The Crenshaw Miracle : Northridge Quake May Have Toppled Building, but Not the Spirit of a Church Now Rebuilding

It was just a few weeks after the Northridge earthquake destroyed the Southern Missionary Baptist Church in the Crenshaw district. The Rev. Joseph Gates--heart heavy with grief over the loss of the old brick building on Adams Boulevard--lay awake one night wondering what would become of his congregation.

Then, he had a vision.

Rebuild, even bigger and better than before, Gates said he was told by God. Offer Headstart classes for the children in the community and rehabilitation seminars for drug and alcohol users. Build a community room large enough for a 380-guest wedding reception and add 500 more seats to the cathedral.

“The Lord showed me all these additional programs, but we had to have a large place to do it,” said Gates, 59. “It scared me. So I talked to my wife. She said, ‘What have you asked the Lord for that he hasn’t given you yet?’ ”

“I said, ‘Build it.’ ”

After 2 1/2 years of hard work, construction on the 30,000-square-foot church--double the size of the previous structure--is near completion.

“If there ever was a miracle, this was a miracle,” Gates said.

At a time when houses of worship across the country are being destroyed in fires fueled by racial hate, the stucco and stained-glass temple has become a labor of love.

Gates needed $2.8 million to build the church as he envisioned it, but could only get a $1.4-million federal earthquake recovery loan. So he called on other religious leaders and City Hall for help. “Our prayers were answered,” he said.

A coalition of churches across the country donated $600,000. The California Community Foundation, a nonprofit fund-raising organization, came up with $110,000 more. Church members--including some who cashed in life insurance polices--donated an additional $300,000.

Mayor Richard Riordan raised $50,000 through his private foundation and called on local contractors to volunteer their time. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers spent $60,000 on fixtures and donated more than 1,000 hours working on the wiring in the church, located in the heart of a neighborhood still trying to rebound from the riots in 1992.

To show their appreciation, women of the church brought in platters of home-cooked Southern-style food every day, offering mouth-watering meals that often included hot-water corn bread, chicken, okra and rice pudding. Workers joked that they each gained 10 pounds during the job.

That added to the sense of camaraderie and goodwill that has pushed the project forward.

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“We have all seen the news and we have seen the devastating things that have been happening to churches in this country,” said Calvin D. Nicodemus of the Los Angeles County Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Assn. “We really want L.A. to be different. L.A. needs to be healing its wounds. We thought that was a really important goal we wanted to achieve at this point.”

Brad Dickason, a contractor who has been volunteering his time on the project, said: “The area really needs a church of this type. The churches are going to lead the way for the neighborhood to recover from the riots.”

With the sanctuary completed, Gates started holding services there several weeks ago. Previously, the congregation had been meeting at the nearby First AME Zion Church.

Congregation members credit the church for keeping their families together, keeping their children off drugs and enriching their lives with a deep spirituality.

“This church has brought peace to many families,” Gates said. “People who are lost in the world, with no stability, have found their way here. They have stopped their wicked ways and have been made to live a righteous life.”

Before the earthquake in 1994, there were more than 2,000 members in the congregation, but the figures dropped off after the church was destroyed. Now, the numbers are climbing again.

During a lively service last weekend that reverberated with hand-clapping and singing, Gates exhorted the congregation to celebrate.

“It’s good to be home!” the pastor told several hundred people gathered in the new cathedral. “Amen!” the crowd responded before breaking into a riveting refrain of “We Will Trust in the Lord.”

Gates, who has been the church leader for 18 years, hopes that the project will be finished by the end of the year, if he can raise $250,000 more for classroom furniture, bathroom fixtures and computers.

“We are going to continue until we are done,” Gates told the congregation. “The Lord hasn’t started anything yet that he hasn’t finished.”

Afterward, members gathered in the lobby for refreshments and fellowship.

“[The church] changed my life,” said Louis Ray, 17. “It taught me right from wrong. It showed me to stay in school, and now I’m going on to college.”

“This church is my life,” said Williena McLemore. “I’ve been coming here for 29 years, and it makes all the difference in the world.”