A year and more after wildfires tore through parts of Southern California, clergy across religions say they have built new habits of cooperation—spurred by shared losses and the practical demands of recovery.
Rabbi Amy Bernstein, who leads Kehillat Israel, described how the wind-whipped fire in January 2025 that scorched much of the Pacific Palisades “blew everything open” for the community’s faith leaders. Bernstein said that if the community’s hearts must break, “let them break open,” adding that the tragedy has pushed congregants closer to one another as clergy work to change what they can in the aftermath. She said Kehillat Israel has 900 families and that 300 of them lost their homes. (AP)
In Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Pasadena, faith leaders said they have depended on interfaith and community partnerships to rally congregants who are still piecing their lives back together about 16 months after the fires. They have also described a recovery process that requires more than worship: clergy have sought ways to support scattered members, raise money for basic needs, and address the emotional toll of destruction. (AP)
Pastor BJ King, who leads LoveLand LifeCenter, said that the fires left no option to stay on the sidelines. King described his congregation’s history of healing and building interfaith coalitions after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and he contrasted that earlier moment—when he said there was a choice—with the aftermath of the 2025 fires, when “there is no choice. It has affected everybody.” (AP)
Rev. Grace Park, associate pastor at Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church, said interfaith bonds strengthened after the fires. She said leaders including Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Jews and yogis found common ground in human suffering and learned how to lean on one another. Park said, “It’s a sense of mutual affection and respect, learning from each other and leaning on one another,” adding that the group is “sharing the joys and the deep valleys of what it means to lead through a time of tragedy.” (AP)
Clergy also described adapting to new responsibilities beyond their traditional roles. King’s congregation switched to online services after their leased church building in Altadena suffered smoke damage, and he said that 12 families lost their homes. King said he also created a program to connect therapists with those in need of mental health, saying, “Many people didn’t even know they needed that.” (AP)
Across the region, other clergy said they have also involved themselves in legal, political and rebuilding discussions. Pastor Jonathan DeCuir, who leads Victory Bible Church in Pasadena, said one powerful role faith leaders have played is to “continue to talk with power, people in charge.” DeCuir said he and other leaders kept meeting with local officials and that they even conferred with Gov. Gavin Newsom to help keep recovery moving for communities. DeCuir said he chairs the board of Legacy Land Project, which provides financial aid, legal support and guidance on building contractors, as well as medical care to those affected by the fires. (AP)
At the same time, clergy said recovery raised stakes tied to who would be able to return home and who might be pushed out. The AP report said pastors in Altadena have had to fight to protect the rights of Black people who found pathways to home ownership in the community despite redlining, but now risk losing their land to outside developers. (AP)
Pastor Mayra Macedo-Nolan, executive director of the Clergy Community Coalition in Pasadena, said houses of worship have served as visible “beacons of hope” in traumatized neighborhoods and that her group has lobbied for houses of worship to be prioritized on the same footing as businesses in rebuilding plans. Macedo-Nolan said, “When people start seeing churches rebuilding in Altadena, they’re going to feel like it’s going to be OK because the churches are coming back.” (AP)
As some congregations move toward rebuilding their sanctuaries, clergy also described disagreements and renewed questions about what faith institutions should become in the future. On April 26, the Altadena Fountain of Life Church broke ground to build a new sanctuary after its church building, which had stood for more than three decades, was destroyed in the fire. Pastor Jonathan Lewis said he hopes the church will be ready in time for Easter next year, and he said, “It’ll be a Resurrection Sunday for our church, too.” (AP)
Another church, Altadena Community Church—a United Church of Christ congregation—has been pausing to rethink its purpose. Rev. Michael Lewis, who took over in February after the previous pastor retired, said the congregation is exploring possibilities for the one-acre lot, including affordable housing. Lewis said, “We know that a church is not intended to be a landlord and the pastor is no property manager,” but he added they are also considering “who is able to return to Altadena” and how the scattered community can come back. (AP)
Meanwhile, Kehillat Israel’s members are preparing for one of the first returns by a house of worship to the Palisades since the disaster. Bernstein said that on May 15, members will carry their Torah scrolls back to their sanctuary, and she said Judaism has “a long history of starting over.” Bernstein added, “It’s encoded in our cultural approach to the world, that there are things that can always be taken away from you,” but she said “what you become can never get taken away.” (AP)