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Bel Air Church

Coordinates: 34°07′50″N 118°29′07″W / 34.130581°N 118.485296°W / 34.130581; -118.485296
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Bel Air Church
Map
Location16221 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90049
CountryUnited States
DenominationPresbyterian Church (USA)
Website[1]
[2]
History
Founded1956
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)Dr. Drew Sams

Bel Air Church (also known as Bel Air Presbyterian Church) is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and has a campus located on the famed Mulholland Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.[1] An iconic Los Angeles church, it has been listed on the top 10 most visited churches in Los Angeles [2] and as one of the top 50 churches in America.[3]

History and facility

Since its founding in 1956, Bel Air Church has become one of the most influential churches in Los Angeles. The church is on the "Educational Corridor" on Mulholland Drive, on a hill overlooking the San Fernando Valley. On Jewish high holy days, Bel Air Church hosts services for the Stephen S. Wise Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation, which is in the same Bel Air neighborhood.[4]

The original sanctuary organ was a four-manual, sixty-eight rank mechanical action pipe organ by Casavant. It was seriously damaged, mostly by water leakage, in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. It was later rebuilt as a pipe combination instrument with a digital console from Rodgers Instruments Corporation, in protest of which Casavant declared it to be "destroyed" and stricken from their register of surviving instruments.[citation needed] At the time of its re-dedication, it was one of the largest digital/pipe combination organs in the world.

In 2007, the church completed a $12 million campus expansion program, The Campaign for Bel Air: Phase I, which included the two story Education Building, Discipleship Center, and Administration Building, including staff offices with stunning views overlooking the San Fernando Valley. The campus also has a full-service cafe.

Former Senior Pastors include Rev. Dr. Louis H. Evans Jr., Rev. Dr. Mark Brewer, Rev. Dr. Michael H. Wenning, Rev. Paul Pierson, Rev. Dr. David G. McKechnie, Dr. Donn D. Moomaw, Rev. Dr. Michael Wenning, and Dr. Mark Brewer.

Rev. Dr. Moomaw gave the invocation at President Ronald Reagan's first inauguration in 1981. Rev. Dr. Wenning gave the invocation at President Reagan's state funeral.[5]

Rev. Dr. Moomaw presided over a private service for the family of First Lady Nancy Reagan before her state funeral at the Reagan Library.

Sanctuary and Discipleship Center

Rev. Dr. Drew Sams was officially ordained as the church's Senior Pastor and Head of Staff on April 13, 2014.[6] where he joined Rev. Care Crawford, Rev. Kim Dorr-Tilley, and later Rev. Mike Morgan.

Congregation

Education Building

Many members of Bel Air Church are involved in the entertainment industry, and many are prominent leaders across every industry in the Los Angeles community.[7]

Activities

Bel Air Church is a founder of Imagine LA, a mentorship program that matches families exiting homelessness with volunteer teams from faith communities, corporations, and other committed organizations.[8]

Bel Air Church has an extensive outreach department which partners with other community service organizations in Los Angeles.

For over twenty-five years Bel Air Church has packed and distributed over 10,000 meals to those in need at Thanksgiving.[9]

References

  1. ^ "History". Bel Air Church – History. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  2. ^ https://www.lyft.com/rider/city-guides/top-church-los-angeles
  3. ^ https://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/megachurches-top-united-states-newsmax/2015/11/11/id/701661/
  4. ^ "Our Clergy Responds to Divestment Vote by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)". Stephen Wise Temple. Archived from the original on 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  5. ^ "Michael Wenning, Reagans' Pastor, Dies at 75". The New York Times. June 30, 2011. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  6. ^ "Bel Air Leadership". Bel Air Church. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  7. ^ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/maria-shriver-denzel-washington-a-403978
  8. ^ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). ImagineLA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-30. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  9. ^ https://www.newswire.com/news/bel-air-church-to-provide-10-000-people-with-thanksgiving-meal-20712894

External links

34°07′50″N 118°29′07″W / 34.130581°N 118.485296°W / 34.130581; -118.485296

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