My Observations of Churches Around Skid Row

Central City Community Church of the Nazarene (CCCC), where Rev. Jeff Thomas is the senior pastor, is the most established community church in Skid Row. CCCC was started about 15 years ago by a Anglo urban missionary. According to its bulletin, the mission specifically includes providing community, corporate worship, accountability through small group meetings, and discipleship through one-on-one meetings. This church is attended by 200-300 people, mostly homeless in Skid Row. The church is multicultural, but dominated by African Americans, as is Skid Row. Tim Peters, who works for Central City Community Outreach, a non-profit 501(c)(3) arm of the church, indicated to me that CCCC sought to fill a gap in Skid Row by providing a community. He said that there was no church that was attended by the people of Skid Row that provided a community for them. Also, CCCC saw another void in the area of entertainment in Skid Row. There is a dearth of entertainment options there. People do not have cars, and there is nothing to do in the evening except to hang out in the streets where drug usage is rampant. So, CCCC started up a Karaoke Night. This has been wildly successful. About 200-300 people come out and wait for hours to get a chance to sing. They provide coffee and have a rule that you can’t sing if you are drunk. You have to wait and get sober first.

I have noticed a few other churches and church-like ministries in Skid Row. There is a Pentecostal church that meets in the auditorium at Union Rescue Mission. I noticed a sign for the church but don’t know much about them.

There is a church called One At A Time Baptist Church. This church has Spanish and English services on Sundays. They show movies on Wednesday afternoons and hold additional worship services on Wednesday and Saturday nights. In addition, the church is the Skid Row branch of Set Free Outreach Center. They are open, and a preacher preaches and teaches everyday. At 7 a.m., there is “Wake Up with Proverbs.” At 10:30 a.m. is the “Morning Bible Study.” At 2 p.m. is “The Word.” I dropped by this store-front church and found someone preaching; there were only about 2-3 people eagerly listening, with Bibles full of underlined verses, and 3-4 people sleeping in this small church. He preached a classic “fire and brimstone” type of message. The Set Free Discipleship Ministry of this church is a discipleship program composed of three phases. Phase I is The Ranch. People go away to a mountain facility to start off the program. A bus comes at an advertised time, picks up anyone in Skid Row that wants to sober up and change his or her life, and takes that person to the Ranch. All interested people stay at the Ranch for 6 days receiving training in the Bible and biblical counseling. Phase II is the Residential Discipleship. Participants live and train in this new home. In Phase III, an opportunity is given to enroll in Masters School, which is a vocational training school sponsored by the ministry.

I saw Harvest Rock Foundation with a facility at the northern end of San Julian Street. I am not sure if it is a church or a mission--their website is not clear. However, they do hold worship services on Sunday afternoons.

I also talked to a few Love L.A. attendees, and they informed me that there are several churches that pick up people for their respective Sunday services. One of the more popular churches outside of Skid Row attended by some homeless people is the Dream Center/Angeles Temple. I have heard good things about it. They also pick people up for Bible Studies and other events.

A Little Background and History of Skid Row

1. The Definition of “Homeless.”

The federal governement defines “homeless" person as "an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night time residence or a person who resides in a shelter, welfare hotel, transitional program or place not ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodations, such as streets, cars, movie theatres, abandoned buildings, etc.” So, it includes even people who live in shelters and SROs.

2. The Number of Homeless Persons in Los Angeles County.

In Los Angeles County, there are approximately 80,000 people homeless on any given night, and approximately 250,000 people who are at one time during the year homeless.

3. A General Description of Skid Row.

Skid Row, sometimes called Central City East, has become the center of homelessness in Los Angeles. Generally, it is an area of approximately 50 city blocks and is bound by Main, Alameda, and Third and Seventh Streets. The heart of Skid Row is San Julian Street, dubbed by some as Missions Row or Hell-hole. The population of Skid Row is estimated to be approximately 12,000 as of 1998. Skid Row is surrounded by Little Tokyo to the north, an older historic banking district to the west, a thriving Flower District and Garment District to the immediate south, and the new loft district to the east. All of the surrounding areas are going through major revitalizations.

4. A Brief History of Skid Row.

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, the major industry in Los Angeles was agriculture and most of the work was seasonal. This gave rise to single room occupancy hotels (SRO) to house the primarily single male population coming to Los Angeles for seasonal work. Many of them were social misfits, and this gave rise to religious missions to “save” these people. In the 1870s, when the railroad was completed, the trains unloaded “tramps” next to the train station, which was Skid Row. Pacific Gospel Union (which changed its name to Union Rescue Mission) was founded in 1891, and Midnight Mission was founded in 1914 to minister to them. During the Great Depression, there was a lot of migration to the West. Many ended up in Los Angeles in search of a better life, and many who could not find a better life in Los Angeles ended up in Skid Row because there were social services and missions. After World War II, Skid Row began to be dominated by people seeking social services and inexpensive housing. It was at this time that this area cemented its reputation for having people with problems with alcohol abuse, mental incapacity, and long-term unemployability.

In 1975, the City adopted what was referred to as a “Policy of Containment” with respect to Skid Row. The idea was to create an area in which social services, missions, and other needs for the poor would be delivered because people in that area needed them. There was further growth of non-profit organizations serving in this area during this time. Furthermore, the policy was that this was an area for single male adults; services for families were discouraged. Also, “In the early 1980’s, when the mental hospitals emptied out, the city concentrated services for the down-and-out on Skid Row.”

One of the most dramatic changes in Skid Row in the last 15 years is the development of toy manufacturers and stores. Fifteen years ago, there were no such businesses there; now, the Downtown Toy District is in Skid Row. Although this is a depressed part of Downtown, there has been a tremendous economic revitalization in this area through the toy business--primarily small businesses that comprise a three-quarters of a billion dollar industry. As such, there is a noticeable tension between the business/industry sector and the residential/social services sector.

(if you want the sources for the above information, email Pastor Kevin at kevin@ynem.org)

From our last term

Just want to let all of you know that Alpha at Skid Row is starting on Friday, September 1, 2006. Anyone who is interested in volunteering at Alpha should let Bowen or Pastor Kevin know. If you have never taken an Alpha course, you are welcome to come and take it. It's an awesome course! It is going to continue for 10 Fridays from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. The training for leaders and helpers (volunteers) is scheduled for: Friday, August 25, at 7 pm and Sunday, August 27, at 1 pm. Everything takes place at Central City Community Church of the Nazarene (at NW corner of 6th and San Pedro).

Special Prayer Request

Please keep both grandmas from the Korean Ministry in your prayers as their both physically not doing well.
I'm referring to the grandma that serves the coffee and the grandma handing out the weekly bulletins as people enter through the gates.
They both have been faithfully serving Love LA for many years.

More to come...

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"A Most Unconventional Church"

Article originally appeared in Koream Journal's March 2006 issue.
Click Image to supersize it.