California fires have destroyed at least a dozen houses of worship

Altadena Baptist Church before it was destroyed by the wildfires.(Photo: Facebook/Altadena Baptist Church)

A bell tower is all that remains of Altadena Baptist Church, founded by a Swedish congregation in the 1920s and now a racially diverse faith community.

About 15 families from the congregation also lost homes to the wildfires, said the Rev George Van Alstine, 88, who has been on staff at the church for more than 50 years.

Van Alstine said a vault containing the church's history was likely lost in the fire, including records from the church's earliest days.

He said congregations in the community — both Christian and non-Christian — have often worked together to serve their neighbours, including running the Altadena Congregations Serving Together food pantry, which had been housed across the street at Altadena Community Church and was also destroyed by wildfires.

Van Alstine said church members were gathering online Friday night to check in and to talk about how to help their neighbours and plan for the future. For right now, he said, they are taking things one day at a time.

"We're surviving," he said.

At least four wildfires are currently raging in Southern California, according to the Los Angeles Times. At least 24 people have been reported dead and more than 12,000 structures burned, including at least a dozen houses of worship. Among them are Pasadena Jewish Temple, Corpus Christi Catholic Church and at least 10 Protestant churches.

Other congregations suffered fire damage but were not completely lost, including Calvary Chapel in Pacific Palisades, where the sanctuary was damaged but not the entire campus.

"We probably lost the sanctuary and will have to rebuild it," Justin Anderson, who started as the church's pastor this week, posted on X. "But miraculously the rest of the property is nearly untouched."

Anderson told Religion News Service that the fire has been both devastating and unpredictable, with some homes and building destroyed and others spared, seemingly randomly. The church had planned to hold a meet up over the weekend for congregation members but had to postpone it because of the changing nature of the fire. Services at the weekend were to be held online and Anderson said he hopes to remind church members that God is still with them.

"We are not alone in this tragedy," he said. The church has also started a disaster fund to help those with the congregation and their neighbours. Anderson said that the congregation can be of help to other congregations and the broader community during this time.

A hermitage and other buildings at the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center were also lost to the fire, according to an update on the retreat centre's website.

"It makes complete sense to understand that our faith is tested on fire!" the centre's director wrote in an update. "But we are pilgrims of hope as Pope Francis exhorted us this year. Hope will not disappoint us. We will recover and be back serving you again."

Van Alstine said Altadena faith communities affected by the fire will continue to help their neighbours and will begin planning for the future in the days to come. For now, he said, the church office for Altadena Baptist will likely be based in his house. And he hopes church members will soon be able to get a look at the building firsthand.

He also said the bell in the church's tower was from a former church in Pasadena and was used for summoning volunteer firefighters in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The bell tower still standing symbolises that the church is not gone, Van Alstine said, even if the building has burned down.

"Maybe we should have somebody go up there Sunday and ring it," he said.

© Religion News Service