a living Legacy

Where generations have gathered in faith and prayer.

A VISION REALIZED

The Church of the Angels was built under the direction of Frances Palliser Campbell-Johnston as a memorial to her husband, Alexander Robert Campbell-Johnston, who died in 1888. The cornerstone was laid on Easter Eve, April 20, 1889, and the church was consecrated later that year on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, September 29. Soon after its consecration, the church was designated The Bishop’s Chapel, serving as a chapel-of-ease to the pro-cathedral and as an ecclesiastical peculiar with a special status under the Bishop of Los Angeles.

Designed in the Victorian Gothic tradition by Arthur Edmund Street and adapted by Ernest Albert Coxhead with Arts and Crafts influences, the church was based on St. Mary’s Church in Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, England, though it is not an exact copy. Coxhead’s adaptation gave the smaller Pasadena church its own jewel-like character while preserving the Gothic spirit of its English inspiration.

Set within three acres, the chapel is faced with sandstone hauled from quarries in the San Fernando Valley. Red stone from the San Rafael Ranch, of which the Garvanza community was then a part, was incorporated into the structure. Inside, walls of red pressed brick rise to a redwood ceiling, giving the church a warmth and simplicity characteristic of its period.

The 44-foot stone tower houses an eight-day Seth Thomas clock that marks the hours on a bell suspended in the belfry. Nearby, a stone sundial set within a heart-shaped garden forms a memorial to Frances Campbell-Johnston, given by her sons.

PRESERVING the Church

The church has undergone three significant restorations since its construction. The original parquet floor of the nave was replaced after it became unsafe. Following the 1971 earthquake, structural damage required the tower to be shortened. In preparation for the church’s centennial in 1989, the building was strengthened and reinforced, and the bell tower was restored to its original height.

The Church of the Angels is a designated City of Pasadena Landmark and an early example of Late Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture. Pasadena’s historic context survey identifies it as the oldest known church building in Pasadena, noting its sandstone construction, red pressed-brick interior, redwood ceiling, and design by Street & Coxhead.

sacred art & furnishings

The great memorial window, depicting the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb on Easter morning, was designed and executed by Cox & Buckley of London and is regarded as a particularly fine example of the firm’s work.

The altar and chancel furnishings are veneered in olive wood from the grounds of Mission San Gabriel, donated by the Franciscan priests there. The carved English oak pulpit, resting on a base of white Portland stone, was erected to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the church’s consecration.

Near the entrance, the baptistry contains a font of Mexican alabaster. At its base, a kneeling child angel holding a cross was designed by W. R. Ingram and carved from Italian marble. The font itself was given by the workers who built the church.

The church remains remarkably intact and continues to serve the purpose for which it was built. Its architecture, furnishings, memorials, and historic organ remain part of the daily life of the parish.

The frank ROOSEVELT organ, Opus 433