West Angeles Church on Crenshaw and Exposition
The longtime premier worship center of South Los Angeles has called Crenshaw home for over 5 decades.
The West Angeles Church of God in Christ (WACGC) has been a longtime staple and pillar in the Crenshaw District. It’s a Pentecostal Christian Church, a part of the Church of God in Christ denominational churches. It has held and maintained a powerful presence in the community and is home to over 24,000 members.
WACGC was founded by Elder Clarence E. Church in the 1960s and located on Adams Blvd near the I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway). After Clarence passed away in 1969, Bishop Charles E. Blake would take over the mantle and serves as the presiding pastor to this day.
Blake has managed to galvanize WACGC to astonishing levels as the community has come to make up most of its congregation. The church membership has grown from 40 to 24,000 members. The church has changed location twice over the years. It was first located at 3045 Crenshaw Blvd., which is a 1000-seat facility. The present-day structure is a 5000-seat cathedral, which is located at 3600 Crenshaw Blvd., built in 1999. The 3045 Crenshaw location now serves as the North Campus of the main church.
WACGC is mostly known for it’s dynamic and timely messages delivered by Blake and has drawn scores of people from all over the city. The church has also become home to high profile members such as Magic Johnson, Denzel Washington, Stevie Wonder, and Angela Bassett.
The church’s overall mission is to deliver a Biblical ministry to encourage believers towards life transformation. According to their mission statement, this happens through their threefold purpose: to Evangelize, Edify, and Equip. WACGC also exemplifies the following statements from their website:
“We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible written Word of God.
We believe that there is only One God, eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and, God the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the blessed Hope, which is the rapture of the Church of God, which is in Christ, at His return.
We believe that the only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ.
We believe that regeneration by the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential for personal salvation.
We believe that the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross provides healing for the human body in answer to believing prayer.
We believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 2:4, is given to believers who ask for Him.
We believe in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a holy and separated life in the present world.”
For more information on West Angeles Church of God in Christ, please visit their website at www.westa.org/
photos by Troy Tieuel
