The mottos at First United Methodist Church of Pasadena appear above the Sanctuary entrance: "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors. You are welcome here." For more than 150 years the congregation has occupied a place at the literal center of Pasadena, and the welcome it extends is meant to match the building's reach - a 1,400-seat neo-gothic sanctuary on East Colorado Boulevard that has watched the city grow up around it since December 1924.
A Sanctuary in the Heart of Pasadena Since 1874
The congregation was established in 1874, when the first prayer meeting and Sunday school gathered in what would soon become the city of Pasadena. Across its 150-plus years, First United Methodist Church has occupied four campuses; the last of these is the English college gothic building completed in 1924 and dedicated in a December of dinners, concerts, and pledge-raising events. Eleven special services marked the opening, and the Skinner pipe organ built for the new Sanctuary has been sounding in the same room ever since.
A renovation in the early 1990s produced a more functional chancel area. Around the same time, the Sanctuary and education buildings underwent significant seismic retrofitting. The Chapel, designed by Thomas P. Barber in 1924, was closed for a period before a complete renovation and seismic strengthening returned it to use in 2006. The congregation's decision to preserve and update these historic buildings reflects a commitment to remain rooted in the city's core.
The Windows and the Stones
Stained glass is a hallmark of the building. Each window tells part of the story of the life of Jesus, made by the Roy C. Baillie Studios of Los Angeles. On the south wall of the Sanctuary, the Rose Window commands attention; its circular shape and quatrefoil geometry speak of unity and of the finite meeting the infinite. The Rose Window is a memorial to Rev. A.W. Bunker, who pastored in 1884 before the church was built.
The Chapel holds a Tiffany window depicting the twelve-year-old boy Jesus found in the temple, astonishing the elders after becoming separated from his parents on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Two church members, Santiago and Sebastian Alvarez, working with Rev. Dr. Thomas Brunkow and Kendall In, gathered images and descriptions of the windows into guide booklets as their Confirmation projects. A meditation video pairing stained-glass imagery with organ music, recorded by the church's organist Aaron Shows and church member and filmmaker Eric Dyson, is offered online as "Music for Stained Glass."
The Skinner Organ and the Sound of Sunday
The organ is the beating heart of Sunday worship. It was originally built in 1924 by the Skinner Organ Company of Boston and added to in 1955. A major 1974 rebuild was Manuel Rosales Organ Builders' "Opus 1" project, and at the same time the console was replaced by the Schlicker Organ Company. The pipes of the "Tromba" trumpet stop on the Great division were replaced in 2017, and the original blower engine (the "lungs" of the instrument) was fully restored in 2021. Today the organ has four manuals, 65 stops, and more than 3,500 pipes, with a hand-carved case holding the front facade of pipes, many of which are also functional. It can be heard at Sunday services and at concerts throughout the year.
The Chancel Choir leads the congregation in song most Sundays. Rehearsals are on Thursdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 9:15 a.m., before worship at 10:00 a.m. The choir's repertoire spans traditional choral music, contemporary worship music, and selections from other cultures, and it is open to all adults regardless of church membership. Two children's choirs, the Cherub Choir (pre-K through first grade) and the Cantate Choir (second through sixth grade), rehearse every Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to noon and perform in worship and in annual pageants and concerts.
A handbell program offers ringing opportunities for children, a youth handbell group, and The Resound Ringers adult ensemble. Performances happen in services, in concerts, and at community festivals.
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
The church describes itself with three words that have become its motto. "All Means All" reads a statement on its site: "All people are welcome at First United Methodist Church. We are proudly part of the Reconciling Ministries Network and welcome all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, physical or mental capacity, and education, socio-economic or marital status." The Associate Pastor, Rev. Mina Nau-Mahe, serves on the national board of the Reconciling Ministries Network.
Before each worship service the church offers an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement, recognizing that the land "was the ancestral homeland of the Tongva People for thousands of years," honoring the approximately two thousand Tongva people still living in the Los Angeles area, and giving thanks for the opportunity to live, work, worship and learn on this sacred land.
In its statement of belief, the church draws on John Wesley and the Methodist tradition. United Methodists, the church teaches, believe in a God who speaks through scripture, tradition, experience, and reason - what John Wesley called the "Quadrilateral." The Bible is the primary resource for faith, taken seriously but rarely literally, with deeper truth often found beyond literal meaning. The church holds that God's grace is unconditional, that Christ is Teacher and Savior, that faith is a verb, that the Christian life is best lived in community, that discipleship is twenty-four seven, and that the heart of the Christian faith is Christ's ministry of outreaching love.
Sunday Worship in the Sanctuary
Sunday worship takes place in the Sanctuary at 10:00 a.m. The service is also livestreamed on YouTube. After worship, at about 11:00 a.m., the Fellowship Hall fills with coffee and conversation; visitors are greeted at the entrance by the Hospitality Team and invited to learn more about the church's many ministries.
Nursery Care is offered every Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to noon for infants through four-year-olds, staffed by trained childcare providers and volunteers. Children pre-K through sixth grade are invited to Sunday School after the Children's Sermon during worship, running from 10:15 a.m. to noon, followed by Children's Music for children four and up.
Children, Youth, and the Choir Loft
Children and families are central to the congregation. Sunday School meets every Sunday morning with trained teachers and a structured curriculum that uses storytelling, crafts, and games to help children encounter God's love. Children's Music builds vocal skills, music reading, and the confidence to share gifts in worship. Vacation Bible School fills a week every July with Bible stories, games, crafts, singing, and laughter. Several times a year the whole family gathers for events like an Advent Festival, a Family-Style Mardi Gras, and Trunk-or-Treat.
For youth in seventh through twelfth grade, the church offers a Sunday evening program in the Youth Lounge that begins with dinner at 5:30 p.m. and continues with fellowship, games, service projects, and conversations about faith. The youth run service projects throughout the year, including gardening at GroWorks, organizing Trunk-or-Treat games for the wider community, and making sack lunches for the church's food pantry clients. Each summer the group embarks on a learning and service trip, raising funds so that students can take part with little to no financial burden. Confirmation classes prepare youth to become professing members of the local congregation and The United Methodist Church. A youth choir, a youth handbell choir, and the Summer Musical program offer additional ways for young people to participate.
Safe Gatherings, the United Methodist Church's policy for protecting children, youth, and elders, is fully observed. Every staff member and volunteer working with young people has completed a comprehensive background check and training.
Adults, Groups, and the Long Conversation of Faith
For adults, the church offers a wide range of small groups, classes, and fellowships. Spirit Seekers meets at 8:45 a.m. in the Church Lounge on Sundays to discuss the foundations of faith. Monday Mornings gathers at 10:30 a.m. in the Church Office Conference Room for prayer and Bible study. The Young Adults Group, for those between twenty and forty (though all are welcome), features potlucks, outings, game nights, and group volunteer opportunities. Pathfinders is a fellowship for those between sixty and eighty-five (though all are welcome) focused on outings and game nights.
United Women in Faith has both a daytime group, meeting on the third Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m. in the Church Lounge from March through June and September through December (with January and February meetings on the second Monday), and an evening circle meeting at 7:00 p.m. on the third Friday of the month at a different host home, with potluck appetizers and themed evenings. Turn-A-Page meets monthly at 11:30 a.m. to discuss popular books in all genres. Movie Night gathers in the Church Lounge on the last Sunday of the month, with a light supper at 5:00 p.m. and a film beginning at 5:45 p.m., followed by discussion.
A wide variety of additional groups and activities is listed on the church's Church Center app.
The Community Pantry and the Bad Weather Shelter
The Community Pantry serves members of the Pasadena community who may be unhoused, food insecure, or in need of basic clothing. Pantry hours are Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. to noon. A team of volunteers prepares grocery bags, gathers toiletries and essential clothing items, and engages with guests for conversation and prayer. New volunteers are always welcome.
A Friends and Family Lunch, served once a month after worship, offers food and fellowship and a way to welcome newcomers and longtime members alike. The congregation also partners with Pasadena Meals on Wheels, an organization dedicated to helping the disabled, aged, ill, or convalescing remain independent in their homes.
Each year the church joins Pasadena's Bad Weather Shelter network, providing overnight shelter during the coldest and wettest stretches of the year. The church's Co-Dependents Anonymous group meets regularly, and the Ending Well workshop, offered on Zoom, helps participants organize end-of-life affairs, including family treasures, digital estate, passwords, trusts and wills.
An Interfaith Campus on Colorado Boulevard
The First UMC building is home to a remarkable cluster of faith communities. The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a satellite campus of the Islamic Center of Southern California, and First Congregational Church of Pasadena all share the campus, joined more recently by Iglesia Comunidad Misionera. The Interfaith Youth Alliance has highlighted First UMC as a stop on its Summer Immersion Experience, in which students visit houses of worship across Southern California; the interfaith campus here, where Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others pray under the same roof, has been a favorite among participants.
That spirit surfaces in the church's own events. The Women's Interfaith Tea brings together women from the four on-campus faith communities along with Friends in Deed for a meal, music, and blessings offered in each tradition's own language and cadence. The annual MLK Celebration Concert - a gospel and classical music concert featuring the California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley - is part of the Third@First concert series.
Third@First and a Building at Work in the City
Third@First, the church's long-running concert series, presents world-class musicians on the third Saturday of each month from October through July. Offerings range from intimate piano and chamber recitals to jazz and full orchestra-choral works, all free of charge and held in the Sanctuary. The series is now in its twelfth season and has become a fixture of the Pasadena arts calendar.
For more than 20 years the church has also been a favorite location for major film productions and photography. The Sanctuary seats 1,400 under a vaulted ceiling; the Chapel, with seating for 180, features a Tiffany window; the Fellowship Hall and Great Hall provide large interior spaces; and the Mediterranean-style courtyard with fountain offers exterior options. A sixty-two-spot parking lot on the southwest side of the building can serve as base camp, crew parking, or catering. Local organizations and individual renters can also book rooms, though the Sanctuary, buildings, and grounds are generally not available to outside groups on Sundays.
Weddings and Memorials
The church hosts weddings in the Sanctuary, the Chapel, or the open-air Cloister enclosed by stone columns. The Chapel, with its center aisle and open-beamed ceiling, is the air-conditioned choice for summer weddings. Because the Sanctuary is not air conditioned, weddings may not be held there from May through September.
Marriage is treated as a physical and spiritual commitment intended to be lifelong, made within the worshipping community of faith. The church welcomes same-gender couples and guest couples of other denominations, and all weddings are conducted by FUMC's ordained clergy. The standard fee for a wedding ceremony is $2,525 (members $1,675), with a $500 deposit; the facilities are reserved up to twelve months in advance and must be booked no less than three months in advance.
Memorial services can be held in the Sanctuary (excluding May through September), the Chapel, or the Fellowship Hall. For church members there are no rental fees; for non-members the minimum donation is $1,800. Pastors, organists, soloists, and audio-visual technicians are available, with livestreaming offered as an option.
Joining First UMC
Joining the church begins with Holy Baptism, the United Methodist sacrament of initiation and incorporation into the Body of Christ. Adults considering baptism are invited to meet with the pastor. Parents bringing children for baptism make a vow to raise their children in the Christian faith until they can make that commitment for themselves in confirmation, usually between ages twelve and fourteen.
Once members, congregants are invited to embrace five practices: Prayers, Presence, Gifts, Service, and Witness - a framework the church uses to talk about what it means to be part of a congregation. Members commit to a life of prayer, faithful presence in worship, sharing of time and resources, acts of ministry within and beyond the church, and a Christian witness that extends beyond Sunday mornings into every corner of daily life.
The Pastoral Team
The Senior Pastor is Rev. Amy Aitken, who began her ministry at Pasadena First in July 2021. A native of Southern California, she holds a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary. Ordained in 1997, she has served United Methodist churches in Ventura, Granada Hills, Long Beach, Costa Mesa, and Redondo Beach, and currently serves on the boards of Friends in Deed and the Pasadena Playhouse Village Association.
The Associate Pastor is Rev. Mina Nau-Mahe, a Tongan-American who grew up in Salt Lake City. Before entering ministry she earned a Bachelor of Science in Apparel and Textiles and a Master of Arts in Fashion Design, followed by a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Ordained an elder in the Mountain Sky Conference, she serves on the national board of the Reconciling Ministries Network.
The music team includes Director of Music Ministries Scott Lehmkuhl, also Artistic Director of Pasadena Pro Musica and a lecturer in Applied Music at Pomona College; Organist Aaron Shows, whose compositions have been performed in the United States and Europe; Handbells Director Megan Goldstein, who has led the program since 2005; Cantate Choir Director and Children's Music Coordinator Chrissa Hayes, who has served the music program since 2000; and Cherub Assistant and Accompanist Alia Kerr. Dave Lohr directs the Audio Visual team.