A Parish on South San Gabriel Boulevard
St. Edmund's Episcopal Church sits on a leafy corner of South San Gabriel Boulevard at Huntington Drive in San Marino, a quiet residential community in the West San Gabriel Valley east of Pasadena. Founded in 1942 and now serving Altadena, Arcadia, Pasadena, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena and the surrounding communities, the parish describes itself as a Christ-centered worshiping community of care, dedicated to following the way of Jesus through deep inquisitive learning, love of neighbor, service to others and the fostering of community.
St. Edmund's is openly inclusive. The congregation welcomes people of every age, race, nationality, orientation, and gender identity, affirms members of the LGBTQ+ community as full participants at every level of leadership, and ordains and calls women to lead, teach, preach and administer the sacraments on an equal basis. Same-gender couples may be married in the church.
Sunday Worship at Eight and Ten
Two Sunday services of Holy Eucharist shape the life of the parish. The 8 AM service is held in the historic chapel and uses traditional language and prayers according to Rite I from the Book of Common Prayer. It is a quiet, spoken liturgy for those who like an earlier, more contemplative start to the day.
The 10 AM Choral Holy Eucharist takes place in the main church and follows Rite II and other contemporary sources, with hymns and anthems sung by the St. Edmund's Chancel Choir. Sunday School runs concurrently, and children rejoin their families in time for communion. Coffee Hour refreshments follow the service outdoors.
Both the 10 AM service is livestreamed on YouTube each week, with replays available afterward. Anyone unable to attend in person can follow the full printed bulletin along with the livestream.
Each Wednesday at 12:15 PM, a brief spoken Holy Eucharist is offered in the chapel, lasting about half an hour. Holy Week, Principal Feasts, and Days of Special Devotion bring additional services throughout the church year, including the Great Vigil of Easter, Maundy Thursday with foot washing, Good Friday liturgy and Stations of the Cross, and Christmas services that range from a family Christmas Eve Eucharist with a live petting zoo and Nativity pageant to a candlelit late service with the Modern Brass Quintet.
The St. Edmund's Organ and Choir
Music is one of the strongest signatures of the parish. The Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, Opus 1323, was installed in 1957 and was restored and enlarged by Rosales Organ Builders beginning in 2007, growing from 34 to 44 ranks and adding a Vox Humana, Cymbelstern, and 32' Pedal Cornet in 2012. The dedication recital was played by the international concert organist Stephen Tharp on November 2, 2008, and St. Edmund's has hosted recitals, master classes and scholarship competitions for the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Since 2009, the parish has presented a Sunday Afternoon Organ Recital Series at 4 PM on selected Sundays, drawing recitalists from across Southern California. A free-admission offering funded by Friends of Music, each recital is followed by a reception for the artist.
The St. Edmund's Choir performs at the 10 AM liturgy and is supported by four professional soloists who sing regularly with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Opera, alongside dedicated volunteer singers. The choir's main concert of the year is the Festival of Advent Lessons and Carols, which brings guest singers from the LA Opera Chorus and Master Chorale to weave beloved Anglican hymns and anthems with readings from the Bible.
A Handbell Choir performs at Christmas Eve and Easter liturgies and at other select occasions. The three octaves of handbells were refurbished, and a fourth octave was added in 2014.
Children, Youth, and the Nursery School
St. Edmund's has long taken the formation of young people as a central calling. The parish operates St. Edmund's Nursery School, established in 1957 by parishioners eager to provide a caring, Christian environment for the educational formation and nurture of young children.
For elementary-age children, the Joyful Noise Sunday School program uses Godly Play, a Montessori-based approach that incorporates storytelling, wonder, art, and play to introduce children to the rhythms of Episcopal worship, Scripture and the way of Jesus. Older children help facilitate storytelling and art projects, and the children return to the congregation in time for the Eucharist. Sofia Nava leads Godly Play, and the Associate Rector, the Rev. Susanne Wright-Nava, oversees the children's ministry.
Middle and high school youth meet as a Youth Group once a month on Sunday afternoons for fellowship, faith-based discussion, creative expression, practical skills and contemplative practices, with occasional Friendsgiving communal meals and service projects. The parish dreams that each young person will move on into adulthood with a deep sense of their own belovedness and a profound sense of mission. All baptized youth in sixth grade and older are also welcome to serve as acolytes, with trainings held several times throughout the year.
Following Jesus Together as Adults
The parish's Adult Formation program gathers people around study, prayer and shared meals. Education for Ministry (EfM), a small-group theological education program offered by the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, meets on Mondays at 5:45 PM in the library and on Tuesdays at 5 PM online or in person. EfM groups read and study the Bible, church history and theology under the guidance of an experienced mentor.
Dine and Discover, a popular series of Wednesday evening classes with dinner, explores the Anglican way through concepts of Anglican spirituality and history. Candlelight Contemplation evenings introduce the practice of contemplative prayer and meditation in the church. A Taize-style service of prayer, meditation and silence is offered during Lent. Education for Ministry and other programs have been hosted both in person and via Zoom, opening the parish's formation life to those who cannot easily attend on campus.
Local and Global Partnerships
St. Edmund's lives out its mission through a wide network of partnerships. Locally, the parish supports Hillsides, an Episcopal institution that provides residential and outpatient care for abused, abandoned and neglected children; Union Station, an organization dedicated to helping homeless individuals integrate into society; the Pasadena Bad Weather Shelter, which offers overnight shelter and dinner to homeless families and singles during winter months; and the Foothill Unity Center, which distributes food to families in the area.
The Holy Ghost Kitchen uses the parish kitchen as a ghost kitchen, with volunteers preparing and delivering meals to neighbors experiencing food insecurity. A monthly food drive collects non-perishable food, hygiene products and grocery gift cards for the Foothill Unity Center, and the parish's Alternative Christmas Faire invites members to give a charitable gift in someone's name to one of these local or international partners.
Internationally, St. Edmund's supports Episcopal Relief and Development and the Global Episcopal Mission Network, and maintains a companion relationship with the Anglican Diocese of El Salvador. The parish partners with Cristosal, a foundation working on human rights and community development in Central America. Healing Hearts Across Borders, an organization founded by the late Dr. Kevin Lake, a former parishioner, sends teams of physicians, dentists, nurses, clergy and translators quarterly to Tijuana to serve more than 700 people per visit at a community near the city's dump site.
The parish contributes an annual Mission Share Pledge of more than $50,000 to the Diocese of Los Angeles in support of diocesan mission and ministry.
Weddings, Funerals, and the Building
The historic chapel and the main church serve as settings for the liturgies that mark a lifetime. The parish hosts weddings for members and non-members alike, walking couples through a Wedding Guide and Application that explores everything from the theology of Christian marriage to the practical details of rehearsal, music and photography. Same-gender couples are warmly welcomed to marry in the church.
The church also prepares funerals and memorial services, drawing on the Prayer Book's Burial Office and walking families through the liturgy, the music, and the readings that will shape the service. Clergy are available for formal Confession by appointment during Holy Week and throughout the year.
The campus is open to the wider community through a Venue Reservations and Building Usage program, with spaces that can be reserved for gatherings large and small. The music rooms, library, Parish Hall, and Cowans Room are among the spaces that host everything from organ recitals and Sunday afternoon receptions to Al-Anon meetings on Monday evenings.
An Inclusive and Affirming Parish
St. Edmund's describes itself as an inclusive church in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, where all people can come together to respond to God's goodness and love made known in creation, where all are invited to new and abundant life in Jesus Christ, where all can serve one another in prayer and hope, and where all seekers are welcome to learn and share their talents and gifts.
The parish seeks to recognize and honor the image of God in people of every age, race, nationality, orientation and gender identity. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are invited to receive all the church's sacraments on an equal basis and are encouraged to exercise their gifts of ministry at every level of leadership, and women lead, teach, preach, pray and administer the sacraments on an equal basis.
Getting Connected
The Rev. Dr. Jenifer M. Chatfield serves as the eighth Rector of St. Edmund's, having been installed on November 20, 2021, the Feast of Saint Edmund. The Rev. Susanne Wright-Nava serves as Associate Rector. Robert Hovencamp is Organist and Choirmaster. Liz Westphal directs the Nursery School, and Sofia Nava leads Godly Play. The parish office can be reached at office@saintedmunds.org or (626) 793-9167, and Sunday sermons are available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and other major platforms, alongside a second podcast called Sacred Musings that explores Christianity for everyday life.