First Lutheran Church of Venice

First Lutheran Church of Venice is a congregation in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) founded in 1944 on the westside of Los Angeles. It serves the communities of Venice, Mar Vista, and Marina del Rey, and is in the Pacific Southwest District of the LCMS. The church offers both traditional and contemporary services and ran the First Lutheran School of Venice[1] a Lutheran elementary school on the Westside of Los Angeles established in 1948. After 70 years in the Venice community, the church decided to close the school in 2018.[2]

First Lutheran Church of Venice
Religion
AffiliationLutheran Church–Missouri Synod
DistrictPacific Southwest
LeadershipRev. John Palka
Location
LocationVenice, Los Angeles, California
Architecture
TypeChurch
StyleMission Revival
Website
flvenice.org/

With 331 members as of 2006, it is the third largest LCMS congregation in Los Angeles and the largest in its circuit, which includes churches in Beverly Hills, Inglewood and Santa Monica.

Venice is home to a thriving artistic community, and First Lutheran is described as "an 'art friendly' church" that hosts programs "looking at the divine through visual arts, readings and music."[3] Since 2001, the church has hosted a Masters in the Chapel music series which has featured performances by artists from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, and Los Angeles Master Chorale. The series began in the wake of the church's restoration efforts following a 1998 electrical fire which gutted the sanctuary, and concerts took advantage of the church's new "acoustically reverberant hall in which everything sounds entrancing."[4] The church's pipe organ, installed in 2004, was designed by the same builder of organs at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and is also featured in the musical events.

The church also features an exterior mural, Jesus Roller Skating with Friends in Venice Beach, created in 1997 by Ft. Maur Van Doorslaer, a Benedictine monk from St. Andrew's Abbey in the Antelope Valley.[5][6]

In an episode of Safe At Home, Orson Bean writes in a light vein about the decision of his wife Alley Mills to be baptized as an adult by the pastor of First Lutheran, where the couple had been attending services regularly for several years, and of walking down to the beach together with "Pastor Ken," to fulfill Ally's wish to be baptized within the waters of the Pacific Ocean.[7] For many years, Bean and Mills have played roles in the Church's annual production of A Christmas Carol; Bean plays Ebenezer Scrooge.[8]

References
  1. Los Angeles Residents' Guide. Explorer Publishing. 2008. p. 94. ISBN 978-9948858522.
  2. "First Lutheran Church of Venice to Close The Venice Lutheran School — After 70 Years of Service - Venice Update". Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  3. Stammer, Larry B. (7 October 2002). "Southern California File". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 421711485.
  4. Swed, Marc (1 May 2017). "Want to hear the real La La Land? Lend an ear to the L.A. composers of the Hear Now festival". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  5. Dart, John (4 October 1997). "Design by St. Andrew's Monk Inspires Venice Church Mural". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 421311741.
  6. Mai-Duc, Christine (10 February 2013). "Folksy plaques helped keep abbey funded". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 1285311898.
  7. Bean, Orson (2013). Safe At Home. Balboa Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-1452575292. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. Edwards, Shane (9 December 2015). "Orson Bean stages a kid-friendly 'Christmas Carol' in Venice". The Argonaut. Retrieved 27 November 2017.

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