Statement of Faith : Bishop Blake Plans 5,000-Seat Cathedral in Crenshaw

With so much attention focused on Cardinal Roger M. Mahony’s drive to build a new $45-million Roman Catholic cathedral downtown, it may surprise many that a major African American denomination is planning to build an equally costly cathedral of its own in the Crenshaw district.

But that is precisely what Bishop Charles E. Blake, pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ, has in mind. In fact, if all goes well, construction will begin early next year.

Rising from the corner of Crenshaw and Exposition boulevards, Blake envisions a glimmering 5,000-seat cathedral of glass, steel and marble, reminiscent of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. He said its soaring 100-foot steeple will be seen from miles around as a beacon of hope and a statement of faith in the community, a place of the soul that African Americans can call their own.

Slated to cost between $45 million and $50 million, the edifice has drawn pledges of $25 million, including $5 million from basketball great Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his wife, Cookie, and $2.5 million from Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and his wife, Pauletta. Another $10 million has been spent on the site and architectural work.

If all goes well, Blake hopes to hold his first worship service in the new cathedral in the spring of 1999, about a year before Mahony’s planned dedication of the Catholic archdiocese’s new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

The magnitude and difficulty of the task ahead is not lost on Blake. “If I build it, if we’re able to put the money together, then hopefully it will indicate a recognition on the part of a large number of people of the validity of what we’re trying to do,” he said.

Blake said he has no doubts, “no doubts at all,” that the money can be raised. There are 7,000 to 8,000 of the congregations’s 15,000 families that have yet to make pledges, Blake said.

Blake’s congregation is the largest in the 3-million member Church of God in Christ, which is among the fastest growing Protestant denominations in America. When Blake became pastor in 1969, the church had only 50 members.

Today it operates scores of outreach, ministry and community services, including a counseling center, fine arts center and a community development corporation.The corporation offers legal services, court mediation, economic development, neighborhood beautification and programs to improve literacy and help the homeless.

For Johnson, who recently opened his own theater complex in the neighborhood, a new cathedral would represent hope and pride for African Americans and provide work for many during the construction phase.

In an interview, Johnson said he envisions the cathedral as a place of safety and an alternative for youths whose neighborhoods are beset by gang violence and hopelessness.

“It will be more than just a church,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be like a monument in a sense . . . [something] to point to and say, ‘This is ours. This is where we go.’ It’s going to be beautiful. . . . It’s going to give the community a place to come worship, but also to come and say, ‘You know this beautiful place is ours.’ ”

Later, during a reception Wednesday night at the congregation’s present church, Johnson said teenagers would first be drawn to the new cathedral by curiosity.

The church design “is going to make them step in because they’ve got to see it,” he said. “Then Bishop Blake is going to grab them! It’s going to be over! You know when the bishop puts that glove on you, it’s over! You become a member!”

Among others attending the reception were Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, Police Chief Willie L. Williams, who is a member of the church, and members of the City Council and state Legislature.

Blake’s success in building his congregation has created the need for a new building. The existing church at 3045 Crenshaw Blvd. can accommodate 1,300 members. There are two other rooms that can hold another 1,000. That means that Blake can preach at one time to only 2,300 of his 15,000 members, forcing him to hold four services each Sunday.

Winning the competition to become architect was Envirotecture Inc. of Los Angeles, led by Juan Minaya. Philip S. Hart is project manager.