Immanuel Presbyterian Church

Though I’m personally not religious — I definitely love visiting churches to check out their architecture and art. The older, the better.
I would have never even thought to visit this particular place of worship if Jenny Lewis wasn’t having her 10-​year-​annivesary for Rabbit Fur Coat. I was pretty stoked to learn that the actual show was going to be here, especially since churches tend to have fantastic acoustics.
The show itself was incredible and I loved the interior of the church as it provided a great backdrop to the performance. As I had imagined, the acoustics were fantastic and there was plenty of seats for all in attendance.
Beer and wine are available, but you’re limited to the lobby area to enjoy your drinks. No food or beverage of any kind are allowed inside the actual church. The lines for both the booze and the merch can be pretty ridiculous since they have limited staff supporting both areas.
Tip: The balcony tends to be the best seat unless you’re able to snag a first row pew. You get to see the whole performance from above everyone’s heads, and you’re not too far up, so the view is pretty spectacular. The performers aren’t elevated very high, so if you’re short, you’re going to have some issues seeing the show if you’re on the floor. All seats are general admission, so you can move around to find that sweet spot of your own.
Though there have been quite a few shows here in the past based off of other reviews, the parking situation is sort of confusing and chaotic. There is a UTLA lot that’s available caddy corner from the location, but I had a hard time finding it. I was able to snag a spot in the church’s lot, but that set me back $ 20. No complaints though since I wasn’t stacked in. They did have a few spots available on the street, but the signs were kinda confusing of when you could and couldn’t park there.
Restrooms are small and limited for the amount of people that are in the venue. Just keep that in mind if you’re someone that needs to frequent often…
I really enjoyed myself here. I’d definitely come back to see a show if an artist I liked was making a stop here.

We go to this church most of the time for Christmas. I used to go here for some quiet prayer time coz I live closeby. The lady before was nice enough to let me come in on a weekday. Lately I’ve been wanting to go here but I think administrative staff has changed and two or three times when I called in asking if I could come by and spend some quiet time to pray they refused each time saying the «sanctuary» was closed. As if it was an unacceptable question. I don’t see a point in having a church not accessible to people when they want to come in and pray on a weekday. But overall church members are very nice and welcoming.

I saw First Aid Kit here with a friend and though the venue was beautiful and the band put on a great show, the heat was almost unbearable. Distractingly so. I’ve seen concerts outdoors in the summer in the desert but this was different. People were sweating and miserable. Everybody was fanning themselves with their paper tickets and the two people next to us had to leave altogether. The cherry on top was that you couldn’t bring water… WATER… to your seats. I can understand no alcohol, sodas, food… etc. but if you either A) Don’t have central A/​C or even fans or B) DO have A/​C but refuse to use it for concerts you’ve GOT to let your patrons cool down with water. It may not be Deep South heat but it’s still August, folks. It’s pointless to chug a bottle of water in the breezy foyer before reentering this sauna of a performance space.

I went to the First Aid Kit concert on 8÷5÷15 (by the way they were FABULOUS); however, the church was absolutely sweltering. Even the singers were wiping down their faces after every song. The heat along with the humidity were almost unbearable to the point I was looking forward to the concert ending! And this is my favorite band ever!!! Oh, and you can’t take drinks or food or WATER into the venue; you have to guzzle them in the lobby. I saw many people buy 2 and 3 drinks for their friends and then be told, «Sorry can’t go in the theater.» Bad, bad, bad. And as hot as it was, couldn’t even have water. Will never go to another concert there, ever.

Beautiful elegant church outside and inside. Came here for concert with band First Aid Kit. Sounds inside this place is wonderful. No air conditioning so it was super hot inside. Everyone has a place to sit so it was comfortable. The stage is very close to the audience so it made the performance more fun. Parking across the street in a parking structure for $ 5. We had a fabulous time here, very memorable.

There is nothing nice to say. Go to a show get general admission and wish you were at home listening to your stereo. Distorted sound /​can’t see shit! Dark stage like watching bats. Poor bands– the best your manager could do to book you.

If you want to get a huge damper on the jubilant feelings you have for your fiancé as you look for venues, this is the place to go. Really unprofessional staff, acting as if we are burdening them. The place looks run down. Trash outside, homeless people sleeping in the corners of the buildings. But worst of all was their attitude. Wouldn’t have our ceremony if they offered it for free.

This church is absolutely beautiful! Just moved to LA and decided to check it out based on a friends recommendation. People were so nice and welcoming. A very diverse congregation and they are open and affirming. Bravo Immanuel, we will definitely be returning very soon!

Came here to see Lo Fang and Rhye. We sat in the balcony and even though we were in the back, the stage felt very close and the show felt very intimate. The architecture at night is beautiful. Not exactly a place I’d like to hang out by myself at night, but quite nice for a nighttime show. During Lo Fang, the ambiance actually added an appropriate level of meditativeness to the performance.
My only beef is that when seated, there really is not a lot of individual space. I’m not usually claustrophobic but leg room is basically non-​existant here and the amount of shoulder room you have is about the same as no a Southwest flight. I’ve been to a lot of concerts where I end up standing most or all of the time and I always think how nice it would be if everyone was seated. Well, everyone was seated for the duration of this show and I kept hoping they’d play a song that would stir people to stand and move around a bit. I guess churches aren’t exactly designed with comfort and ergonomics in mind, huh?

I came here the other night for a concert with Damien Rice. There is a parking lot across the street that only charges five dollars if you’re here for a concert. This place however has no AC and only two women stalls for the bathroom and which one it was not flushing properly. However, as a concert venue it was very intimate and Damien Rice did an excellent job with the lighting and increasing the whole intimacy factor. At one point in the night he completely turned off all the lights and it was amazing. He also sang half of the song in French, he brought up about 40 random audience members from the first floor at the end, he did about four or five songs for an encore, and one girl even got to be his date when he was explaining how he wrote the song cheers. He even got a standing ovation before he said a word or started singing when he took the stage. He had no opening act. His concert was very fun and moving. I’m glad that he chose to have it here in this church. If you have the chance to come to a concert here it is totally worth it.

This is a beautiful building with awesome acoustics. The only two gripes I have are these: The bathrooms are inadequate and a ridiculous distance from the show area. They refused to turn on air conditioning and the room was a sweltering nightmare, making it difficult to enjoy an otherwise delightful show.

This is a very beautiful church located in the heart of K-​town. Visited this church for a wedding today. I love the high ceiling and the acoustic is unbeatable. There is enough seating for 1000+ just on the main level. There’s also balcony seating.
The only deduction is for the availability for parking… For the sofa of this church, there’s not enough parking for all the attendees. =(
Great church for a wedding or music program/​concerts all except for the parking situation.

Beautiful church! My favorite in all of Los Angeles. If you love old gothic style churches visit this one! It is magnificent. This is a must see for MCR fans!

This church has gone through it’s up and downs but there is nothing that beats gospel centered praise, gospel centered messages and a Christ seeking community of believers.
Come join our family!
#LAODCFAMILY

I went to the church for the purposes of photographing the school. The sanctuary is stunning.

churching around los angeles continues.
the older the better!
this one built in 1929, albeit with late victorian renaissance and gothic revival aspect.

i don’t want to say anything bad about the big house but these guys gotta step it up.
after a leave of absence taken during the football season, i felt the need to worship again and decided to follow up on a friend’s recommendation to try this church.
there is no parking — no wonder i see the church shuttle all over ktown. it’s picking up and dropping ppl off all week. again there is no parking which is my primary excuse for not having gone back.
the crowd is mainly korean ppl but the sermon is in english. i think the pastor’s name was ben and while he seemed like a nice guy, was pretty long winded — maybe i just caught him during one of those weeks.
hopefully, if i show up again, there will be more chairs and they do something about the room the service was held in. i hope that’s not asbestos — then you’re going to really need jesus after a few weeks exposed to that

My Chemical Romance — «Helena» music video was shot here at IMMANUEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The architectural design style of this church is GOTHIC. I feel like I’m in England or France whenever I visit here to shoot weddings. It’s one of my favorite histrorical churches in Los Angeles.
There are two chapels. The main sanctuary can facilitate upto 500 guests. If your wedding is much smaller, than there’s a smaller sancturary. This smaller sanctuary is called, «Westminster Chapel.» The front entrance stairways are my favorite place for the B&G and wedding party portraits. Every corner of this church can turn into beautiful & elegant backdrops for photography. The Bride’s waiting/​dressing room is nicely decorated with white furnitures and mirrors. There’s a women’s restroom right next to the dressing room. Very convenient for the bride and her bridesmaids!!! The church’s half ground level auditorium is used as a wedding reception area. Parking lot is located right behind the church on Berendo street side. Just like anyother historical churches, the inside of the church is very dark. You NEED a strong flash unit and a sturdy tripod. Well… This was my take on IPC as a photographer. Hope you find my review useful~ Thanks!!!

I was born in Jamaica and raised within the Church of Scotland: the Presbyterian Church for all you who don’t know. All our ministers were trained in Scotland and Scottish culture is so popular in Jamaica that there is an audience for the annual Highland Dancing competitions that are held there (u heard me). Then we moved to the USA and found friendly people who were still as reserved and austere as the ones we left behind in Jamaica.
Growing up Presbyterian, I can tell you with authority that all the jokes are true. We are stiff, awkward, formal, boring, blah, blah then I moved to Los Angeles and came to Immanuel Presbyterian. Its Church; Its Presbyterian. But its also liberal. (gasp!)
Yeah, believe it or not you can now find a whole congregation (I’m overstating; but you won’t be the only one!) of religious liberals. How so? Let me enlighten you first of all… you do not have to wear semi formal or Sunday best to church. You can… people do… but no one expects you to and you feel comfortable enough not to wear the clothes that you used to only wear on Sunday. Secondly, people will say more than hello or Peace Be with you. Am I blowing your mind, yet? Let me try harder… we have «combo» services: bilingual and contemporary and the traditional all mixed up together!!! In ONE SERVICE! I mean… you could open with ‘My God is an Awesome God’ and sing ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ in the same service. It happens. Piano, organ, and guitar each service. (no kidding) Biggest mind blower: Service will run over and no one seems to mind: we don’t shorten hymns, we still have the postlude.
Not blown away… this one twisted my noodle… we have non-​Prebyterians who attend services, faithfully, for some reason. Because they believe in God…(idunno) or they find the church so accepting (WTF)…like I said this one twisted my seemingly liberal panties is a couple OMG knots. When Frank, our pastor, clued me on who weren’t «Presbyterian» I looked him in the eye and was jaw-​dropping speechless.
In a compassionate and imperfect environment that focuses on worship it is no wonder we have such diverse members. If you are Korean and don’t want to go to Korean Presbyterian Church, then I say: COME TO Immanuel. If you are Presbyterian and married/​committed to someone who is not Christian or Presbyterian, then I say: COME to Immanuel. If you have fallen asleep to one too many sermons and you really want to listen to one that is actually interesting and thought provoking and not just a good speech, then I say: COME to Immanuel. If you are a Spanish speaker and live in the area and want to come to church, then I say VE AQUI! Beinvinedos! If you are from the Caribbean (hopefully Jamaican) and Presbyterian, then check us out.
Curious…our minister has a blog of his sermons… read some… you will get something out of it. Here is the link.

Immanuel Presbyterian is as close as I have gotten in LA to «family.» As I am a transplant (I do know some true Angelenos, but…), IPC has become my community of family and friends and Faith. IPC challenges me to ask questions about my faith and to really make an attempt to live out my faith. IPC makes very big social justice and peacemaking commitments and involves the congregation in as much as it can.
IPC is in the heart of the city and is always looking to find more ways to get involved in the community.