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Mission Yearbook
01/31/2025
02/18/2025

TODAY IN MISSION YEARBOOK

Mission Yearbook: Southern California fires affect churches and presbyteries

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Palisades fire and fireman
The Palisades fire has been challenging for firefighters. (Photo courtesy of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection)

At least one PC(USA) church is destroyed, and dozens of people have been killed in the wind-whipped blazes.

A series of dangerous fires in the Los Angeles area had grown so large and so destructive that the Rev. Heidi Worthen Gamble could hardly wrap her mind around it. 

“This will go down as the worst disaster in the history of Los Angeles, no doubt, and quite possibly the whole state,” said Worthen Gamble, a mission catalyst for the Presbytery of the Pacific. “It’s monstrous. It's hard to put words to it.”

Communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena have been affected by the wildfires, which have killed at least 29 people, according to The Associated Press. Scores of structures have been damaged or destroyed, including Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church.

“Multiple churches have been impacted and multiple Presbyterians have lost their homes,” said the Rev. Jim Kirk, associate for National Disaster Response for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

In addition to the Presbytery of the Pacific, the fires are also thought to have impacted the San Fernando and San Gabriel presbyteries, Worthen Gamble said.

“PDA is reaching out and has been in communication with the impacted presbyteries, offering support,” Kirk said. “However, at this time, because it's still an ongoing disaster, it's not safe for people to come in. We pray for the hundreds of first responders who are working diligently and faithfully to keep people and property safe.”

While California is no stranger to wildfires, people are more used to them happening in “canyonlands,” Worthen Gamble said. The individuals who build out there “know those risks,” but the current fires are affecting densely populated areas.

Some roadways became choked with abandoned cars as people opted to flee on foot because of the fast-moving flames in places such as the Pacific Palisades, according to the AP.

Worthen Gamble confirmed that the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church, which is part of the Presbytery of the Pacific, was lost in the massive Palisades fire, the largest blaze at more than 17,000 acres.

“It's a beautiful church, beautiful campus,” she said. “They had a nursery school on that campus, and it sits on one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the country … so it's a tremendous financial loss, but we are grateful that there were no lives lost. They were able to evacuate everyone.

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Pacific Palisades fire threatening residencies
The Palisades fire has ravaged Southern California. (Photo courtesy of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection)

In Facebook posts, the church thanks neighbors who reportedly picked up hoses to assist firefighters when the church caught fire. Another post quotes Isaiah 9:10: “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”

“Pray for those who are in harm's way and the hundreds of firefighters who are risking their own well-being to keep people and property safe” in all areas, Kirk said.

Worthen Gamble said she is grateful for PDA’s support. “I just want the denomination to know how helpful, how effective, how wonderful PDA is, and just encourage folks to support PDA, to help us through donating to PDA for wildfires,” she said. “We will really need all the resources and support possible here. This is just catastrophic.”

Donations can be made to PDA’s U.S. wildfires account, using the code DR000165

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is one of the Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Unified Agency.

Darla Carter, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Click here to read original PNS story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Louisa Gallup, Project Associate, Director’s Office, World Mission, Interiam Unified Agency
Marissa Galvan-Valle, Associate, Hispanic Resources & Relationships, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation 

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, grant us grace to live lives of devotion and discipline that reflect your grace and truth. Amen.