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During the 1950's, West Covina was transformed from a
farming
community into a rapidly growing Los Angeles suburb in the housing boom
following the end of World War II. According to the
official city website,
it was at one time the fastest growing city in the United States. In
fact, West Covina grew so fast that new homes often had to wait up to
two years to be wired for landline telephone service because utilities
couldn't keep up with the construction boom.
In 1954, admidst all this rapid change, 22 Lutherans
gathered at a
mortuary chapel on Glendora Avenue for the first services of what was
to become Immanuel First Lutheran Church. The name of our church has a
dual meaning: "Immanuel" in reference to one of the many names for
Jesus given in the Bible, meaning "God is with us"; and "First" for
being the first congregation of The
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in the city.
Eight months later, the young congregation purchased six
acres of
land on the corner of Walnut Grove on the banks of the Walnut Creek
Wash, near the business center of the developing community.
Construction of the original chapel began three months later with the
laying of the first cornerstone.
Young families of the congregation wishing to provide
Christian education for their children formed the first school in 1957, which later with a preschool served the community for over a half century.
In 1970 we placed a second cornerstone to begin
construction of our
beautiful 300-seat sanctuary. In 2002 it was renovated with new
carpeting and amenities to further enhance the worship atmosphere. In
2004-2005 our preschool campus was renovated with a new red and white
paint design on the buildings, new playground equipment and a fun
barnyard theme. In 2006 the northwest corner of the church property
was developed into a lighted, landscaped parking lot and leased to East Valley Community Health
Center for use on the weekdays and church use on weekends. It earned the
church a city beautification award in 2007 for its design and
contribution to improving the quality of the community.
West Covina today is a prosperous, ethnically
diverse city of 111,400 people covering 17 square miles. Interstate 10 runs through
the heart of town and provides convenient access to our church at the
Vincent Avenue exit.
A major retail, employment and recreational hub in the
San Gabriel Valley, West Covina boasts two Westfield shopping centers, two Target department stores, Queen of the Valley
Hospital, the busy Auto Plaza and Restaurant Row, and the Little Manila
shopping district at Azusa Avenue and Amar Road. Parks include the
historic Hurst Ranch on Orange
Avenue, Orangewood Park's popular roller hockey arena, Ridge Riders
equestrian center, Galster Park wilderness area and Big League Dreams sports park.
And yet while the West Covina area has changed in so
many ways, the
spiritual needs and social concerns our friends and neighbors face
remain the same. Traditional markers of success and well-being, such as
a good education, respectable career, healthy family or strong moral
principles, cannot fill the deep needs of the soul. Nor can they answer
questions we all ask, such as the meaning of life, the problem of evil
and the purpose of our existence. Like the title of a classic song by
the rock band U2, our neighbors still haven't found what they are
looking for.
What is needed is a relationship with Jesus Christ, the
lover of our
souls, Who died that we might not be cut off from God but instead have
eternal life with Him through faith in what Jesus did for us. While the
world is always changing, Jesus and His love are the same yesterday,
today and forever. Immanuel First continues to share that
never-changing Good News with the community just as we have since that
first service at the mortuary on Glendora Avenue. This is best summed
up in our mission and purpose, adopted by the congregation in 2004— "To share God's love, comfort and hope with all."
Every week, Immanuel First members produce large-print
scriptures
for the visually impaired at Lutheran Braille Work Center #199 in La
Puente. Recognizing the needs of a changing and diverse community,
Immanuel First shares its God-given facilities with Grace Chinese
Alliance Church and proudly supports our Immanuel
First Vietnamese Lutheran Church.
The IFL Choir, directed by Sue Beckenham, sings traditional
hymns and
contemporary worship songs at our Sunday services. Immanuel First's
Vietnamese fellowship has a youth band, The Forgiven, praising our Lord
with a modern worship sound that connects with the younger,
second-generation members of the church.
The Vietnamese fellowship further reaches out to the
community with
ESL (English as a Second Language) classes for Vietnamese-speaking
residents and with Pastor An Thai's translation of Luther's
Small Catechism and Friendship Evangelism into Vietnamese for use in Lutheran churches nationwide with Vietnamese
populations.
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Sharing God's Unchanging
Love in Changing Times