The Diocese of Los Angeles is located in one of the most ethnically diverse geographic areas in the nation and takes seriously the call to seek and serve Christ in all persons

The diocese sponsors several commissions that offer support and networking opportunities for Asian, Black, Latinx, and Native American Episcopalians.

Weekly worship opportunities in the diocese are offered in Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese. Yearly special services of Holy Eucharist commemorate spiritual giants of the faith, such as Absalom Jones and Martin Luther King.

Asian Episcopalians and friends meet regularly in groups including The Gathering, Chinese Convocation, Filipino Convocation,  Japanese Convocation, Korean Convocation, South East Asian Convocation, South Asian Convocation, and Episcopal Asiamerica ministries.

To learn more about each ministry area, please click on the photo links below.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration | Jan. 16, 2021

On January 16, 2021, The Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart, author and former police officer, offered the keynote presentation for the 2021 diocesan commemoration of MLK Day under the theme “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community,” drawn from the title of Dr. King’s last book, published in 1967.

The event was sponsored by the diocese’s Program Group on Black Ministries and the H. Belfield Hannibal Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians. Planners included Bishop Suffragan Diane M. Jardine Bruce, Canon Suzanne Edwards Acton, the Rev. Guy Leemhuis, the Rev. Margaret McCauley, Stacey Forte-Dupré, Pamm Land, Melissa Hayes and Canon Chas Cheatham, director of the Episcopal Chorale, which provides music for the program. 

Program Group on Black Ministries

Members of this diocesan commission work to strengthen and to expand the unique ministries of African Americans within the congregations and all other institutions and programs of the Diocese of Los Angeles. Members work closely with the national and local chapters of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE), a longstanding church-wide organization.

Contacts:

Canon Suzanne Edwards-Acton, co-chair
Member, St. Stephen’s Church, Hollywood (Los Angeles)
sumijaime@gmail.com

The Rev. John Limo, co-chair
St. Timothy’s Apple Valley
John@sttimshd.org

Chinese Ministries

EAM (Episcopal Asiamerican Ministries) Convener

The Rev. Fennie Chang
hsinfenchang@hotmail.com

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St. Gabriel’s Church

133 East Graves Avenue Monterey Park, CA 91755
Phone: 626.571.2714
www.saint-gabriel.org
info@saint-gabriel.org

Sunday Services: 9 am Mandarin | 10 am English  | 11 am Cantonese

Clergy: In transition

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St. Thomas’ Church

15694 Tetley Street Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
Phone: 626.330.7649
stthomashh@yahoo.com

Sunday Services: 8 am English / 10:30 am Mandarin & English / 12 pm Taiwanese

Clergy:
The Rev. Fennie Hsin-Fen Chang, vicar
EAM convener for Chinese ministry
hsinfenchang@hotmail.com
(Mandarin & English)

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The Church of Our Saviour

535 West Roses Rd. San Gabriel, CA 91775
www.churchofoursaviour.org
Phone: 626.282.5147

Sunday Services: 8 am English / 10 am English / 11:45 am

Clergy:
The Rev. Jeffrey Thornberg, rector

The Rev. Thomas Ni (Mandarin & English)
thomasni@yahoo.com

Filipino Ministries

Filipino Ministries Convener

The Rev. Brent B. Quines
Chair of EAM
brentsbp@yahoo.com

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Parish of the Holy Trinity & St. Benedict

412 N. Garfield Ave. Alhambra, CA 91807
Phone: 626.282.9118
htsbparish@live.com

Sunday Services: 11 am English

Clergy:
The Rev. Brent B. Quines
brentsbp@yahoo.com

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St. John’s Church/ Holy Child Church 

(Episcopal/Phillipine Independent Church)

1537 Neptune Avenue, Wilmington, CA 90744
Phone: 310.835.7870

Sunday Services: 10 am English

Clergy:
The Rev. Greg G. Bayaca
grbaya@aol.com

Japanese Ministries

Ann Ito
EAM Convener of Japanese Ministry

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St. Mary’s Church

961 South Mariposa Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006
www.stmarys-la.org
Phone: 213.387.1334
office@stmarys-la.org

Sunday Services: 7:30 am English | 9:45 am English | 11:45 am Spanish

Clergy: In transition

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Christ Church

408 S. Broadway Ave., Redondo Beach, CA  90277
www.christchurchrb.org
Phone: 310.540.1722

Korean Ministries

The Rev. Aidan Koh
EAP Co-Convener for Korean Ministry

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St. James’ Church

3903 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90010
Phone: 213.388.3417

Sunday Services: 12:30pm Korean

Clergy:

The Rev. Dr. Kate Cress, Rector
kcress@sbjla.org

The Rev. John Kim, Senior Associate for Korean Ministries
kaemc@yahoo.com

The Rev. Aidan Koh, Chaplain, St. James’ School 
Aidanyoungkoh@msn.com

Program Group on Latino/Hispanic Ministries

The Program Group on Hispanic Ministry first began in the Diocese of Los Angeles with the intention of serving Spanish-speaking immigrants during the 1940s. At that time, the Church of the Holy Family in North Hollywood became the first Hispanic congregation. Later, the Church of the Epiphany in East Los Angeles began services in Spanish in the 1960s and became active in the Chicano civil rights movement led by César Estrada Chávez (Cesar Chavez). In 1983, under the leadership of Bishop Robert Rusack, the first five-year plan for the development of Hispanic Ministry was implemented, leading to the incorporation of new congregations, programs, and opportunities. In 2021, the Program Group continues to be the “gathering place” for members of the 30 congregations with ministries that serve Spanish-speaking people.

OUR MISSION

The mission of this diocesan group is to create, organize, and provide programs and projects for formation, fellowship, and worship to our Latino/Hispanic community while promoting unity between ourselves and other ethnic groups present in the Diocese of the Angels.

OUR VISION

Our vision is that through the programs and projects we offer we achieve understanding and unity among the Latino/Hispanic community that includes people from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala , Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela at the same time that we display our cultural, religious and spiritual diversity to other cultures present in our diocese, thus achieving a better understanding of what it means to be Latino/Hispanicand what we bring to the Episcopal Church.

Our Programs

1. Instituto de Liderazgo

In our modern world, especially in the Episcopal Church, the laity are ministers and missionaries and it is very important to support this order of ministry. The vision of this program is to provide high-level training and appropriate academic support that will help us equip and deploy lay leaders in ministry not only in the church, but also in their daily lives, especially now that our world and our church have been hit with a pandemic.

The participant will acquire knowledge about leadership in the Episcopal Church, emphasizing the call to all the baptized to exercise their leadership, emphasizing a leadership model that is adapted to their current needs. The course provides participants with basic academic / practical knowledge to better exercise their specific ministries: Altar Guild, Eucharistic Ministers, Visitors, Pastoral Care, Preachers, members of the parish council, etc.

The program is a collaboration between this program group and Bloy House – The Episcopal Theological School in Los Angeles.

2. The Great Banquet

This program’s purpose is reconciling racial, cultural and linguistic differences and rediscovering harmony and collaboration between the elements of creation, especially among us humans, through cultural immersion sessions. In the Program Group, we believe that a primary step towards unity is to know our stories, and by listening to them we will be able to realize how they intertwine with each other, and how they also intertwine with the history of God. The program consists of experiential and formative events in which attendees will have the opportunity primarily to learn what it means to be Latino/Hispanic and an Episcopalian in the United States.

Contacts

The Rev. Carlos Ruvalcaba, chair
Associate Priest, St. Stephen’s Church, Hollywood
delaministeriohispano@gmail.com

Instituto de Liderazgo – website in transition

Native American Ministries

Los Angeles is home to more than 250,000 Native Americans according to the last U.S. Census.  This makes Los Angeles the largest population of Native Americans in all the United States and shifts our understanding of Native Americans living on “reservations.”

But how do we understand our relationship with Native people without knowing more about the rich foundational history and tradition of the Los Angeles area? These and other questions are engaged regularly through the diocesan Program Group on Native American Ministry Development and related ministries featured on these pages.

Among them are the people of the land whose ancestors have been here for hundreds of years. They include the Tongva, Chumash, Tataviam, and Acjachemem.  Read more about them here.

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Native American Women’s Talking Circle

First Women, First Tuesday, Gather at the Fire ~ Native American Women throughout the diocese come together on the first Tuesday of every month in a traditional Talking Circle under the arbor and around a fire on the roof of the Retreat Center at St. Paul’s Commons in Los Angeles..

Our mission engages and empowers women as leaders and active members of the community.  Biannually the women encounter each other on retreat engaging with specific issues and needs as Native American women These retreats are held in partnership with AICC and Native Ministry.  One retreat a year is held at the St. Paul’s Commons Retreat Center and the other at the Oaks on the Soboba Indian Reservation:

The Rev. Canon Mary Crist
mcristusa@gmail.com

South Asian Ministries

(Leadership team in transition.)

A growing segment of the Southern California population has cultural roots in South Asia, the region including the nations of Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. Opportunities for new ministry are present within the six-county Diocese of Los Angeles, which is well served by the ministries of Bishop Samuel Azariah, retired moderator of the Church of Pakistan now serving at St. Peter’s, Rialto, and his spouse, the Rev. Khushnud Azariah, recently retired rector of St. George’s, Riverside.

An article on Bishop Azariah’s ministry from The Episcopal News is here.

The Program Group on Global Partnership exists to deepen the mission of the Church in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and in the world, through accompaniment with overseas partners.  The Pakistan Committee of PGGP carries out the mandate of the 78th General Convention which “expresses solidarity and partnership with the Church in Pakistan. It calls for adequate protection for all religious minorities, an end to persecution, and redress for human rights violations in Pakistan.

The Pakistan committee of PGGP:

… educates others about life in Pakistan, in particular for religious minorities. In addition to seminars two groups from the Diocese of Los Angeles have taken pilgrimages to Pakistan.  See the articles in the Episcopal News by youth pilgrim Jade Lakin here, and by the Rev. Canon Pat McCaughan here and here.

… supports the Church of Pakistan and advocates for justice through letter writing.

See this article on Asia Bibi, a Christian who spent 10 years imprisoned and awaiting the death penalty on a false blasphemy charge again the Prophet Mohammed, until her recent acquittal. Her life continues to be endangered and she is unable to leave.

See the article on the young boy, Iqbal Masih, a child slave who became an activist against child labor. Masih was killed age 12 by the “carpet mafia” in Pakistan.  (You Tube: It Takes a Child).

Vietnamese Ministries

St. Anselm of Canterbury Church

13091 Galway Street, Garden Grove 92844
Phone: 714.537.0604
stanselmgg@aol.com

Sunday Services: 11:15 am Vietnamese

Clergy:
The Rev. Thomas Lee