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LA wildfire churches are offered sanctuary

31 January 2025

ST BARNABAS’S, EAGLE ROCK

Members of the congregation of St Mark’s, Altadena, worship at St Barnabas’s, Eagle Rock, on 19 January

A CONGREGATION whose church was lost in the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area has been offered sanctuary in a neighbouring parish.

St Mark’s Episcopal Church, Altadena, was razed to the ground, along with its school and the homes of 40 members of its congregation (News, 17 January). It met in St Barnabas’s, Eagle Rock, for the first time last Sunday.

The church has been supported by the California Endowment, a private health foundation, which donated $100,000, and has given the same to each place of worship lost in the fires.

The former president of the endowment, Robert Ross, worships at St Mark’s. In his sermon last week, he praised his colleagues for their work towards “a just and fair and equitable rebuild of Altadena”.

He focused on Martin Luther King Jr’s vision for “Beloved Community” as “a North Star for social justice work firmly grounded in our Christian faith”.

The Revd Michael Micheler, who was ordained priest while the fires still raged on 11 January, presided at this first eucharist.

Money is also being donated from the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles’s One Body and One Spirit Appeal Fund. The fund is raised through donations, and stands at $345,000 (£277,000) to date. Thirteen fire-relief grants of $34,168 (£27,440) have been paid out so far, and more grants are pending. Money goes directly to congregations.

“The generosity of the people of God around our diocese and Episcopal Church-wide is astonishing and moving beyond words,” the Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Revd John H. Taylor, said. “On behalf of the diocesan community, my thanks to everyone who has contributed. Keep the prayers coming for all who are suffering in this catastrophe. Every dollar received goes right back out the door in the form of a grant.”

St Matthew’s, Pacific Palisades, has also been offered sanctuary in St Augustine by-the-Sea, Santa Monica. It was badly damaged in the fires, and its school was also destroyed.

The three worst wildfires around Los Angeles are now 90 per cent contained, although firefighters are still working to extinguish them after more than three weeks. After a forecast of heavy rain this week, attention has been drawn to the danger of of mudslides and toxic-ash run-off in fire-damaged areas.

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