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Diocese of Los Angeles Dedicates Cathedral Center for the 21st Century

Episcopal News Service. December 14, 1994 [94194]

More than 1,700 people gathered at a festive dedication service October 22 for the new Cathedral Center of St. Paul, the ministry and administrative hub for the Diocese of Los Angeles.

Bishop Frederick Borsch spoke of the 100,000-square-foot, Mediterranean-style center as a 21st century understanding of cathedrals as a place of worship, prayer, service and hospitality. "Today we pray that the cathedral may be a place of God's righteousness and peace, of truth and mercy, coming together in God's love and reaching out to others," he said in his homily.

The new $13 million center, built on the site of the oldest congregation in the diocese, includes a 250-seat church that opens to a plaza overlooking Echo Park Lake, as well as a retreat center, diocesan offices and a wing dedicated to a variety of outreach ministries serving the six-county area of the diocese.

Outreach programs include a credit union, now receiving deposits from around the diocese, to assist in continuing economic recovery after the 1992 riots in South Central Los Angeles; a gang diversion program; a high school branch classroom; a food distribution center, and an outreach program to those living with HIV/AIDS.

The dedication was hailed in a Los Angeles Times editorial: "The spacious, graceful complex overlooking Echo Park Lake across a broad sweep of lawn, is a reminder of the enormous potential that this section of Los Angeles, five minutes from City Hall and the skyscrapers of downtown, retains. Borsch has given his far-flung diocese a new spiritual center and cast a bold vote of confidence in the future of the city."

A beacon for the city

"We want this place to be a beacon to the city of Los Angeles, so we can translate violence and poverty into the Gospel imperative that when you do it to the least of these, you do it to me," said Cathedral Center Provost Jon Bruno, who grew up in the neighborhood. He and his mother sought refuge from the rain in St. Athanasius Church on the site when he was five years old and returned as rector of the church in 1985, after a career as a professional football player and restaurant owner.

The former cathedral was irreparably damaged during a 1971 earthquake and demolished in 1980 and the congregation merged with St. Athanasius Church on the present site in 1986. Shortly after he was elected fifth bishop of the diocese in 1988, Borsch launched plans for a new center for diocesan life. Echo Park soon became the logical choice because it was a mixed neighborhood at the heart of the city and the new center could build on the highly respected outreach ministries of St. Athanasius.

While the striking new complex is modern and functional, the interiors of the central church and adjoining buildings incorporate historic art and furnishings from previous Los Angeles cathedrals and parish churches.