PACOIMA : Street Name Change Would Honor Bishop

The street was Bishop Benjamin Crouch’s first pulpit. Those who remember him think it only fitting that a street should be his memorial.

Parishioners of the Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ are starting a campaign to rename a 1.5-mile section of Vaughn Street from Foothill Boulevard to San Fernando Road after their congregation’s founder, who died Dec. 17.

Crouch started the congregation in 1951 and for more than 40 years was considered an important local leader in the African American community, with national recognition as well.

Congregation members hope to gather thousands of signatures, and have been circulating petitions among local congregations, through the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and hand to hand, said Sandra Crouch, daughter of Bishop Crouch and a Grammy-award-winning gospel singer with her twin brother, Andrae.

The movement has gained popularity quickly, largely because of Crouch’s reputation as someone who was at home on the streets where he started his career, said Andrae Crouch.

“He actually preached on the streets,” he said. “We would go out with him.”

Crouch also was known for his leadership abilities during tumultuous times such as the civil rights movement, the Watts riots and Rodney G. King beating. Last month, another congregation dubbed his father “The Rock of the Valley” during a service in his honor, Crouch said. To others, especially those who lacked a father, he was simply “Papa Crouch,” he added.

“He touched the lives of a lot of people,” said the Rev. Arthur Broadous, program director of the Pacoima Community Youth Culture Center. “It’s a legacy to where he started.”

Crouch began his career in Val Verde, preaching to convicts, drug addicts and the ill, as well as broadcasting on radio and television. He started the Christ Memorial Church in the garages of area residents. Gradually, he gathered a congregation and in the 1960s built a church at Vaughn Street near Glenoaks Boulevard.

Changing Vaughn Street’s name may not be an easy task. The City Council has to make the change, and can do so on its own or in response to petitions from property owners only, according to city codes. Owners who are against the change can petition in opposition.

Broadous said he was unsure how many signatures have been gathered. He and other organizers will be visiting property owners along Vaughn Street to enlist their support, he added.

“Everybody that we’ve talked to so far is in support of it,” Broadous said. “We haven’t heard a negative voice, so far.”

Broadous said he will present the petitions to Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose district includes that section of Vaughn Street, and who chairs the Public Works Committee of the council.

Alarcon could not be contacted for comment Friday.