Christmas (in old English, Cristes maesse) is a festival celebrated on Dec. 25, commemorating the Incarnation of the Word of God in the birth of Jesus Christ. In the BCP it is also called The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Season of Advent arrives on Sunday, 3 December as we light the first candle. This time of waiting, anticipation, preparation and hope will be filled with opportunities to gather for prayer and reflection.

I am thankful for each and every one of you and for the opportunity to journey with you, the people of St. John’s Cathedral, during this time of transition. I am excited and filled with hope for this beloved community of God.

Let us give heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank (LARFB) for making it possible to provide our neighbors with an abundance of food for their families; and we give thanks to our church and community volunteers for your labor of love. Jeffrey McLellan, Co-chair of the St. John’s Food Pantry, oversees ordering and delivery from the LARFB, drawing on professional knowledge and expertise. Then, the hands and hearts of our volunteers make everything possible through our Food Pantry ministry.

Last week during our wonderful gathering with The Rev. Eric Law, we heard members share stories and feelings, and we listened so that we could learn. Thank you for showing up, your active participation, your courage and voice, your open mind, open heart, and willingness to hold the fullness of experiences by generations of members over many years of worship, prayer, music, service, community and love.

Happy Fall! Autumn is a season that is all about transitions from long days of light to shorter days, warm weather to cooler temps, green leaves to beautiful yellow, orange, and red ones; from baseball to football, from one season to the next. I suspect that some of us love the fall, while others long for the past season. Yet, we know that each season is essential for the cycles of life and rebirth. Our faith teaches us this too.

A week ago it was a visit to Carter House, which is affordable housing for 20 people with disabilities and a resident property manager. This week Canon Lurelean Gaines and I visited the first St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, or St. John’s Community Health (SJCH) located at 58th Street in South LA, after the clinic moved from St. John’s Cathedral years ago. We met with CEO, Jim Mangia – a visit that filled our hearts with joy.

It is with great sadness that I share that Ada and her team are leaving St. John’s Cathedral. While Ada made this decision last week, she let us know that last Sunday was her last. I’m told that goodbyes are hard. .

We write to you in the spirit of gratitude for your presence, gifts of time and talent, and for blessing us at St. John’s simply by participating in church services on-line or in person. Whether you have attended St. John’s for 40+ years, are a recent congregant, or find yourself somewhere in between, you are loved with equal fervor by Christ.

God of peace, we pray for the people of Palestine and Israel in these perilous and dangerous times.

This time of year is one of transition liturgically without knowing fully what is happening.

Beginning last week with the parish wide gathering of “Celebrating Our Past, and Imagining Our Future Together,” as the choir and compline return on Sunday after their summer rest, and with the Blessing of Animals on Sunday, one can feel excitement and enthusiasm in the air! On Saturday, acolytes new and old are meeting at 9am for training and practice.

Celebrating Our Past and Imagining Our Future Together

On the horizon is a very special gathering on September 24th at St. John’s Cathedral. On this Sunday, there will one service at 9am!

Dear Friends In Christ,Nearly every Sunday, our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. John H. Taylor, is on the road visiting a different church community in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to preach and celebrate with parishioners near and far. This Sunday, Bishop Taylor will be with us!

You are cordially invited to a brunch and conversation on Sept 24, Oct 22, Nov 5, from 10am to 12:30pm, where we will take the opportunity to celebrate, examine, and learn from our past and the present as we look to the future of our St. John's congregation.

During the month of September, St. John’s Cathedral will celebrate the Season of Creation beginning on Labor Day Weekend and ending on October 1st, with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Dear Friends, Heads and hearts are full with gratitude for joyful happenings at St. John’s Cathedral LA.

Dear Friends In Christ,In life there is always yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Dear friends, It’s hard to believe that this September marks the start of my seventh year with you at St. John’s Cathedral. Serving our community is one of the great blessings of my life and work. As we finish these last weeks of Summer I will be taking a time of spiritual renewal, and fulfilling a “bucket-list”dream of mine to walk 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain.

Dear Friends In Christ,Let us take a deep breath, and allow the Spirit of God to quiet our minds and hearts, and give us peace.

Dear Friends in Christ,In June Mel Soriano was ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons on his way to becoming a Priest.

Dear Friends in Christ, There is a quote from Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, “Learning To Walk In The Dark,” that speaks to me at this time.

It’s hard to believe that I have been with you for nearly a third of the year.

Dear Friends in Christ,This Saturday we will celebrate the glorious long life of Valeria Louise McCray, who died last month on June 5, 2023 at the age of 101.

Dear Friends in Christ,Amanda & Hamilton have given birth to Serafina! Valeria, Margaret, Judy are among the beloved members and family who have died.

Parish Wide Meeting This Sunday

There is no easy way to say this: I am indeed different from your past Deans.

This week on reflection, I find myself looking back, looking forward, and acknowledging the present.

Word is trickling out the St. John’s principal service on Sunday will be at 8am!

This week we bid fond farewell to Mr. Stephen Salts, who has served as the Director of the Cathedral Choral Academy since 2019. 

What does it mean to be the church? What is required of me? Is attending church services on Sunday morning enough?

Dear Friends in Christ,Join us on Sunday for worship at 10 am for a grand celebration, or 8 am for a quieter meditative service – equally filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost!

Dear Friends in Christ,This Sunday after services at 8am and 10am, the Vestry of St. John’s Cathedral will be hosting a festive coffee hour in thanksgiving and with gratitude for the members of our church who give of their time serving nearly every week in preparation for Sunday worship, during services, and on behalf of the church regularly online and in service to our neighbors.

Dear Friends In Christ, During this celebratory season of Eastertide, there are a few realities that can awaken us.

Dear Friends In Christ,Greetings! I have missed you while away at the North American Dean’s Conference and the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles Clergy Conference this past week.

Dear Friends In Christ,Greetings from Washington DC! This year I have the honored of attending the 68th AnnualNorth American National Deans Conference, being held at the National Cathedral.

On 6 May 2023, you are invited to be confirmed, to reaffirm your confirmational vows, and/or to be received into the Episcopal Church. The service will be held at St. John’s Cathedral at 10am by Bishop John H. Taylor.

Dear Friends in Christ,Alleluia, Christ Is Risen! The Lord Is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! What a glorious Easter it was!

Soon, very soon we will celebrate with joy Jesus’ victory over death, and hope everlasting through Christ, our Lord.

Easter is around the corner! Spring has arrived, as rains continue to replenish water reserves.

Easter is around the corner! Spring has arrived, as rains continue to replenish water reserves. Perhaps this year, we are being reminded of the cycle of life in ways that are beyond our control. The gift of life, and bounties of creation.

Dear Friends in Christ, Thank you for the warm welcome as your Interim Dean and Priest in Charge.

Join us for Holy Week! Our first service is Sunday, April 2nd.

Dear Friends in Christ, Greetings! I am so looking forward to our time together at St. John’s Cathedral, meeting all of you and hearing your stories.

As senior warden I'd like to take a moment to say how thankful I am for the ministries of Mo. Lyn and Deacon Margaret.

When I was asked to write an article about Black Episcopalians and our place in the kingdom of God and our role in bringing the kingdom of God, I immediately thought of this work by Kara Walker because in understanding how we have come to be Black Episcopalians in America I believe we must first understand how we got here, not just to our nation's shores, but how we have arrived at this place in time.

The vestry appointed Heather Ward to serve a one year term to fill a vacancy and elected Avie Kimbell to be our new junior warden. Thanks to both for their service to St. John’s and thanks to Michael Tracy who just completed his term.

Happy Black History Month! We are enjoying an informative and celebratory series of events. Thank you to the members of the Black History Committee chaired by Canon Earl Mounger.

During the past few weeks I have been what I’ll call spiritually busy. My focus was the rare and dynamic and dedicated lives of Reverend Absalom Jones and his lifelong spiritual colleague and friend, Reverend Richard Allen. For purposes here, I will concentrate on Reverend Jones.Reverend Jones was attracted to the Episcopal Church where in 1802 he became its first African American priest.What I will explore here is some ways in which in 2023 St. John’s Cathedral can make some aspect of the Jones legacy a viable and ongoing part of St. John’s Cathedral life.

St. John's Cathedral proudly celebrates a long history of Black African-American and Caribbean identity here in Los Angeles. It is especially fitting that we embrace Black History month as a spiritual community. Part of the way we express that identity every year in February is through our music.

St. John’s Cathedral proudly celebrates a long history of Black African-American and Caribbean identity here in Los Angeles.

Why an African American Hymnal? 

The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord

Welcome to St. John’s Celebration of African American History Month, we are celebrating our history because Absalom Jones who resisted segregation when he and other Blacks were asked to sit in a segregated section of his church after the White members became uncomfortable with the growing number of Blacks in the congregation of the church.

Meet our 2023 Vestry Candidates.

The Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany

The Third Sunday After the Epiphany

The Second Sunday After the Epiphany

The Baptism of Our Lord

The Feast of the Holy Name

Click to read our parish-wide updates for Winter 2022.

Holiday Services

Join us for these holiday services!

Holiday Services

Holiday Services

Prepare your heart for the season of Christmas.

Think of the music, the candles, the smells and the sights of our Church adorned to proclaim the birth of our Savior into the world.

In a recent sermon Mother Lyn used one of my favorite mottoes: the attitude of gratitude.I believe that I have never met a committed disciple of Jesus who was not full of gratitude and thanksgiving.

The twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost.

The twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost.

The twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost.

The twentieth Sunday after Pentecost.

Download your digital copy!

The nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

This four week series will explore a way to practice the Presence that fits into the very busy lives we all lead.

Why bother to go to church? Clearly many people choose not to worship, and they have avariety of reasons for their choice.

Over a billion people around the world watched the funeral for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II last week, burial services firmly rooted in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer.

I have just begun my time with you as Bishop-in-Charge, a position that is both a pleasure and an honor for me to hold. I thank you and Bishop Taylor for this opportunity.

We are off and running! The public schools and universities have opened their doors to welcome a new program year.

The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Every year the Cathedral has given emphasis to creation.

Dear St. John's community:This is our final weekly Dean's Note

At the Vestry meeting this week, we shared the good news that the Corporation of the Diocese gave its approval to our development plan.

During these weeks of summer, the liturgical cycle is typically simpler and focuses on the sequential reading of the Gospel stories of Jesus' mission in the world, this year from the Gospel of Luke.

As many of you know, the Bishops of the Anglican Communion meet every 10 years in Canterbury England for the Lambeth Conference.

A week from this Sunday, the lectionary appoints a reading from the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Find Your Next Summer Read at St. John's!

Thursday, Los Angeles County director of public Health Barbara Ferrer noted that due to the rise in cases of the new Covid variant BA-5, an indoor mask mandate is scheduled to return on July 29.

This Sunday we launch our 2022 Adult Vacation Bible School with a focus on John's Gospel.

As we enter this Fourth of July weekend, please explore our Cathedral Life Summer 2022 newsletter.

As we come to the final months of our ministry at St. John's, we wanted to give you an update and the details for the months ahead.

The summer of 1969 was a significant moment in American culture.

Like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, every Christian is called to a life of transformation, to more clearly reflect the image of the risen Jesus.

Sunday July 10 through August 14

Three of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention that on the night before he died, Jesus took bread, blessed it, shared it with his disciples and said, "this is my body."

Every Christian is called to a life of transformation, to more clearly reflect the image of Jesus.

The Gospel of Luke is the first volume of a two book series, the Acts of the Apostles being the Second.