Church’s Last Rite Offers New Beginning

A black sign with white lettering outside a small wooden-frame church in Sherman Oaks announced the theme of Sunday’s sermon: “We’ve Only Just Begun.”

The emotional sermon, delivered at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, was carefully worded to convey a message of hope, despite a pervading atmosphere of sadness.

It was to be the last sermon there after 42 years of Sunday services.

“Today, we mourn the passing and we’re sad,” Pastor Thomas Carter said. “But we also must celebrate, for we have been privileged to be a part of a great ministry. We are God’s children and we’ve only just begun.”

The 120 people who gathered for the last service at the Riverside Drive church alternately celebrated and mourned, singing out in strong voices, but emerging teary-eyed when it was over.

‘Didn’t Want to Face It’

“When I heard the last words of the benediction, that was hard. I cried,” said longtime parishioner Thelma Hodges, who taught Sunday school at the church and saw her daughter baptized there some 35 years ago. “I knew it was going to close, but I didn’t want to face it.”

“It’s been a very sad day for us,” said Florence Montgomery, who along with her husband, Earl, is a 30-year parish member. “This is not a celebration, but we’re trying.”

Having faced a dwindling congregation over the past decade, the church will close its doors Sept. 30 when its 10-year lease expires, Carter said.

“It’s like a death in the family,” the pastor said after the service. “We may be expecting it forever, but when it actually confronts us, it’s still a shock.”

Church officials sold the grounds, which include an elementary school, in 1977 to Riverside Associates, which, in turn, leased the church building back to the Lutheran Church for 10 years. Last year, the entire property was sold to the Armenian Evangelical Schools, which chose not to renew the church’s lease, opting instead to use the site for its own services when the lease runs out, Carter said.

Homey Parish

Although the congregation had dipped to only about 40 active members, dozens more showed up Sunday. Many, like Helen and Harland Brendon, came out of nostalgia for a homey parish in which they celebrated the milestones of their lives--baptisms, weddings and funerals.

“We came back just for this service,” Harland Brendon said. “It’s such a cozy church. We just had to come back and see it for the last time.”

Clarence Helgeson, one of the first members to join after the church was built in 1945, said he helped build the adjoining schoolhouse. He and his wife, Vera, drove 600 miles from their Northern California home for the last service.

“This church has left a legacy that will continue to touch lives for years to come,” Carter said.

The church has provided an extended family for many of the parishioners, many of whom are elderly, said choir member Tina Gullickson, 32.

“I’ve been coming here for 35 years,” said Opal Miller. “My three children were married here and we’ve had two christenings, one confirmation and my husband’s funeral here.”

“I can hardly keep the tears back,” Miller said.

‘Provided Comfort’

After her husband died in 1962, Thelma Hodges taught kindergarten at the church school, ran the preschool and directed countless youth activities.

“From then on, I really became very active,” she said. “It provided a lot of comfort. It kept me going through the years, especially with not having any family close by. This became my family.”

The church’s coffers had funds totaling $250,000 at the time of the closing, which have been distributed among various Lutheran organizations, such as California Lutheran University, Lutheran Social Services and missionary churches in California and Arizona.

The building will be used for services by the new owner and for special assemblies, Carter said.

As for the Lutheran parishioners, many of them will be attending services at St. Matthew in North Hollywood. Others have not made up their minds which parish they will attend.

“As we leave today, let us remember that the ministry and teachings and prayers and joy . . . are things that are never lost,” Carter told those who had gathered for a post-service brunch. “The church isn’t a building; the church is you.”