The church was designed by Los Angeles architect Chauncey Fitch Skilling, in what architectural critic Sam Hall Kaplan described as "a splendid example of the soaring French GothicRevival style, with an exterior marked by a stained-glass rose window above the entry and an interior of beam trusses, columns and arches, a carved wood pulpit, chandeliers and oak furnishings."[4] The building is distinguished by its 205 foot tall corner tower and traditionally-decorated stained glass made by the Dixon Art Glass company, as well as more contemporary glass designs from Judson Studios.[5]
Ministry
The current church building is one of the very large churches that were erected along Wilshire Boulevard in the 1920s to serve their largely wealthy, overwhelmingly white congregations. At its peak in 1943, Immanuel Presbyterian had 4,300 members making use of its 200 rooms, athletic facilities, art and performance studios, seven meeting halls, kitchen, dining room, and 2,000-seat sanctuary. William S. Meyer, who was pastor of the church from 1950 until his retirement in 1974, was credited with keeping membership around the 4,000 level during his tenure, even as other nearby churches declined in the wake of neighborhood changes,[6] but by 1987 membership had fallen to about 800.[7] The church has continued its efforts to address the diverse and changing nature of its neighborhood; for example, Frank Alton, who was pastor from 1995 to 2010, drew attention for his willingness in 2001 to allow a Salvadoran Catholic group to display a life-size statue of Jesus at the church, despite the traditional Presbyterian aversion to religious icons.[8] Immanuel initiated worship services in Spanish in 1995,[9] and later was noted for its pioneering efforts in conducting bilingual services, rather than separate services for each language group in the congregation.[10]
In 1908, Dr. Hugh K. Walker of Immanuel Presbyterian Church gave the dedication sermon for Westminster Presbyterian Church (Los Angeles), believed to be the first African American Presbyterian congregation on the West Coast, according to the Los Angeles Times.[11]
^Stuart Cohn, "The Roots of Opera in Church", Los Angeles Times, January 12, 1997 ("Immanuel Presbyterian, on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Berendo Avenue, was matched as closely as possible to the music. . . . Its dramatic, almost exaggerated verticality, with a 205-foot tower and an 80-foot vaulted sanctuary ceiling, approximates the style of France's Beauvais Cathedral, where the surviving version of "Daniel and the Lions" was transcribed between 1227 and 1234.")