Church of the Open Door

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The original Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles

The Church of the Open Door is a historic Protestant Church founded by R. A. Torrey and formerly located in downtown Los Angeles. Although many tried to declare it a historic monument before it was demolished in the late 1980s, it was so damaged in an earthquake that it could not be. The historic "Jesus Saves" sign is now atop the Los Angeles University Cathedral, having been purchased by the late Dr. Gene Scott.

Church of the Open Door was conceived in the mind of Dr. R. A. Torrey who had come to Los Angeles to start a Bible institute (now known as Biola University) similar to Moody Bible Institute. The church was to be strictly interdenominational, though Evangelical. Its purpose was to reach the lost of Los Angeles, which was reflected in the name based on two passages of Scripture: John 10:9 and Revelation 3:8. Other pastors have included Dr. Louis T. Talbot (1932–1948) and Dr. J. Vernon McGee (1949–1970). The current Pastor is Ed Underwood.

For 70 years the church building was located in downtown Los Angeles on Hope Street. It relocated to Glendora, California in 1985 and thrives there.

1 Glendora
2 Pastors
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Glendora

Currently, the church is located beneath the foothills of Glendora, California. After leaving downtown Los Angeles in 1985, it moved to Glendora, buying many acres of land from Azusa Pacific University. It is a thriving church, with about 500 worshipers every Sunday. Pastor Ed Underwood is the current pastor, with Colin McDougall as the associate pastor. There are two services every Sunday, a Traditional Service and a Contemporary Service, which meet in the old APU gym, called the worship center. The Traditional Service meets at 9:30 during the Sunday School hour, and the Contemporary meets at 11:00. A variety of Sunday School classes are available, including ones for adults, and ones for children and teenagers. HUB (Home Unity Bible) groups meet weekly in local church family's homes. This small group ministry is centered around fellowship and discussion of the pastor's sermon from Sunday.