by US tax law, is prohibited from supporting or opposing political candidates, parties, and in some cases other votes like propositions, directly or indirectly, but does not mean that the organization cannot take positions on political issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. John's Episcopal Church, Canandaigua</span> Episcopal Church In Western New York

St. John's Episcopal Church is an episcopal church in Canandaigua, New York. It was built in 1872.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George F. Regas</span> American Episcopalian priest (1930–2021)

George Frank Regas was an Episcopal priest. He served as rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena, California, from 1967 until his retirement in 1995.

James Edwin Bacon Jr., known as Ed Bacon, is a retired priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and was the rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena, 1995–2016. Prior to coming to All Saints Church, Bacon served as dean of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Jackson, Mississippi; Rector of St Mark’s in Dalton, Georgia; and dean of students and campus ministry at Mercer University. He also graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. As an ordained priest he was known for his active support of LGBT rights, peace, and interfaith causes. He retired to private life on May 1, 2016.

Occupy The Rose Parade (OTRP) was a four phase Occupy demonstration and protest by approximately 10,000 Occupy Movement activists that was held on January 1 and January 2, 2012 as part of the Occupy movement at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California held on January 2, 2012. The main organizer of the 2012 OTRP, Pete Thottam, is a Los Angeles based Occupy volunteer, attorney and longtime antiwar activist. Phase 1 of the demonstration was on Sunday, January 1. It was organized by a separate group from the Occupy Pasadena group protesting locally, with no affiliation or endorsement between the two although a number of members of Occupy Pasadena actively participated in and helped organize the Occupy The Rose Parade demonstration. Rose Parade and Pasadena officials authorized the Occupy the Rose Parade movement to march at the end of the parade, after all the floats have passed and the phalanx of police cars moves through, but while the crowd is still in place.

The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an American orchestra based in Pasadena, California. In 2010, it took up residence at the Ambassador Auditorium, where its Classics Series runs from October through April. Since 2012, it performs a summer series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden from June through September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints Episcopal Church (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)</span> Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

All Saints Episcopal Church is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida founded in the year 1912. and located in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Church of the Resurrection (Pleasant Hill, California)</span>

The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is located on Gregory Lane in Pleasant Hill, California. It is a member church of the Episcopal Diocese of California. It was formed as an Episcopal mission on July 1, 1959 and the vicar was the Reverend Richard Shackell. Church of the Resurrection became a parish on March 16, 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Scientology International</span> Corporation operated by the Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Within the worldwide network of Scientology corporations and entities, CSI is officially referred to as the "mother church" of the Church of Scientology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints' Episcopal Church (Beverly Hills, California)</span> Church in California, USA

All Saints' Episcopal Church is an Episcopal church in Beverly Hills, California.

John Harris Burt was an American prelate, civil rights activist, and social worker, who served as the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio from 1967 to 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax status of Scientology in the United States</span>

The tax status of the Church of Scientology in the United States has been the subject of decades of controversy and litigation. Although the Church of Scientology was initially partially exempted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from paying federal income tax, its two principal entities in the United States lost this exemption in 1957 and 1968. This action was taken because of concerns that church funds were being used for the private gain of its founder L. Ron Hubbard or due to an international psychiatric conspiracy against Scientology.

Theodore Myers Riley was a prominent American Anglo-Catholic priest, author, and seminary professor born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A Civil War deserter from the Union Army, he was made a deacon on June 28, 1863, in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. He was ordained to the priesthood, also in the Diocese of New York, by Bishop Horatio Potter in 1866. He was a graduate of the General Theological Seminary.

William Avery Thompson (1946–2020) was an American Anglican bishop. A key figure in the Anglican realignment in the United States, he was the longtime rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, which left the Episcopal Church for oversight by the Church of Uganda in 2004. He became a leader in the Common Cause Partnership, which in 2009 emerged as the Anglican Church in North America, and in 2009 was elected the first bishop of the ACNA's Diocese of Western Anglicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints Anglican Cathedral (Long Beach)</span> Anglican cathedral in Long Beach, California, that played a role in the Anglican realignment

All Saints Anglican Cathedral is an Anglican church in Long Beach, California. Founded in 1923 as All Saints Episcopal Church, it left the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2004 as part of the Anglican realignment and joined the nascent Anglican Church in North America. In 2017, it was designated as the cathedral of the ACNA Diocese of Western Anglicans.

References

Notes
  1. Some other requirements imposed by the commission in 2008 included:
    1. Building a 220-unit senior living center complex at the corner of Walnut Street and Euclid Avenue;
    2. Moving the entrance to the underground parking garage from Euclid Avenue to Walnut Street; and
    3. Adding more landscaped areas to the church campus. [9]
Citations
  1. "All Saints Church – Pasadena, California." Waymarking. May 1, 2009. Archived 2017-09-17 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 16, 2017.
  2. 1 2 National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. "Pasadena Civic Center District." Entered July 28, 1980. Archived 2017-02-18 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  3. "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends".
  4. "Pacific Coast Architecture Database: All Saints' Episcopal Church, Pasadena, CA". Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  5. 'All Saints' church in Pasadena to have new home', Los Angeles Times , 5, 06/10/1923
  6. 'All Saints' Church, Pasadena', Architectural Digest , 8: 2, 69, 1931
  7. "All Saints Church Special Update". myemail-api.constantcontact.com. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Sewell, Abby. "Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church and preservationists battle over architecture." Los Angeles Times. July 24, 2010 Accessed September 18, 2017.
  9. Williams, Janette. "PASADENA, CA: Planning Commission votes down expansion of All Saints Episcopal Church." Pasadena Star-News. December 11, 2008 Archived 2017-12-04 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 19, 2017.
  10. Henry, Jason. "Why a major expansion of Pasadena's All Saints Church is now in doubt." Pasadena Star-News. December 8, 2015. Archived 2016-02-12 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 18, 2017.
  11. McBroom, Elizabeth. "Oral History Interview with Dr. George F. Regas." September 19, 1990. Archived 2018-10-25 at the Wayback Machine Accessed September 17, 2017.
  12. Woo, Elaine (October 30, 2009). "John Harris Burt dies at 91; former rector at Pasadena's All Saints Episcopal Church". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  13. "+JOHN HARRIS BURT: Giant of Justice – 1918–2009". All Saints Church News Blog. October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  14. Harris, Scott (January 25, 1992). "Blessing of a Covenant: Gays United in Rites at Prominent Pasadena Church". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  15. Sahagun, Louis (October 16, 2006). "Sermon moves IRS to act". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  16. "Pasadena Church: IRS Drops Anti-War Sermon Investigation". ABC News. September 23, 2007. Archived from the original on June 10, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  17. McCaughan, Pat (June 19, 2012). "LOS ANGELES: Soulforce co-founders wed in Pasadena". Episcopal News Service. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  18. Bieganski, Mark (January 12, 2009). "'Gay' moment most controversial of week, Oprah Winfrey says". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 22, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  19. Mojica, Stephanie (June 11, 2009). "All Saints Church Rector Meets With Obama Administration". Pasadena NOW. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  20. George L. Yaksick, Jr., "IRS Finds Prominent Church Engaged in Partisan Politics in '04 Presidential Election" CCH Federal Tax Day, Sept. 25, 2007, #Item I.7.
  21. Williams, Janette (September 23, 2007). "IRS ends church probe". Pasadena Star-News. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  22. Id.
  23. "Middle East tensions in Pasadena". Los Angeles Times. February 9, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  24. "Rebecca Spence, Conflict Brews in Pews of Pasadena Forward Feb 13, 2008". February 14, 2008. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.
  25. "Conflict Brews Over Palestinians Airing Views in the Pews of Pasadena – Forward.com"". February 14, 2008. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2008.