Lake Avenue Congregational Church (Lake Avenue Church) is a historic evangelical Protestant congregation located at 393 N. Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California. It is affiliated with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. The church emphasizes biblical teaching, congregational governance, mission-outreach and community engagement. A Spanish ministry with Sunday morning services, currently under the banner Lake en Español,was established in 1996.
The shared faith of members of Lake Avenue Church centers on God's evangel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. They believe that through the power of this gospel, God accomplishes His salvation plan: rescuing His people from sin, making each one complete in Christ, and making all things in His creation new. Lake Avenue Church's most basic theological convictions are aspects of this gospel.
God’s gospel originates in and manifests the holy love of the eternal, triune God
They believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in a unity of love in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to establish a redeemed family from among all peoples and to make all things new for His own glory.
God’s gospel is authoritatively announced in the Scriptures
They believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. God, His work and His ways are revealed through the Bible truly though surely not exhaustively. As the inspired Word of God, it is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority for what we believe and for how we live. Therefore, the Bible is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
God’s gospel alone addresses our deepest human need
They believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when they were tempted by Satan. The result is that all human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ we can be rescued, reconciled, and renewed.
God’s gospel is revealed in history supremely through the Person of Jesus Christ
They believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus, Israel’s promised Messiah, was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
God’s gospel is accomplished through the work of Jesus Christ
They believe that Jesus Christ, as their representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
God’s gospel is applied and empowered by the Holy Spirit
They believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He makes sinful people alive to God through faith in Christ, and through the Spirit they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs into the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
God’s gospel is now embodied in the new community called “the Church”
They believe that the true Church began at Pentecost and is made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language who have been made right with God by His grace through faith alone in Christ alone. These members of God the Father’s eternal family are reconciled to one another and united by the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The true Church is manifest in local churches. The Lord Jesus mandated baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the Church in genuine faith, these practices confirm and nourish the believer.
God’s gospel calls us to Christ-like living and witness to the world
They believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out this faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor, and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, and to make disciples among all peoples, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
God will bring His gospel to fulfillment at the end of the age
They believe in the glorious and personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will come in power and great glory to gather His people, to raise the dead, to judge the nations, and to bring His Kingdom to fulfillment. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and motivates the believer to godly living, growing faith, sacrificial service, and energetic mission.
Response to God’s gospel determines the eternal destiny of every person
They believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, and that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning unbelievers to eternal separation from Him, and believers to eternal peace in His presence with restored relationships to God, renewed creation, and one another in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace.
The origins date back to October 27, 1895, when teen-aged Haidee Bryan and a small band of women launched the Lake Avenue Union Sunday School in a carriage barn in Pasadena. On November 25, 1896, the charter members held their first worship service as the newly formed church. The first pastor, Rev. Allen Hastings, began on January 1, 1897, though he resigned for health reasons the following year. William Waterhouse, the mayor of Pasadena, was one of the earliest members and donated property to build their first building.
Successive pastors included Stephen G. Emerson (until 1908) and James H. Lash, followed by Angelo E. Shattuck (1917–1921) and James H. Hutchins (from 1921 onward). Under Hutchins the Sunday school and children-youth ministries expanded considerably.
Mid-to-late 20th century
In 1959, Dr. Raymond C. Ortlund, Sr. became pastor. During his leadership the church articulated explicitly its three priorities: love God; love the family of God; and love the world. Ortlund served approximately 20 years. In 1981, Dr. Paul A. Cedar was installed as the seventh pastor. He served until about 1990. In 1991 Dr. Gordon E. Kirk became the eighth pastor. Under his leadership the church added Saturday evening services and formalized neighborhood reconciliation efforts. Dr. Kirk resigned the pastorate on Sept. 30, 2005. Following a two-year search, Sept. 22, 2007 saw the installation of Dr. Greg Waybright as the ninth senior pastor. Before he was called to Lake Avenue Church, Dr. Greg Waybright served as the president of Trinity International University for nearly 12 years. Dr. Waybright stepped down from the role of senior pastor on August 31, 2019.
Recent leadership
After an extensive multi-year search, The current senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Mathew P. John, began his pastorate ministry on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Ministries
Music Ministry
Music is a central and defining part of worship life at Lake Avenue Church. The church’s services feature a blend of choir, orchestra, and praise band, integrating both traditional and contemporary worship styles. The sanctuary itself was designed with concert-level acoustics and a 7,000-pipe organ[1], reflecting the church’s long-standing commitment to musical excellence.
Under the Worship & Arts Ministry, Lake Avenue fosters participation from professionals and beginners alike, viewing music not merely as performance but as a means of spiritual growth and community connection. The ministry encourages creative expression and personal transformation through music and the arts.
Key sub-ministries include:
Choir – with more than a century of history, leading in worship and special events.
Orchestra – performs in Sunday services and concerts such as Songs of Renewal.
Worship Band – supports the contemporary side of worship.
Handbell Ministry – with groups for children through adults, promoting early musical involvement.
Leadership for these areas includes an Associate Pastor of Worship & the Arts, a Director of Choral Ministries, and other dedicated staff. The church also hosts workshops, concerts, and community events that extend its musical impact beyond Sunday worship, using music as a form of outreach, healing, and celebration.
Overall, Lake Avenue Church treats music as a core expression of faith, community, and intergenerational unity—where artistry and worship are deeply intertwined.
Campus Facilities
Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena occupies a prominent multi-building campus at 393 North Lake Avenue, just along the north side of the 210 Freeway. The campus includes a large, modern worship center with sweeping concrete curves and a landmark symbolic carillon tower with cross, a family life center, classrooms, and ministry buildings arranged around landscaped courtyards and patios. It serves as both a community hub and a regional landmark, blending contemporary architecture with warm, open gathering spaces within walking distance of Pasadena’s civic and residential neighborhoods.⠀ ⠀ ⠀
Lake Avenue Church Campus
Lake Avenue Church Worship Center 1
⠀Front Plaza
⠀Lobby
Lake Avenue church Worship Center 2
Lake Avenue church Worship Center 3
Lake Avenue church Worship Center 4.
Lake Avenue church Worship Center 5
Lake Avenue Church Chapel Building
Lake Avenue Church Chapel Building 2
Lake Avenue Church Chapel Building Interior 1
Lake Avenue Church Chapel Building Interior 2
Lake Avenue Church Maple Street Building View 1
Lake Avenue Church Maple Street Building View 2
Lake Avenue Church Ortland Hall
Window from 1904 corner church now in Ortland Hall building
Lake Avenue Church Hutchins Hall.
Lake Avenue Church Prayer Garden
Ties with Fuller Theological Seminary
Plaque from Fuller Seminary
Charles E. Fuller joined Lake Avenue Church in 1933 and became friends with the Senior Pastor James Henry Hutchins, a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute. Hutchins kept the church away from the Liberal Christianity that was common in Congregationalism at the time.[2] Fuller held its first classes in the Sunday School rooms of Lake Avenue Church.[3] According to C. Peter Wagner, many members of the Fuller faculty and some Board Members were members of the church, including Wagner himself who would be ordained by the church's denomination.[4]
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