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Episcopal Church appeals for support as fires continue to burn in Los Angeles

13 January 2025

At least 25 people are known to have died, and still more are missing

Alamy

Firefighters study damage at St Mark’s Episcopal Church after it was destroyed by the Eaton fire, last Friday

Firefighters study damage at St Mark’s Episcopal Church after it was destroyed by the Eaton fire, last Friday

AT LEAST 25 people are known to have died, and 30 more are missing, in the wildfires that continue to burn around Los Angeles.

Winds picked up again on Tuesday, and officials have warned of “extreme fire risk” as the blazes enter their second week. The fires have already consumed an estimated 40,000 acres.

At least 12,000 buildings — including churches, places of worship, rectories, and two church schools — have been destroyed; and 90,000 people remain under an evacuation order.

In a video posted on YouTube, the Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Revd John H. Taylor, urged people to pray and to respond with generosity to an appeal for those who have lost everything. Offers of support had already begun to pour in from all over the region, and from other parts of the Episcopal Church, he said. There had been “losses too great to bear, yet light always shines in the shadows”.

To the diocese, he said: “I give thanks for your courage, your fortitude, your faith, and for your love. In emergencies such as this — and this is an epochal generational event for our diocese . . . we reclaim our oneness in Christ. We gather at the foot of the cross and we enfold one another in our arms and in prayer; and we pledge to continue to glorify God and to care for one another, especially those most at risk and most in need.”

All money from the diocesan annual appeal would go towards fire relief, and the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund had also promised support, he said.

Three fires were continuing to burn on Wednesday. The largest fire, Palisades, which has burnt through more than 23,000 acres, was said by firefighters to be 17 per cent contained.

The second biggest fire, Eaton, had burnt through more than 14,000 acres, and was 35 per cent contained. A third, smaller fire was 97 per cent contained.

AlamyThe remains of Altadena Community Church, on Saturday

The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has said that he thinks this will be the worst natural disaster in the country “in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope”.

A preliminary estimate has put the cost of the damage between $135 billion (£111.5 billion) and $150 billion (£124 billion).

The Los Angeles Times reported that at least 11 churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques have been totally destroyed in the series of fires ravaging the area.

Already known to have been destroyed is St Mark’s Episcopal Church and School in Altadena, which was burned to the ground on Wednesday. The school had 325 students. At least 40 members of the congregation had lost their homes, the Rector, the Revd Carri Grindon, said.

On Saturday, however, the ordination of Michael Mischler as priest went ahead in St John’s Cathedral. Mrs Grindon said: “In the midst of our devastating losses, a little joy crept in. Because our St Mark’s banner was lost in the fire, a new one was created for the occasion, and, before the closing procession, Bishop Taylor called us all forward to stand with him as he blessed the banner. The tenderness and the resilience of our beautiful Church was palpable.”

In her Sunday-sermon online, she said: “Whether you’re in hotels or Airbnbs, driving in your car, staying in the homes of family or friends, or strangers who aren’t strangers any more, the bonds among us are bonds that cannot be severed. We are the latest in a long list of God’s people put on the road by disaster and displacement. We are still one in love. We are still one in Christ.”

Other churches have been offering sanctuary to communities driven from their homes, for respite or as gathering spaces for church groups. All Saints’, Pasadena, housed more than 180 people overnight. Other churches have been supporting fire response, with St Edmund’s handing over blankets and sleeping bags to exhausted firefighters.

AlamyA man walks in front of the blazing Altadena Community Church, in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday

Pasadena Jewish Temple and Centre has been burnt down, but its Torah scrolls were saved. “There’s absolutely nothing except for a few walls and the empty space,” the centre’s director, Melissa Levy, said.

St Matthew’s, in Pacific Palisades, another area where blazes have been raging for days, has been badly damaged, and its school has been destroyed. The diocese is working on a plan to find a temporary home for the 334 students there.

The school and church believe that at least 75 per cent of their members have lost their homes in the Palisades fire.

In Pacific Palisades, Corpus Christi RC Church was destroyed, but Fr Andrew Hedstrom later posted on X: “Happy to announce that a captain with the LAFD found the tabernacle, Eucharist and all, intact and unscathed in the ruins of the parish.”

“God’s will has nothing to do with this fire,” Bishop Taylor said. “God’s will is urgently desiring that people come together and devote themselves to each other’s healing.”

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, sent a message of condolence to Los Angeles: “Amid feelings of helplessness, we assure you that you are not alone. May you draw strength from God and from all who are praying for you, and for those working tirelessly to respond and to stem the devastation. May strength and peace be given to you during this time and as you recover from this disaster.”


This story was updated on 16 January

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