A Multicultural Church on Lincoln Avenue
First Presbyterian Church Altadena sits on Lincoln Avenue in the unincorporated community of Altadena, in the foothills north of Pasadena. The congregation calls itself "A Multicultural Church" and lives out a motto drawn from its mission study: "God's People Serving the World with Love and Faith in Action." The Clarion newsletter that has chronicled the congregation for decades is subtitled "Bridging the Centuries through Faith 1913 to 2025," a reminder that this is one of the older Japanese-American Presbyterian congregations in the San Gabriel Valley.
Sunday Worship at 10:30 a.m.
Worship is held every Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. at 2775 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001. Pastor Elizabeth serves as the congregation's pastor, with Rev. Peter Tan-Gatue assisting in worship leadership. The Sunday service follows the rhythms of the Reformed tradition, and worshipers typically gather in the Social Hall afterward for coffee and conversation. During Lent, a 5-Week Lenten Series led by Pete and Sue Morris meets in the Social Hall immediately following the morning service. A Deacons Coffee Hour is a regular part of Sunday fellowship, and Presbyterian Women host events such as a Cookie Exchange that bring the church family together around the table.
More Than a Century in the San Gabriel Valley
The church's story begins in 1913, when two Pasadena missions serving young Japanese men, one at the First Congregational Church (started around 1905 or 1906) and the other at the Friends Church, joined with four other local congregations to form a Federated Missions effort. The supporting churches, Central Christian, First Baptist, First Congregational, First Friends, Lake Avenue Congregational, and Pasadena Presbyterian, contributed leaders, funds, and space for a ministry that offered night school, dormitory housing, and Christian teaching to newcomers. The 23 charter members of the new Pasadena Japanese Union Church were mostly single men between 18 and 30 years old; many attended Pasadena High School, then located at Los Robles Avenue and Walnut Street.
The charter members, inscribed on a plaque placed in the sanctuary foyer in 1973 for the church's 60th anniversary, were Hajime Arima, Takesuke Chigami, K. Hashimura, Nihachi Hayashida, Heizaburo Iijima, Kenzo Iijima, Ryoji Kato, Makoto Kobukata, Hitoshi Makino, Nisuke Mitsumori, Yasohachi Miyawaki, Jiro Morita, Naonori Morita, Ryoichi Nishio, Nami Ohtomo, Yusaku Sato, Shigetaru Shiraishi, Kozo Tabuchi, Ichiro Takemura, Kuniyoshi Uchida, Kuzo Uyeda, Rokuro Watanabe, and Kensaku Yatsu. By the late 1980s, when former Clarion editor Ted Tajima wrote the congregation's 75th-anniversary history, Kensaku Yatsu, who had attended the 60th anniversary celebration, was 104 and still alert in a Seattle retirement home, the last of the founding generation. The church is now known as First Presbyterian Church Altadena, with a Clarion archive that traces more than a century of preaching in the San Gabriel Valley.
The Clarion Newsletter
The Clarion is the church's long-running print newsletter, currently edited by Donna Kiriyama-Gonzales and subtitled "Bridging the Centuries through Faith 1913 to 2025." Issues are shared at worship and listed by date on the church's calendar. A weekly Clarion gathering is held on Mondays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. to assemble each issue. The newsletter carries church news, announcements, photographs from events like the Fall Festival and Easter Egg Hunt, and reflections from the pastor and members. On Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m., a Worship Check-in meeting brings the team together from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. to plan the upcoming Sunday service. Both groups are long-standing rhythms on the church's weekly calendar.
Senior Programs: Sr Smarties and Keiro Grants
Senior life is a defining feature of First Presbyterian Church Altadena. The church's Senior Smarties programs run throughout the week, supported by Keiro, a grant-making organization that has renewed the church's senior funding for 2025 to 2026. The Friday Sr Smarties Exercise gathering meets from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and is one of several senior programs, which also include Senior Ceramics, All Things Glass (covering hot glass fusion, wind chimes, suncatchers, and stained glass), Senior Mosaics, and a long-running arts and crafts program that has produced crochet pieces, ceramic work, and mosaicked bird and dog houses built by hand in the woodshop and finished in class.
The Keiro Arts and Wellness Programs aim to promote "health/wellness, purpose, connectedness, security and autonomy" among the older adults in the community, the church says. A Special Caregivers Class has been offered as well, and regular birthday celebrations honor members reaching significant ages. The Senior Smarties program also includes a crafts component, a karaoke component, exercise sessions, and intergenerational events. The church hosts the Pasadena Nikkei Seniors program and partners with the local Japanese-American community on cultural activities and gatherings, offering a place where older Japanese-Americans in the area can find friendship, learning, and shared tradition.
Special Events Through the Year
Beyond the regular Sunday and weekday calendar, the church gathers for a number of seasonal celebrations. The annual Fall Festival brings together church members and friends over a spread that includes Ota Burgers, chili rice, hotdogs, nachos, shaved ice, Japanese pickled vegetables, and Spam musubi. A Kizuna Summer Camp and a Line Dancing Ondo Style Dance are recurring community traditions, and the church has hosted a cultural presentation by the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, learning about the indigenous history of the land on which the church sits. Christmas caroling and a Christmas Eve service round out the December calendar, and the church has also celebrated Mother's Day, Father's Day, and a number of intergenerational potlucks.
Wider Mission Work
The church's mission study bears the same motto that opens the Clarion, "God's People Serving the World with Love and Faith in Action." Members support a wide circle of programs beyond the church's own walls:
- Angel Interfaith Network and Project Angel
- Christmas Joy Offering
- One Great Hour of Sharing
- Pasadena Bad Weather Shelter at Covenant House Church
- Peacemaking and Global Witness Offering
- Retired Pastors and Spouses Fund
- Jeri Yuki Tanaka Scholarship Program
- Westminster Gardens
The Deacons have also volunteered at Union Station as part of the church's outreach work, and the church is a member of the wider San Gabriel Valley interfaith community.
Leadership
Pastor Elizabeth serves as the congregation's pastor, with Rev. Peter Tan-Gatue assisting in worship leadership. The Session, the church's governing body, includes Elders Bob Hayashi, Kevin Hayashi, Virginia Gin, Gini Ishida, Larry Jung, Dorothy Kirkland, Kathy Matsumoto, and Greg Middleton. The Board of Deacons includes Yumi Choi, Patti Gin, Donna Gonzales, Kelly Hokyo, Alison Lee, Peggy Lew, Jon Maeda, June Miyasaki, Ron Ota, and Carol Tomoyasu. A Stewards group and At-Large Members round out the lay leadership, supported by the many volunteers who keep the Senior Smarties programs, the Clarion, the food and fellowship events, and the Sunday worship running week after week.
Visiting First Presbyterian Church Altadena
Worship is held on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at 2775 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001. The church office is open Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the pastor and staff can be reached at (626) 791-4271 or altadenapresbyterian@gmail.com. A Wednesday afternoon check-in meeting, a Monday morning Clarion gathering, and a Friday senior exercise program are part of the regular weekly rhythm, and members of the church family are often found in the Social Hall following Sunday service for coffee, conversation, and intergenerational fellowship. Online giving is available through Zelle, sent to givefpca@gmail.com.