Bel Air Church (also known as Bel Air Presbyterian Church) is a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Its campus is located on Mulholland Drive in the Encino neighborhood.

History

The Bel Air Church was founded in 1956 in Los Angeles. It met in the home of Rev Louis H. Evans Jr for four years and then moved to its current building on the "Educational Corridor" on Mulholland Drive, overlooking the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

. 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 overlooking the

. The campus also has a full-service

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

. Former senior pastors include Louis H. Evans Jr., Mark Brewer, Michael H. Wenning, Paul Pierson, David G. McKechnie, Donn D. Moomaw, Michael Wenning, and Mark Brewer. Moomaw gave the invocation at President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's first inauguration in 1981. He also gave the invocation at President Reagan's

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

and presided over a private service for the family of First Lady

Nancy Reagan Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in ...

before her state funeral at the Reagan Library. Drew Sams was officially ordained as the church's senior pastor and head of staff on April 13, 2014, where he joined Care Crawford, Kim Dorr-Tilley, and later Mike Morgan on the church's leadership team.

Congregation

Some notable members of the church include: *

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

Activities

Bel Air Church helped found "Imagine LA", a mentorship program that matches families exiting

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

with volunteer teams from faith communities, corporations, and other committed organizations. The church has an outreach department that partners with other

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

organizations in Los Angeles. On

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

High Holy Days In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

, the Church hosts services for the Stephen S. Wise Temple, a

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous rev ...

congregation in the same neighborhood as Bel Air Church. In 2018, the church packed and distributed over 10,000 meals to those in need at

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

. This annual work started in 1986. The church also ran free Christmas concerts later that year.Newswire Dec 2016
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References

External links

*
Bel Air Church YouTube
{{coord, 34.130581, -118.485296, display=title Presbyterian Church (USA) churches Presbyterian churches in California Churches in Los Angeles Christian organizations established in 1956 Presbyterian organizations established in the 20th century

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

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