The Street Seen: Ocean Park Methodist Church (Hill St)
231 - 237 Hill St @ 2nd St
Established in 1898, the Ocean Park Methodist Church meets in temporary quarters until 1901, when it occupies an old wood frame church building. In 1923, it moves the current 2-story concrete and brick church on the corner of Hill and 2nd St. The building is a contributing structure to the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District.
Establishment of a Methodist Church in Ocean Park (1898 - 1901)
An 1898 revival rally in Santa Monica by Los Angeles evangelist Hugh E. Smith creates local Methodist enthusiasm. The First Methodist Episcopal Church1 in Santa Monica, and Presiding Elder G.F. Bovard2 resolve to establish a Methodist church in Ocean Park.3
In October 1898, the Ocean Park Methodists begin holding services in the Santa Fe depot, with Robert S. Fisher as pastor. Fisher is transferred (to Fillmore),4 and in January 1899, F.G.H. Stevens (a student at USC) is appointed pastor. In March 1899, the Methodists lease the 1st Baptist Church on Main St near Hollister.5 Stevens leaves to attend theological seminary, and Benjamin D. Snudden is appointed pastor of the Ocean Park Methodist Episcopal Church.
Old Church Building Moved to Ocean Park (1901 - 1923)
In September 1900, the old church building of the 1st M.E. Church in Santa Monica is moved from Santa Monica to its present location on 2nd St.6 The Ocean Park M.E. Church, lead by pastor Snudden, begins using the building in December 1900.7
Building of New Methodist Church (1923 - 1950)
By 1920, outreach by pastor William McKinley Walker has grown the membership of the Ocean Park M.E. Church, and there is an aspiration for a more substantial building to match the congregation. In 1921, D.K. Burnham is appointed pastor. In October 1922, the two lots on the corner of 2nd and Hill8 adjacent to the church are acquired.
To help finance a new church, in March 1923, the 2621 2nd St church property is sold. The 3rd St and Beach parsonage property is also sold. The parsonage building on that property is moved to the east side of the new church property.9
In 1923, a new 78-ft x 52-ft, 2-story (1st story reinforced concrete and tall 2nd story brick) church is constructed. The Italianate style building features a Tuscan tower10 and Gothic-influenced stained glass windows.11
Building contractor James T. Peasgood,12 is credited with the design, and J.L. Schimmer is awarded the contract for the $20,000 building. Ground is broken in July 1923. The building is dedicated (cornerstone laid and addresses made by Mayor S.L. Berkley and C.S. Maddox, pastor of First Baptist Church Santa Monica) on Saturday, December 1, 1923, and Burnham conducts the first service the following day.
In 1926, an electric revolving cross,13 10 ft tall with 32 bulbs, is mounted on the church tower. The cross in motion (revolving at 4 times per minute) signifies that a meeting is taking place in the church.
The illuminated revolving cross is donated by Ocean Park (127 Hart) resident Ada Verge in memory of her husband. Ocean Park M.E. is the third church where E.J. Bradner has installed a revolving cross. The revolving cross does not appear to extend beyond Bradner’s tenure.
Decline (1950 - 1968)
Ocean Park changes significantly after WWII. By the 1950s, the Ocean Park area is designated as “blighted.” Much of the congregation no longer lives in Ocean Park.14 While the congregation remains traditional, the next pastors (beginning with Fred Strathdee) are much more social-service oriented than those who came before.
In 1961, Dan Kennedy obtains a Federal grant to open a community center. The Methodist Church15 acquires the Archer house, and opens the Ocean Park Community Center serving the transient and the disenfranchised. In 1965, Kennedy is re-assigned (to Echo Park).
By the late 1960s, the disparity between the congregation and the surrounding neighborhood leads to further declines in church membership. In 1972, the United Methodist Church16 does not appoint a replacement pastor.17
Church in Ocean Park (1973 - )
In 1973, James P. Conn, with a vision to have what happens inside the church reflect what is happening outside the church, is appointed pastor of the church, and a new era begins.
Methodists follow an episcopal system, where the church is overseen by bishops who have authority over multiple congregations. This hierarchical structure ensures unity and consistency within the denomination.
In 1897, George Finley Bovard (1856 – 1932) is appointed Presiding Elder of the Methodist Los Angeles District, a position he holds for six years. From 1903 to 1921, he is the fourth president of the University of Southern California. His brother, Marion McKinley Bovard, is the university's first president.
The first African American house of worship in Santa Monica, the Phillips Chapel of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at 4th St and Bay St, is formed in 1906.
Itinerancy is a tradition in the Methodist Church that involves appointing clergy to serve in different congregations. The practice originates with John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, who traveled England as an itinerant preacher to establish Methodist societies.
Pastors of the Ocean Park Methodist Church (1898 - 1972)
1898 Robert S. Fisher (1877 – 1949)
1899 Frank Gilbert Haven Stevens (1874 – 1965)
1900 Benjamin Dudley Snudden (1874 – 1972)
1903 William Cashievs Botkin (1872 – 1956)
1904 Edgar Wesley Pasko (1861 – 1930)
1909 Romanzo Lester Bruce (1847 – 1928)
1910 George Christian Skafte (1858 – 1919)
1916 William John Boyd (1862 – 1948)
1918 Anthony Cummings Welch (1859 – 1930)
1920 William McKinley Walker (1891 – 1968)
1921 DeKalb (D.K.) Burnham (1870 - 1970)
1926 Edward John Bradner (1867 – 1949)
1931 John B. Soules (1887 - 1940)
1935 George Willis Richmire (1874 – 1958)
1940 Manfred Wendle Bennett (1894 – 1967)
1943 Paul Isaac Hershey (1906 – 1988)
1947 William Archibald (Archie) Matson (1899 - 1985)
1949 Gilbert Joseph Gray (1915 – 1987)
1952 Fredrick Henderson Strathdee (1917 – 2002)
1957 Clarence Everette Spier, Jr (1922 – 2011)
1960 Russell Wallace Hafner (1924 - 2017)
1962 Dan Raymond Kennedy (1933 – 2022)
1965 D. Michael Cooney
1968 Robert Howard
1970 John W. Mills, Jr
From 1899 until 1900, when they secured their own building, the Ocean Park M.E. Church uses the Baptist church on Main St near Hollister. During this time, the Baptist congregation is dormant, and the Baptist Sunday school becomes Methodist with Andrew Mills still the superintendent.
From 1886 to 1917, 2nd St is named Lake St, and then from 1917 to 1970, it is named Washington Blvd.
In 1902, the donated church building is enlarged to double its capacity. In 1905, under the guidance of pastor Edgar W. Pasko, the Ocean Park M.E. Church builds a parsonage on the northwest corner of 3rd St and Beach St.
In 1923, the vacant property on the northeast corner of 2nd and Hill
is comprised of Lot 15 (50-ft x 130-ft) and Lot 16 (51.5-ft x 130-ft) of Block N of Vawter’s Ocean View Tract.
In 1923, the parsonage building at 3rd St and Beach is moved to the east side of the new church to be used again as a parsonage.
The church tower has a bell which was displaced during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. It is rehung and rung in 2024 when the church reopens after being closed for due to COVID and subsequent repairs.
The stained glass windows reflect the Neo-Gothic movement that is popular in churches at that time (1870 - 1930). Most of the windows are decorative, consisting of pictorial medallions set into opalescent glass with green and purple glass frames. Two are representational, both scenes from the life of Jesus: Christ the Good Shepherd, and Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remembered in the windows for their contributions to the construction of the church are James T. Peasgood, F.E. Royston, and B.G. Hurlburt.
James Thomas Peasgood (1860 – 1938) is one of the building contractor Peasgood Brothers. He does not have a formal architectural training. At the time of the construction of the Ocean Park M.E. Church, Peasgood is the City of Santa Monica Building Inspector and Purchasing Agent.
The idea of the illuminated revolving cross is attributed to William L. Stidger at a Methodist church in San Francisco in 1914. Electric revolving crosses on Protestant churches spread across the country and are regarded as a dignified and effective form of church advertising.
Across the street (Hill), the First Baptist Church of Santa Monica moves out of Ocean Park in 1958.
In 1939, the northern and southern factions of the Methodist Episcopal Church reunite as the Methodist Church.
In 1968, the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church unite as the United Methodist Church.
The Ocean Park M.E. Church is closed by action of the 1972 Methodist Annual Conference. The church property and the remaining congregants are put under the care of 1st M.E. Church in Santa Monica.