A History of St. Mary's

St. Mary of the Angels Church was founded in 1919 as an Anglo-Catholic parish in the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles.  Fr. Neal Dodd, the founding rector, was moved by the Lord to address the spiritual needs of the fledgling Hollywood motion-picture community. 

His mission work met with much success, and in 1930 our present building was erected. In the 1950s and 1960s, the second rector, Fr. James Jordan, established a national reputation for St. Mary's as one of the country's leading centers of Anglo-Catholicism. In 1971, Fr. Jordan unexpectedly died of a heart attack and was succeeded by Fr. John Barker. 

In the mid-1970s the national Episcopal church erupted in a series of doctrinal controversies that came to focus on the nature of holy orders and the Church's liturgy and worship. Many Episcopalians, including a sizeable majority of the members of St. Mary's, felt that they could no longer remain faithful to the Catholic heritage of Anglicanism within the Episcopal church and so, in 1977, they withdrew. Eventually Father Barker (and many other disenchanted Episcopalians) came to feel that only the Roman Catholic church could assure the continuation of Catholicism.  As a result he became a Roman Catholic in 1985. The parish as a whole, however, expressed its determination to remain within the Anglican tradition. 

Sharing that conviction, Fr. Gregory Wilcox was called to St. Mary's and became the fourth rector in 1985. At that time, the parish was received by Archbishop Louis Falk, Primate of the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion.  Since then, St. Mary's has quadrupled her membership, the church is again full for High Mass and we are an active and loving, if not always placid, parish family.

Following over two decades as Rector, Father Wilcox resigned in 2006 and, following a year of intense reflection and search, the Parish called the Reverend Father Christopher Kelley, SSC as the fifth rector in the 89-year history of the parish.

Through all its history, worship has been central to St. Mary's life.  The recitation of the daily offices of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer and the daily offering of the Mass provide the focus for our parish.  Our worship is in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, with the rich ceremonial of western Catholicism, the beauty of the Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer, and the musical heritage of the ancient chant. For us, these are not venerable antiques, but the living vehicles of our present-day worship. Through them we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and celebrate His Presence as "God with us."  Come and celebrate with us!