The Angelus Temple 2002 Rebirth
The neighborhood demographics changed over the years and the area where the Temple sits became home for many of LA’s Hispanic residents. Many of them became part of the Temple, which today has a Spanish speaking congregation of 4,000. The English-speaking congregation waned to less than 500 as the Hispanic group grew to its present size. Later, the Temple was damaged in the Northridge Earthquake and required repairs that also caused the congregation to shrink even more.
As the Temple came back on line after the repairs, Foursquare’s newly elected president appointed a successful ministry couple from the Northwest to pastor the Temple. They had pastored a growing church in Oregon and as part of their new appointment, Foursquare agreed to upgrade the sanctuary’s interior and its sound and lighting to fit the new pastorate’s requirements. I was put in charge of this project shortly before construction was to commence. The new pastors regrouped and held services in nearby Pasadena.
The Assemblies of God also had a church known as Bethel Temple about a mile from Angelus Temple. Bethel had been established out of the Azusa Street revival, and while never as large as Angelus Temple was nonetheless a mighty church that ministered to well over 1,000 in its heyday. Bethel, like Angelus Temple, had fallen on bad times and its congregation dwindled to less than 50 – when the Assemblies made a decision to bring it back to its former prominence. The Assemblies assigned this project to Tommy Barnett, who pastors the Phoenix Assembly – one of our country’s largest churches. Pastor Tommy visited Bethel, and then began a search for the right person to take this daunting challenge. The search was well done but Tommy could not convince any of the candidates that they were the ones to lead this now small church.
Finally Tommy appointed his 20-year-old son, Matthew, to be Bethel’s new senior pastor. The congregation indicated its approval by voting for Matthew as its pastor, and Matthew with much trepidation left his dad’s church and home to go to inner city LA and take the leadership of Bethel and its less-than-50 members.
Matthew worked hard and soon found that he had to go to the people in his neighborhood and become part of them. He openly tells of his struggles as he learned how to do this. It was not an easy road but Matthew has an anointing and training that sets him apart. Within a few years Bethel rebounded and overflowed its old building. Matthew went looking for a place to grow in the same area, and one day he found an old vacant high rise hospital near Bethel and proposed to his dad, that they buy it and convert it into a church open 24 hours a day, every day. When he first broached the idea, his dad reminded him that the Bethel congregation had about $30,000 in the bank less—than one percent of the purchase price for the derelict abandoned hospital.
Category: Church History
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