A House on Euclid Since 1883
All Saints Church sits just east of Pasadena City Hall, at 132 N. Euclid Avenue, on a campus that has belonged to the parish for more than a century. It is the oldest Episcopal congregation in the city, founded in 1883 by members who had begun meeting three years earlier in a private home. The first chapel went up among orange groves at Garfield Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in 1885; the parish moved to its present Euclid Avenue site in 1889, and the current stone sanctuary was completed in December 1924. The church was built of stone quarried from Bouquet Canyon in Southern California, roofed in Vermont slate, and finished with floor tiles made by Ernest Batchelder, the leading tile maker of his day. The interior still carries an early-twentieth-century decorative program, including a suite of Tiffany and Judson Studio windows.
All Saints is a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, one of 147 congregations in that diocese and part of The Episcopal Church, the United States province of the Anglican Communion. Long before progressive Episcopalian identity became a familiar label, All Saints built a reputation for welcoming LGBTQ+ members and for prophetic, justice-focused preaching. The community still describes itself around four values: Radical Inclusion, Courageous Justice, Joyful Spirituality, and Ethical Stewardship. The mission statement, offered in English and Spanish, frames the parish as one walking with a revolutionary Jesus, loving without judgment, doing justice courageously, embracing life joyfully, and reverently inviting all faiths and peoples into relationship.
Sunday Worship at the Corner of Euclid and Walnut
The Sunday schedule is built around two Eucharistic services. At 7:30 a.m., a spoken Holy Eucharist is celebrated in the Chapel. At 10:00 a.m., the principal service takes place in the main church with the Coventry Choir. The 10:00 service is also livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook, with a Zoom option available for the earlier service. After the 10:00 liturgy, a coffee hour gathers on the lawn. A Family Room is open during the morning hours for parents and caregivers of babies and toddlers, and childcare is offered for younger children during the services. The Welcome Table, set up on the quad lawn, hands out information and helps newcomers find their way.
Worship is liturgical and follows the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, but the music and preaching give the parish a distinctive voice. The Coventry Choir anchors the 10:00 liturgy and performs a wide repertoire, from Renaissance polyphony and hymns to contemporary choral settings. Jazz Vespers, held several times a year, brings jazz musicians onto the chancel for an evening service. The Music Ministry also oversees children's and youth choirs and supports the Coventry Choir through the year.
Midweek and Weekday Prayer
Beyond Sunday morning, the Chapel hosts a steady rhythm of weekday prayer and reflection. Wednesday Noon Eucharist and Healing Service gathers in the Chapel at 12:10 p.m. for a reflective Eucharist followed by prayers for healing. On Monday evenings at 6:45, Monday Night Meditation offers two 20-25 minute periods of silent sitting with walking meditation in between, led by long-time practitioner Betty Cole and open to beginners as well as experienced meditators from Buddhist, Catholic, Anglican and other traditions. Centering Prayer meets on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom under the leadership of Carol Hekman and Michelle Gavigan. Biweekly Wednesday evenings feature Taizé Prayers Around the Cross, a quiet service of simple chants in different languages, readings, and silence, focused on Christ and the cross.
The parish also maintains a Labyrinth ministry on the grounds and offers a Lay Eucharistic Visitors program that brings communion to members who cannot attend in person. A Recovery Eucharist is offered periodically as a worship service rooted in twelve-step spirituality.
A Cathedral of Giving: Pastoral Care and Recovery
Pastoral Care at All Saints is structured around the conviction that, at one time or another, everyone can use a little care. Lay volunteers and clergy visit the homebound, bring communion to those who are sick or grieving, and sit with people during difficult transitions. A member of the pastoral staff is on call around the clock at (626) 298-9551 for emergencies outside office hours. Healing at the Rail offers prayer and anointing during services; the Prayer Shawl Ministry knits and prays over shawls that are then given to people in need of comfort; and a Spiritual Direction program pairs members with trained directors for one-on-one conversation. Circle of Life, a support group for those caring for elderly loved ones, meets regularly alongside the Grief and Loss Support Group that gathers on Monday evenings both in person and on Zoom.
Twelve-step life has long been part of the parish's identity. All Saints hosts a dense network of recovery meetings that are open to the wider community. Tuesdays bring Recovery & Grace (a meditation-and-speaker meeting sponsored by L.A. CADA) and, on the first, third, and fifth Tuesdays, a Tony A. study meeting of Adult Children of Alcoholics Anonymous. Sex Addicts Anonymous meets on Friday evenings, and Overeaters Anonymous gathers both Sunday afternoons and Saturday mornings in the OCC Conference Room. Seeking Healthy Faith is a monthly small group for people who have had harmful religious experiences and are looking for a healthier relationship with faith.
Children, Youth, and Families
The Children, Youth & Families program serves families with children from birth through twelfth grade and describes itself as radically inclusive of all abilities, races, genders, family shapes, immigration and housing statuses, economic stations, and ages. Children's Ministry, for birth through fifth grade, includes Children's Chapel (a Godly Play style program during the 10:00 service) and Sunday morning formation. Youth Ministry, for grades six through twelve, gathers for a weekly dinner on Wednesday evenings followed by Youth Group. Confirmation preparation for grades nine through twelve uses a curriculum called Confirm not Conform and walks students through Scripture, sacraments, creeds, prayer, and questions of belief; youth may choose at the end of the year whether to be confirmed. The Children's & Youth Music program, directed by Jenny Tisi, weaves choir and music literacy into the life of both groups.
Adults interested in joining All Saints are invited to the Getting Connected Class, a five-week introduction to the parish's mission, values, history, and ministries, offered several times a year. The class is open to newcomers and to long-time members who want a refresher.
Peace and Justice Work
All Saints frames its public witness as the practical outworking of its baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being. The Peace & Justice department gathers ten ongoing ministries. The Rapid Response Team mobilizes parishioners to respond quickly to local crises. The Committee to End Gun Violence works on policy and education around firearms. EDEN, the Environmental Defense of Earth Now group, organizes around creation care and environmental justice. The Foster Care Project supports children and families navigating the foster system, and the Interfaith Study Group opens doors between All Saints and other religious communities in greater Los Angeles. Monday Food Ministry distributes food to neighbors experiencing hunger; Middle East Ministry focuses on Palestinian and Israeli peacemaking; Racial Justice Ministry organizes study, dialogue, and action; Transformational Journeys leads pilgrimage-style trips that connect worship with social engagement; and the Alternative Christmas Market redirects holiday giving toward nonprofits working locally and globally.
The parish also hosts weekly Showers of Hope on Mondays, providing showers and free haircuts to anyone who walks in. A Mobile Clinic brings free medical services onto the parking lot several Mondays each month, and a monthly Safe Haven Community Meeting on the quad links parishioners with unhoused neighbors and the staff of All Saints' Safe Haven program. The parish keeps an Eaton Fire recovery page compiling resources and updates for community members affected by the 2025 fire in nearby Altadena.
Telling the Whole Story
One of the most distinctive internal projects at All Saints is called Telling the Whole Story, an ongoing effort to acknowledge three chapters of the parish's history that have not always been told. The first is a Land Acknowledgement recognizing that All Saints sits on Tovaangar, the ancestral homeland of the Tongva people, and committing to reparative action. The second confronts the parish's complicity in Jim Crow era segregation and the founding of St. Barnabas Church, an African American congregation that grew out of exclusion at All Saints. The third examines the whiteness of the iconography in the sanctuary; three new icons have already been added to broaden the representation in the building.
The project's name comes from Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows's instruction that the church has to tell the whole story in order to write a new one. All Saints frames this work as sacramental reconciliation, a process of self-examination, confession, repentance, amendment of life, and absolution. The work feeds directly into the parish's stated values of Courageous Justice and Ethical Stewardship.
LGBTQ+ Ministry and the Wider Welcome
All Saints has been an LGBTQ+ welcoming and affirming congregation for decades and treats that identity as central rather than incidental. The LGBTQ+ Ministry describes its mission as building a safe and diverse community, providing an affirming space for exploring sexual and gender identity alongside faith, and pushing Radical Inclusion both within the parish and in the wider world. A weekly Sharing Small Group meets on Tuesday evenings for conversation and mutual support, and a social hour for trans members and friends follows the 10:00 Sunday service. The Talk, a monthly podcast hosted by ministry co-leads Thomas Diaz and Hannah Earnshaw, features LGBTQ+ voices from across the Episcopal Church and beyond. The parish was a founding sponsor of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP), which holds its annual Rev. George Regas Courageous Peacemaker Awards at All Saints each year. Recipients have included the Poor People's Campaign, Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, among many others.
Sacraments, Milestones, and the Columbarium
The parish celebrates the full sacramental life of the Episcopal Church. Baptisms are offered throughout the year on designated Sundays and at the Easter Vigil, with instruction required for parents and godparents. Confirmation, both for youth in grades nine through twelve and for adults, prepares candidates for the laying on of hands by a visiting bishop. Weddings at All Saints are planned in close conversation with the clergy; a Wedding FAQ and a Wedding Request Form are available. Memorial services are arranged through the Memorial Service Request Form, and a memorial reception is often part of the day. The All Saints Columbarium on the campus offers a sacred place of inurnment, with both new niches and pre-purchased options handled by the parish staff.
Music, Art, and a Campus That Doubles as a Sound Stage
The Music Ministry at All Saints is led by Director of Music and Organist-Choirmaster Dr. Weicheng Zhao, with Grace Chung serving as Associate Organist-Choirmaster. The Coventry Choir is central to the principal Sunday liturgy, and the children's and youth choirs give younger members a place in the church's musical life. Recurring programs like Jazz Vespers draw in renowned guest artists, and the parish collaborates with the Artists' Guild, a community of artists who share their work and lead workshops.
The All Saints campus has also been a working film location for more than thirty years. The 1924 sanctuary with its Batchelder tile, Tiffany and Judson Studio windows, gothic outdoor setting, banquet room, lecture halls, and on-site parking has hosted numerous film and television productions. A dedicated Film Office coordinates requests and provides floor plans, room measurements, and logistics for crews.
Adult Education, Reading, and Writing
Faith and Formation, the Sunday morning adult education program at 9:00 a.m. in the Guild Room, gathers parishioners for conversation and reflection on a wide range of topics, from theology and politics to art, science, and social justice. Education for Ministry (EfM), a four-year program from the University of the South in Sewanee, meets on Tuesday mornings during the academic year, exploring Hebrew Scripture, Christian Scriptures, church history, and theology. Smaller literary and creative groups add to the texture of parish life: a Writers Group, a Fiction Fun! book club, and Poetry Hour gatherings give members a place to share work and read together.
Accessibility and Radical Welcome in Practice
The Accessibility Ministry operates on the conviction that full inclusion requires constant advocacy. The parish provides reserved accessible parking in the North Lot, an induction loop and T-coil in the church, assistive listening devices and printed sermon copies, sign language interpretation at one of the Sunday services, large print liturgies, gluten-free communion wafers, ramp access, an elevator to the Forum and Learning Center, a wheelchair lift to the chancel, automatic push-plate doors, accessible seating areas, and a wheelchair-accessible restroom in the OCC trailer. The Ministry Leader, Edie Hovey, and staff contact Ashley Hengst coordinate this work.
Giving, Volunteering, and Getting Involved
All Saints is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and depends on the generosity of its members to sustain its ministries. Giving options include one-time and recurring online gifts, employer matching, stock transfers, IRA qualified charitable distributions, planned giving, and automatic bank payments. Pledge payments and flower dedications and memorial gifts can be made online as well. Volunteer opportunities range across worship, hospitality, children and youth, behind-the-scenes support, and the annual Alternative Christmas Market; a Volunteer Handbook guides newcomers.
Those who want to plug into the parish can start with the Connect Card, attend the Getting Connected Class, drop by the Welcome Table on Sunday, or simply show up for one of the many weekday groups. Sunday offices are open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with weekday office hours Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Friday from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and additional times by appointment.
An Episcopal Presence in Downtown Pasadena
From its adobe of stone and stained glass on Euclid Avenue, All Saints continues to combine Episcopal liturgy with progressive social engagement. The parish sees itself as a community where inclusion is expected, where people of all faiths are welcomed, and where the capacity for diverse and dynamic celebrations of God's inclusive love is continually stretched. In the words of its own welcome, whoever a person is and wherever they find themselves on the journey of faith, there is a place for them at the table.