St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Eagle Rock, will house the St. Marks, Altadena Sunday Service
As San Gabriel Valley Episcopal congregations continue to unite in Eaton fire relief efforts, parishioners of St. Mark’s, Altadena – where some 30 parish families have lost their homes in addition to their church and school buildings – will begin holding Sunday-morning services at nearby St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church, Eagle Rock, on Jan. 19.
Rector Carrie Patterson Grindon, interviewed Jan. 14 on KCAL TV News, has extended the parish’s gratitude to the Rev. Canon Jaime Edwards-Acton, priest-in-charge at St. Barnabas, for the heartfelt invitation to hold services regularly in the Eagle Rock sanctuary, located at 2109 Chickasaw Ave. in northeast Los Angeles.
St. Barnabas Church – warmly known as “St. Be’s” – conducts its regular weekly worship service on Thursday evenings, which readily allows the sanctuary to be regularly available to the St. Mark’s parish community.
“There was already an existing kind of kinship between the two churches that began when St. Barnabas was resurrected for its new chapter some five years ago,” Edwards-Acton told The News, noting that Canon Suzanne Edwards-Acton suggested the invitation to St. Mark’s. “There seems to be a common creative energy and sense of ministry that the two communities share.
“When Carri and I talked, it felt like a no-brainer. I got the feeling that Carri was confident that her community would feel right at home immediately at St. Barnabas. And that filled my heart. I feel so lucky and blessed that our St. Barnabas community is able to play a role in St. Mark‘s literal rising from the ashes.”
Bishop John Harvey Taylor added his gratitude for the collaboration and “the Holy Spirit’s leading” that has allowed the Eagle Rock church to say to St. Mark’s, “Come on down; you’ve got a church on Sunday!”
Last Sunday, the bishop joined St. Mark’s online for a service via Zoom. His reflections on the service are here. Earlier that day, he attended the 8 a.m. Eucharist at St. Augustine by-the-Sea, Santa Monica, which welcomed parishioners of St. Matthew’s, Pacific Palisades, some 75% of whom have lost homes in the firestorm that claimed parish school buildings and two rectories but left the landmark church standing. See coverage here.
A young parishioner is baptized at Church of Our Saviour, San Gabriel, Jan. 12. Photo: Melissa McCarthy
Meanwhile, the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy joined Sunday worship at the Church of Our Saviour, San Gabriel, as the parish rallied to support four of its own families whose homes were lost or significantly damaged in the Eaton fire. Marking the annual feast of the Baptism of our Lord, the morning liturgy included rites of baptism for a young parishioner, a meaningful sign of faith as the congregation moves forward together, McCarthy said.
In northwest Pasadena, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church held services in their historic Fair Oaks Avenue sanctuary, rallying around four parish families that have lost their homes, and launching the ‘DENA online fund for fire relief donations.
At All Saints, Pasadena, with some 80 homes of congregants lost, Sunday services were held Jan. 12, and large-scale distribution of emergency items continued from the parish’s Sweetland Hall. The church campus had sheltered some 180 people overnight on Jan. 7 after the fire broke out.
In Sierra Madre, power has been restored at the historic Church of the Ascension, and the congregation is assisting neighbors without electricity.
To date, the Eaton fire has burned more than 14,000 acres and is at 45% containment after destroying more than 7,000 structures.