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Pasadena
Presbyterian Church
An Historical Church and Sanctuary
Freeman Chapel
The Harry and Helen Ehrich Organ
In the year 2000, Pasadena Presbyterian Church (PPC)
marked its 125th year.
PASADENA'S FIRST CHURCH
 On March 21, 1875, the Pasadena
Presbyterian Church, the city's first church, was organized in a school house on Orange
Grove Avenue near California Street. PPC became established on its current site at Madison & Colorado on January 5, 1908, when we dedicated our third
sanctuary.
In 1924, radio station KPPC began over 65 years of
continuous broadcasting to our homebound members and community. The live
broadcast of Sunday morning worship continues today on Charter Cable TV for
Pasadena viewers. PPC's weekly newsletter,
THE CLARION, first appeared in 1942. Freeman Chapel, Fellowship/South Halls and Gamble
Lounge were built in the 1950s, as were new music rooms and radio facilities. In 1963,
Parish House and Kirk House were erected.
FREEMAN CHAPEL
Dedicated on June 22, 1952, this lovely, intimate chapel
bears the name of Dr. Robert Freeman, who began his 30-year ministry at PPC in 1910. This
much-loved, versatile pastor was also a writer of verse. One of his hymns provided
the inspiration for the dramatic windows in Freeman Chapel. Freeman Chapel is used
each Sunday morning for Korean Worship at 10:00 and Farsi Woship at 11:30, and for special services and times of quiet meditation.
The Chapel seats about 100 people, and is also sometimes used for
weddings.
ROBERT
FREEMAN
Names
on buildings begin to blend with the building after a while, and it becomes
no surprise that most of us pass by, or worship in the Robert Freeman
Memorial Chapel without ever wondering very strongly who Robert Freeman was.
Dr.
Robert Freeman was the senior pastor at PPC from 1910 to 1939, a remarkable
tenure no other person has ever matched. During that time he watched both
the church and community change, helped both weather the Great Depression,
and made the name of PPC known well beyond the borders of Pasadena, or
California, or even the United States. A native Scot, his lively preaching
style and distinctive brogue left him in high demand all over the southland.
Indeed, in tandem with his longtime friends and fellow Scots, assistant
pastor James Leishman and organist/choir director James Shearer, he hosted
annual Scots Night pageants which were huge draws throughout the Southern
California area.
Yet
Freeman was important for innovation as well. Under his leadership, PPC
hired the first woman Christian education director on the entire west coast.
With her help, the first summer camp for girls in the area was established
by the church on Balboa Island: Mar Casa. The church services began being
broadcast over the radio, and PPC developed its own radio station - still
evidenced by the studios now used by cable television in the basement of the
Parish House.
The
rich connection between PPC and the then-Presbyterian institution Occidental
College also bore particular fruit in the Freeman years. Oxy president John
Willis Baer became the first elder ever elected moderator of General
Assembly, and the close ties led to the student union at the college being
named after Freeman. After Freeman’s untimely death in 1940, his wife, Dr.
Marjorie Freeman, taught family life courses at Oxy especially aimed at
returning servicemen.
OUR SANCTUARY
 The 1971
earthquake severely damaged PPC's 1908 sanctuary, necessitating its demolition. Our open
and inspirational new sanctuary arose in its place. Blending modern materials with
traditional motif, architect John Gougeon used steel and concrete to shape the building,
incorporating a half Gothic arch throughout the design. The red oak furniture in the
chancel was crafted by member Heraclio Rosas, and the women of PPC created the colorful
creedal banners.
PPC's
sanctuary was dedicated on January 18, 1976, the crowning event of our Centennial Year,
with the eleven great bells from the old belfry pealing joyously from their new 120-foot
tower at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Madison Avenue. The sanctuary is the
center of worship and music life for the church, with seating for approximately 800
people, flexible and attractive front platform space, and excellent acoustics.
The massive contemporary stained glass windows and stunning suspended cross, made
possible by a generous gift from Gertrude A. Hezlep, enhance this "Sacred Space"
and inspire those who use it.
HARRY & HELEN EHRICH ORGAN
(To see
technical specifications on the organ, click here)
The Harry and Helen Ehrich Organ at Pasadena Presbyterian Church is one of
the largest and finest instruments of its kind in Southern California. Built by the
Æolian-Skinner company of Boston, and recently renovated by local organ
builder Robert Turner and the Schantz Organ Company of Orville, Ohio, the organ includes
more than 6,000 separate pipes
arranged in 112 ranks (or "sets") and is an excellent example of the
"American Classic" school of organ design. An American Classic organ
design attempts to include sounds suitable for the performance of music from the various
historic and national schools of organ compositions in one large, comprehensive
instrument.
This organ was built for PPC's 1908 sanctuary and replaced an older
instrument built by the Murray Harris firm of Los Angeles. It was designed in the
late 1940's by G. Donald Harrison of the Æolian-Skinner Company and then-organist David
Craighead. In 1947 the four-manual console was purchased, but funding for the
pipework was preempted by the building of the Parish House and Freeman Chapel. For
almost fifteen years this new console was used to play the old Murray Harris organ.
In 1961 the new organ was finally installed--112 ranks--with some revision
of the original stop list by Joseph Whiteford, president of Æolian-Skinner, and Robert
Prichard, PPC's organist at that time. The new organ included the large main organ,
much as it is now installed, along with a small "echo organ" of fourteen ranks
in the rear gallery of the church. Most of these echo pipes were retained from the
old Murray Harris organ, as was the 32-foot Flute Ouverte which is installed in
the pedal division of the main organ. The organ was a gift of Della O. Martin, a Pasadena
resident who had attended PPC as a child. Upon reading in the Pasadena Star News
that PPC had signed a contract with Æolian-Skinner for a new organ,"Miss Della"
announced that she wanted to purchase the instrument for the church. A delighted
congregation gratefully received her gift and named the organ in her honor.
The 1971 Sylmar earthquake badly damaged the church's 1908 sanctuary, but
the organ was salvaged and stored while the congregation built the present sanctuary.
In the mid-1970's the organ was reinstalled in PPC's current sanctuary by Casavant
Freres of Montreal, and an additional 2.5 ranks of new pipes were built to create the
striking facade. The organ currently bears the names of the donors who made this
reinstallation possible, Harry and Helen Ehrich.
Since its completion in 1961, the organ at Pasadena Presbyterian Church
has been featured in more than a hundred recitals played by prominent local and
internationally known musicians, and on more than 1,000 radio and television broadcasts.
In 2002-2003 a successful campaign was undertaken to fund the completion of the
organ and to do much-needed mechanical restoration and overhaul of parts of the organ that
show signs of wear and decay over time. Over 175 individuals made three-year pledges and
one-time gifts as part of this effort. Special gifts were given by John and Elizabeth
Herrick, whose generosity will make possible the reinstallation of the Echo organ pipes in
the rear of the sanctuary, and by Herb and Elizabeth Hezlep, whose kind support will make
possible the addition of a Trompette-en-chamade stop in the re-installed Echo
organ. Several
foundations contributed to the organ endowment fund; a very generous grant from
the Ahmanson Foundation brought us to our campaign goal of $350,000.
The pipes for the Echo
organ, which were assembled by the Schantz
organ company, are now visible at the rear of the balcony. During the
summer of 2003, the releathering of the organ and rebuilding of the console
were also completed. The newly rebuilt instrument was formally
rededicated in a recital and a special worship service on November 1 and 2,
2003.
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