Glendale Presbyterian Church offers up a concert to support musicians impacted by the Eaton Fire
900 tickets at $100 each sold out in less than 24 hours
GLENDALE, California — One month and one day after the Eaton fire, Tyler Chester, a Grammy-nominated producer and musician who runs Bell Choir Studios out of Glendale Presbyterian Church, determined that more than 20 musicians he knew could offer up a benefit performance to support their fellow musicians impacted by the Eaton Fire.
The Rev. Steve Wiebe, the pastor of Glendale Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. Dr. Juan Sarmiento, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of San Fernando, loved the idea, but wondered how many of the 900 tickets available — which would completely fill the church’s sanctuary — could be sold at $100 each.
As it turned out, the tickets were gone in less than 24 hours.
“This guy is a star,” Wiebe said of Chester. “He has worked with so many people [musicians who played for the “I Love LA Eaton Fire Relief” included Andrew Bird and Bright Eyes]. Part of our vision was to raise money and continue to create the idea that church is more than just Sunday.”
“It was a holy night,” Wiebe said. “It was packed, and the music was awesome.” Best of all, the concert — aided by up to 50 church volunteers and a grant from the presbytery — raised $92,000. With help from the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, grants up to $3,500 are going to musicians whose home or studio space was either destroyed by the fire or is currently inhabitable.
“It was something unusual for a presbytery to do. I have enjoyed connecting with people I don’t know,” said Sarmiento, who works out of the presbytery office in Glendale Presbyterian Church.
“I know people are interested in coming back to this space,” Wiebe said. “They feel good about the church as a place where creatives can grow. If you’re an artist, you need a place to be artistic.”
People were “a little shocked” that a church would host such a concert, Chester said, “but not so shocked they didn’t attend.” Among other, Chester credited Sid the Cat, the production company behind the successful benefit.
Chester joined Wiebe and Sarmiento to show a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance solidarity visit delegation around Bell Choir Studios and adjacent space used by the church’s music ministry. Ashley Myers, Worship Director and Young Adult Director at the church, had the vision and the talent to redecorate space. In all, the church disposed of 10 Dumpsters of unwanted material it had been storing to create the space, Wiebe said. “It was dead church space,” he said.
Under some of the old materials were century-old stained glass windows, which were hung to help decorate the space. “Sometimes you have to clean out your stuff to find new ways,” Wiebe said. “It’s fun when artists come in and take pictures of your space. If you want to do that, you’re not too angry at the church.”
Affordable housing
The first half of Monday’s gathering was given to discussing ways to construct affordable housing in the area. Sarmiento noted the presbytery is set to celebrate its 170th year of ministry in Los Angeles, which was in 1854 was home to about 5,000 residents, a mix of Mexican Californios, Anglo-American settlers, Indigenous people and Chinese immigrants.
“Today, our legacy is embodied in vibrant congregations that reflect the city’s multicultural nature, as well as theological institutions that have equipped generations of church leaders,” Sarmiento said. “As we celebrate 170 years of Presbyterian presence in Los Angeles, we honor the faithful witness of those who came before us and the ongoing commitment to sharing Christ’s message in word and deed.”
Sarmiento invited Dr. Jill Shook, executive director of Making Housing and Community Happen and the author of “Making Housing Happen: Faith-Based Affordable Housing Models,” and the Rev. John Oh, project manager for Faith and Housing at LA Voice, to meet with the delegation.
“My intent,” Sarmiento said, “is to begin conversations about possible long-term response to the fire through a reality that’s very pressing in this area, and that’s the affordability of housing. Are there ways we can address that new reality?”
Oh explained that Senate Bill 9, also known as the California H.O.M.E. Act, allows homeowners to split their lots and build up two homes on each parcel. Oh said that a homeowner can place a prefabricated home on one lot and an investor can build a home on the second lot with the hope of recouping the original investment.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.
