The south central district of Los Angles California is a community on the move. Bishop Charles Blake along with his supportive wife Mae and dynamic congregation are revitalizing a neighborhood that is notorious for its riots, gangs and drive-by shootings. So miraculous is the effect of God’s extraordinary passion flowing into this community that it has become a shining example to people everywhere of what divinely inspired men and women of the spirit can achieve. The tide has turned.

In 1969, The (then) Reverend Charles Blake was called to become the pastor of a divided 50-member congregation at West Angeles Church. Unknown to Reverend Blake the congregation had voted, before they had met him, to reject the proposal for him to become pastor of their church, and even after his appointment, there was a movement stirring to exclude him from the church building and grounds. In the midst of this turbulent beginning, Reverend Blake was re-energized through divine intervention and he knew this calling truly was God’s plan for his life. Heart, mind, body and soul, plus his absolute rock-solid faith, became the cornerstone for the revitalization of this community.

Twenty years later the congregation now numbers 18,000 strong and has over 80 social ministries available to both members and non-members. These ministries include marriage counseling, AIDS support groups, substance abuse recovery, Los Angeles’ largest literary program, a prison ministry, a school mediation program aimed at preventing violence, a homeless ministry that feeds 2,000 people a week, and a community development program that has built over 150 low-income housing units (with more underway). The education and training ministries include a Performing Arts Theatre, the School of Success, a Bible College, the School of Practical Christian Living, the School of Leadership Enhancement and Development, and The West Angeles Christian Academy with over 1,600 children in grades K-8. By all accounts West Angeles Church lives up to its statement of affirmation, "Our Children, Our Future."

West Angeles has become the spiritual, social and economic center of south central Los Angeles. Its congregation includes everyone from the impoverished to wealthy business leaders. On any given day you will find single mothers, AIDS sufferers, drug and alcohol abuse victims, worshiping alongside trend setting movie stars, distinguished professional athletes, and community leaders. The co-chairmen of West Angeles Cathedral’s building committee are Denzel Washington and Magic Johnson. They, along with the entire congregation, have raised funds to build a 5,000 seat cathedral that is far more precious than its framework of steel and exterior covering of Karelian granite and stained glass curtain walls. It truly is a beacon to the soul of man.

When Reverend, now Bishop Blake and Mrs. Blake visited our studio in Fairfield, Iowa, to consult on the design for West Angeles Cathedral’s stained glass, our entire staff was struck by their powerful spiritual light. We experienced that same spiritual presence of God that is revitalizing south central Los Angeles. Whether Bishop Blake is preaching to 150,000 believers in Uhuru National Park in Nairobi, Kenya, to a conference of 100,000 Pentecostal ministers and delegates gathered in Seoul, South Korea, or to his home congregation in Los Angeles, California, there can be no doubt that darkness has been overpowered by the light.