Church of the Open Door

The Church of the Open Door is a non-denominational Christian Evangelical church in Glendora, California.

History

Biola's former Los Angeles building: under construction (top) and complete in 1916 (bottom).

The church was founded in 1915 by R. A. Torrey.[1] The services were held at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (Biola University), in a 4,000 seat auditorium.[2][3] [4]

The church relocated to Glendora, California in 1985.[1] The original downtown church building was demolished in the late 1980s. Despite efforts led by the late William Eugene Scott to prevent the building from being sold to developers and to have the building saved as a historic landmark, the building could not be saved.[5] It was so damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake that it was declared unsafe and the cost of repairs deemed prohibitive.[6] One of the two historic "Jesus Saves" signs from the original building can now be seen atop the Ace Hotel Los Angeles. It was demolished in 1988.[7] It was relocated there by the late William Eugene Scott who took it with him when his church (Los Angeles University Cathedral) relocated following the earthquake.[8]

In 2015, David Anderson became Pastor.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Dart, John (1985-06-24). "Church of the Open Door Closes Them : Downtown Congregation Marks Move to Suburbs After 70 Years". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
  2. ^ "R. A. Torrey Biographies - Christian Biography - Wholesome Words". www.wholesomewords.org. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
  3. ^ Edward, Martin, Roger (1975). The theology of R.A. Torrey (Thesis). Asbury Theological Seminary.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Atwood, Rudy (1970). The Rudy Atwood Story. Old Tappan, New Jersey: Revell. pp. 75 and 115. OCLC 90745.
  5. ^ Harris, Scott (1988-02-18). "Hard-to-Unload 'Jesus Saves' Church Changes Ownership Twice in One Day". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
  6. ^ Harris, Scott (1987-10-22). "Did Quake Doom 'Jesus Saves' Church? : Claims of Serious Structural Damage Denied by Preservationists". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
  7. ^ Cory Stargel and Sarah Stargel, Early Downtown Los Angeles, Arcadia Publishing, 2009, ISBN 0738570036, p. 36.
  8. ^ "Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles: The Story of an L.A. Icon". Discover Los Angeles. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
  9. ^ Jacobs, Lindy (2015). "The Ed Underwood Interview". oregonchristianwriters.org. Retrieved 2018-11-17.

34°09′03″N 117°52′41″W / 34.150926°N 117.877952°W / 34.150926; -117.877952


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