St. James' Episcopal Church, or St. James' in-the-City, as it is commonly called, to distinguish it from the St. James' Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, is a historic Episcopal church, located in the

Wilshire Center Wilshire Center is a neighborhood in the Central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Wilshire Center is roughly bounded by Melrose Avenue on the north, Virgil Avenue and Hoover Street on the east, Wilton Place and Crenshaw Bouleva ...

area of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, between

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

and Hancock Park. St. James' in-the-City Episcopal Church is part of the

Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is a community of 48,874 Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopalians in 133 congregations, 36 schools, and six service institutions, spanning all of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles, Orange Cou ...

History

The first services at St. James' were held in 1908. The St James' parish was established in 1912. The Rev. Noel Porter was the first rector. The first church was located 1.5 miles southeast of the current building, at Pico and Ardmore Boulevards. In 1914, Los Angeles Boy Scout Troop 10, the oldest continuously-sponsored

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

troop in the United States, was founded under the parish's auspices and remains under its sponsorship today. In 1916, the congregation moved to a larger building farther north, at the corner of Western Avenue and Monette Place. The early parish boundaries stretched from Western Avenue to the Pacific Ocean but moved inland later when new Episcopal parishes were founded in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

, Westwood and the Pacific Palisades. The current church building was designed by Benjamin McDougall, a renowned

San Francisco Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

architect, in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, and built in 1925-26 on a lot on Wilshire Boulevard, bought originally by The Rev. Ray Miller. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete with a stucco overlay. The roof of the church is 60 feet high at its highest point; the bell tower is 100 feet high. The ceiling of the church is structured with

redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

beams and trusses to resemble the inside of a ship's

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

. The floor is paved with ceramic tiles that bear the same

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

motif as the floors of the nearby Immanuel Presbyterian Church. The building's richly colored stained glass windows were created by

Judson Studios Judson Studios is a fine arts studio specializing in stained glass located in the Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, Highland Park section (also known as Garvanza, Los Angeles, California, Garvanza) of northeast Los Angeles, California, Los ...

over many years, from 1932 to the present. Besides traditional religious scenes of saints and biblical figures, the windows depict motives symbolic of the times when the windows were installed: a movie camera, the Apollo moonwalk,

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

lanes, downtown Los Angeles skyline, the Korean flag, Latino immigrants. In 1965, the funeral of

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

who was a parishioner of St. James’, took place at the church, and was attended by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...

, and other prominent people. In 1994, a new parish hall and office complex, designed by architect Johannes Van Tilburg, was added to the church, and a

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

was built in the chapel.

School

In September 1968, the parish opened St. James’ Episcopal School, to provide elementary education for families in the parish neighborhood. Over the years, the school expanded to a K-6 school to include also

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

classes. In 1981, the school moved to its current location on St. Andrews Place, directly north of the church.

Organ

The church houses a rebuilt 1911 Murray M. Harris organ that replaced an earlier 1926 Kimball organ. The Murray Harris

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was acquired from St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles where it had been kept in storage after the church's demolition in 1980 due to earthquake damage. The organ was extensively restored and rebuilt, and arrived at St. James’ in April of 1995. The restored organ has approximately 5,000 pipes, 50 divisions, 3 manuals and 66 stops. In memory of David Falconer who spearheaded the acquisition project as the choirmaster at St. James’ from 1983 until his murder in 1994, the organ is named ''David John Falconer Memorial Organ''.

Performance and filming venue

The church's sanctuary has been used as a concert venue for choral performances in the church's ''Great Music'' programming, for organ recitals in the church's ''International Laureates Organ Series'', and for the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

''Sundays Live'' chamber music programming, broadcast live by

KUSC KUSC (91.5 FM broadcasting, FM; "Classical California™ KUSC") is a listener-supported european classical music, classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and ope ...

. St. James' church has also been featured in music videos for Tyrese and

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

, in television pilots and TV shows, such as Germany's

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and

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, and in the films

Death Becomes Her ''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical surrealistic black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan. The film stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, a ...

and

End of Days End of days may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''End of Days'' (film), a 1999 supernatural film * '' Carnival: At the End of Days'', an upcoming fantasy film Music * '' The End of Days'', a 2010 album by Abney Park * ''En ...

. File:St James' Episcopal Church (Los Angeles) (0).jpg, A view across Wilshire Boulevard File:St James' Episcopal Church (Los Angeles) (11).jpg, Church sign File:St James' Episcopal Church (Los Angeles) (12).jpg, Courtyard File:St James' Episcopal Church (Los Angeles) (8).jpg, Church door File:St James' Episcopal Church (Los Angeles) (2).jpg, A view across St Andrews Place

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James' Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, California Episcopal church buildings in Los Angeles Episcopal church buildings in California Churches completed in 1925 20th-century Episcopal church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in California Individual pipe organs in the United States