Bel Air Church (also known as Bel Air Presbyterian Church) is a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Its campus is located on

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...

in the Encino neighborhood.

History

The Bel Air Church was founded in 1956 in Los Angeles. The church is on the "Educational Corridor" on

, on a hill overlooking the San Fernando Valley. On

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

high holy days The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jewi ...

, The Church hosts services for the Stephen S. Wise Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation, which is in the same neighbourhood as Bel Air Church. In 2007, the church completed a $12 million campus expansion program, ''The Campaign for Bel Air: Phase I'', which included the two-story Education Building, Discipleship Center, and Administration Building, including staff offices overlooking the San Fernando Valley. The campus also has a full-service

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

. Former senior pastors include Louis H. Evans Jr., Mark Brewer, Michael H. Wenning, Paul Pierson, David G. McKechnie, Donn D. Moomaw, Michael Wenning, and Mark Brewer. Moomaw gave the invocation at President Ronald Reagan's first inauguration in 1981. He also gave the invocation at President Reagan's state funeral and presided over a private service for the family of First Lady Nancy Reagan before her state funeral at the Reagan Library. belairpresbyterianmainentrance

Drew Sams was officially ordained as the church's senior pastor and head of staff on April 13, 2014, where he joined Care Crawford, Kim Dorr-Tilley, and later Mike Morgan on the church's leadership team.

Congregation

Some notable members of the church include: *

Maria Shriver Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955) is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to ...

* Denzel Washington * Ronald Reagan * Nancy Reagan * Leonardo DiCaprio.

Activities

Bel Air Church helped found "Imagine LA", a mentorship program that matches families exiting homelessness with volunteer teams from faith communities, corporations, and other committed organizations. The church has an outreach department that partners with other

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...

organizations in Los Angeles. For over thirty years, the church has packed and distributed over 10,000 meals to those in need at

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

References

External links

*
Bel Air Church on FacebookBel Air Church InstagramBel Air Church YouTube
{{coord, 34.130581, -118.485296, display=title Presbyterian Church (USA) churches Presbyterian churches in California Churches in Los Angeles Christian organizations established in 1956 Presbyterian organizations established in the 20th century Bel Air, Los Angeles Megachurches in California Presbyterian megachurches in the United States