By Larry R. Hygh, Jr., Ed.D.
“No matter what we go through our foundation is the same, the foundation of Jesus Christ,” says Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank, resident Bishop of the California-Pacific Conference (Los Angeles area) of The United Methodist Church (UMC), as she preached for the sanctuary dedication of St. John’s UMC in Watts. The dedication took place more than four years after a fire almost destroyed the church. She added, “You have literally and figuratively experienced a crucible moment…God has given you a community of faith and your gathering makes a difference.”
On February 5, 2022, a fire broke out near the church and spread into the sanctuary. It took more than 70 firefighters an hour to extinguish the fire. The fire ripped through the sanctuary burning all items in the choir loft, damaging the bell tower, and damaging both the exterior and interior of the building. Tragedy again struck in June of 2023 when an electrical fire broke out. This time it took 32 firefighters about 20 minutes to put out the flames in the sanctuary and balcony of the church.
For more than four years, during the rebuilding and reconstruction, the church has been holding worship each Sunday outdoors on their basketball court/parking lot.
“We are the church in Watts with Watts at heart,” says the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Kathey M. Wilborn, who also grew up in the church. “We have literally been through the fire and lived to tell the story and witness to God’s faithfulness.” She added, “We are a beacon of hope and light to this community uplifting God’s people in Watts for the next 100 years.”
Ministry through the years has included the Watts Community Ministry, Echoes of Praise Liturgical Dance Group, the Spectacular Filling Station, Sheenway Schoolhouse and Culture Company, partnership with the National Association of University Women Southwest Sectional, community health fair, backpack giveaway, migrant welcome center, neighborhood youth association after school program, and St. John’s Family Center and Wellness Clinic. Partners also include Crystal Stairs, Children’s Institute, Venice Basketball league, Watts Neighborhood Council and organizers of a community garden.
The Rev. Dr. Siosaia Tu’itahi, West District Superintendent dedicated the building saying, “Now that we have completed the building, and paid all indebtedness on it, let us dedicate this building and rejoin in its holy use.” He added, “We dedicate this house for the witness of family life, for teaching and guiding the young, for the perfecting of the saint, for the conversion of sinners, for those that will come for baptism, for the promotion of righteousness, and for the extension of God’s reign.”
Located across the street from the Watts Towers, St. John’s basketball court/parking lot was used in the filming of the 1992 sports comedy film “White Men Can’t Jump” starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. The 2023 remake was also filmed there.
The church was founded on February 23, 1923, as Shaw Mission Methodist Church at 114th Street and Grandee in Owens Hall in Watts. A lot was purchased at 114th and Compton Avenue and a building was erected. The plans for organizing this ministry began in the early 1920s when a small group of people gathered at the home of Mrs. Nadine Eggleston and the Rev. Alexander P. Shaw (Pastor of Wesley UMC) to start a mission in Watts. Shaw Chapel (named in honor of Bishop Alexander P. Shaw) lasted from 1923 to 1943 at 114th and Compton. Then those 35 persons moved into the former Christ Church on South Wilmington Avenue changing their name to St. John’s Methodist Church.
They built a playground to the rear of the church in 1946, set up an employment agency, and organize a credit union in 1952. In 1962, a building drive was launched to build an educational building and sanctuary on the Wilmington Avenue site and possibly acquire additional adjacent land. Plans changed in 1964 when the congregation marched to its current location on October 18th accepting the keys of the former El Beun Methodist Church location after the 1963 Annual Conference Session. In 1975 a parsonage was purchased in Lynwood.
Layperson Tricia D. Hamilton says, “Being displaced from my church due to fire is heartbreaking. But by God’s grace, to be able to worship in a newly renovated space, has marked an amazing journey of resilience, renewal, and hope for me.”
*Dr. Hygh is a lifelong United Methodist, 5th Generation Methodist, and former United Methodist communicator who is now a communications professor at California State University Dominguez Hills.
