Our History

Started in 1946

In the beginning, there were thirty people and the Reverend Henry C.S. Keaton meeting together in one of the homes in January 1946, to establish a new Presbyterian church in Redondo Beach.  On February 24, 1946, the first church service was held in the Redondo Beach Women’s Club.  On June 9, 1946, with 100 charter members, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church was officially organized.

The congregation soon outgrew its facilities, and the first building fund drive was begun.  Land was purchased at the corner of Avenue D and Pacific Coast Highway; ground was broken; and the first building was dedicated, all by the Fall of 1948.  That first building was known as the Chapel.

In 1949, Reverend Keaton resigned due to ill health, and Dr. William McCullough served until August 1950.  The Reverend Paul Clover Cox was then called to shepherd this flock of 225.  As our membership continued to increase, a two-story addition was erected containing church offices and Sunday school rooms.

Following the 1951 building addition, the increase in membership moved so quickly that the Session called an assistant-to-the-pastor for the Reverend Cox.  Mr. Arthur Owens, a retired Presbyterian missionary joined the staff to assist during this time of multiple Sunday services and Sunday school hours.

In the early 1950’s, a sister church relationship established with El Siloe Presbyterian Church, a Hispanic congregation in East Los Angeles.  This relationship continued for approximately twenty years, during which time the two congregations fellowshipped together while seeking to be mutually supportive in faithful outreach for Christ in both communities.

A second fund-drive began in the Spring of 1955.  With the membership now at 800 a third service was added on Sunday morning.  On Easter morning in 1958, a glorious celebration was held in the newly completed sanctuary.  To those present, it was a thrilling affirmation of God’s hand at work in His ministry at St. Andrew’s.

Around 1960, St. Andrew’s established a thrift shop at the Presbyterian Neighborhood House located in Bell Gardens, a suburb southeast of Los Angeles.  Members of St. Andrew’s collected and sorted the items for sale and staffed the shop for many years.

In the mid-1970’s Orchidea Van Beek, a member of St. Andrew’s established a home church for Hispanics in the Harbor City area.  They soon outgrew the capacity of a home and moved into the chapel at St. Andrew’s.  Here, they worshipped regularly and became known as the Agape Fellowship.  In 1983, Ministerio Hispano Agape was accepted by the Presbytery as a mission church.  On September 19, 1983, Orchid was ordained as its pastor.  This congregation, now known as Iglesia Presbiteriana Agape, continues to minister in the Harbor City area.

St. Andrew’s grew quickly to approximately 2600 members in 1968.  The next milestone was reached in June 1975, when the final mortgage payment was made.  A mortgage-burning ceremony was held in July of that year.

During the years from the mid-1970’s to late-1980’s, the congregation decreased significantly as we approached the retirement of our senior pastor.  During the interim pastorates of the Reverend Richard Dorst and Rollin Hughes, a ministry assessment was undertaken.  In January 1990, the Reverend Mark Nazarian was called to St. Andrew’s.  Much-needed repairs, refurbishing, and modifications to the sanctuary and property have been undertaken in recent years.  While those improvements initially required some new indebtedness through a General Assembly loan, that loan was paid off in 2007.