Social Enterprise and the Church:
Hollywood Church Revitalizes Community with Innovative Programs and a Preschool
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“I really started to think about what an opportunity this was if clergy and leadership are willing to re-think what it means to be church.”
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By Neva Rae Fox
In Hollywood, California, an innovative model for church growth helped rejuvenate congregations while concurrently providing a positive impact on the community.
The ministries of St. Stephen’s in Hollywood and nearby St. Barnabas in Eagle Rock helped in creative ways, knocking off some tried-and-true methods. The Rev. Canon Jaime Edwards-Acton looked outside the box of the usual techniques associated with church growth to develop programs which are often considered non-starters: preschools, food justice programs, food pantries, and music.
For most, hearing the name Hollywood conjures visions of glamour and opulence. Perhaps at one time, but that golden image is not necessarily valid anymore. Wikipedia’s simple description of Hollywood is “a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles County, California, mostly within the city of Los Angeles. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it.”
“St. Stephen’s used to be in a fashionable part of Hollywood, and Eagle Rock, where St. Barnabas is, is becoming more and more fashionable,” commented Bishop John Harvey Taylor of the Diocese of Los Angeles. “The ministry they share is a plumbline. People who feel left behind, people who need community when life is hard, families who want their children taught according to a communitarian ethic – these churches are there for them in both neighborhoods, no matter what the shifting worldly economics of real estate ordain.”
Both churches were facing tough times, calling for tough decisions. Enter Edwards-Acton who inaugurated his tenure at St. Stephens in 1999. “St. Stephen’s dates to 1904 when it was a Hollywood powerhouse church,” he described. But as times changed, so did Hollywood. “Through ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, Hollywood became quite the contrast from what it was on screen.”
On his first day “there were six people at the English service and 25 in the Spanish.” Today, the numbers have jumped to 100 congregants and two services – one in English and another in Spanish.
He reminisced about the beginnings. “I was brand new. I was young once and naive enough to think that I could do something,” he laughed. “I went to the toolbox with the traditional ways, the standard ways, and realized none of those models worked in Hollywood.”
His predecessor was a volunteer priest on weekends who agreed to help for one year. One year turned into another, and, 30 years later, that priest retired. While the church was not paying a rector’s salary during that period, other expenses piled up. “The operating budget was only $45,000 at that time. The church wanted to use it for a full-time priest to hopefully turn it around,” Edwards-Acton explained.
His initial issue was how to keep the church going with a shrinking congregation and a big property, along with other challenges. He started with the “low hanging fruit - rent out the church hall, connect with a caterer, a theater company, and some non-profit groups.”
The groups didn’t just rent the space; the agreement was to work with the church. For example, “The theater company had a lower rent but helped the church with all the church pageants.”
This initiative continues. Today, he reported, “Three nonprofit organizations rent space all the time - office and outdoor space. Throughout the year, on a one-time or limited basis, probably a dozen more.”
While these actions helped, there was still a long road ahead. “Looking at the church financially, economically driven, pledge-and-plate was not going to work.”
So, he came up with another idea. Edwards-Acton opted to be a half-time priest while accepting a position with one of the non-profits at the church, a move that made him see the situation in a new light. “This,” he said, “makes you think about things differently. It was the early 2000s when the economy was falling apart. So, I had to think outside the box for the church and the non-profit.”
Concurrently, his sister, a certified teacher, was seeking rental properties to fulfill her dream of opening a fine arts preschool. “That sparked the imagination,” Edwards-Acton shared.
It also sent him on a steep learning curve about working with municipalities, ordinances, rules, and regulations. It was far from easy. “The Sunday before we were due to open, there was a fire in the church. It gutted the ceiling and the back part of the sanctuary, where some of the classes were going to be.”
Undaunted by the delay, The Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool opened in 2004 with St. Stephen’s as the landlord. “The first three students – one was my youngest son; two others were church kids.”
Between going directly into the community “to let them know about us,” and word-of-mouth, “the preschool took off from there. We went from three in 2004 up to 50 a couple of years later.”
The next obstacle materialized in 2008 when the city required changes, such as easements and pavements. “The price was astronomical,” Edwards-Acton remembered. “We couldn’t afford it.”
A little more research and a little more talking with officials led Edwards-Acton to incorporate the school into the church’s mission. “If we own the school and pay everyone through the church, then you can continue without doing all the stuff the city was asking.”
So, St. Stephen’s bought out his sister in the preschool, thereby ending the landlord arrangement. “In 2009 we got the license,” he said. “We have been running the preschool ever since.
From there, “The preschool became more integrated into the church. I really started to think about what an opportunity this was if clergy and leadership are willing to re-think what it means to be church.”
Today, student enrollment is 72. “We were 88, then to 0 during the pandemic, but we’re thriving again.”
While the preschool was operating, the congregation opened their eyes on other needs facing the diverse community. Ministry expanded, and today St. Stephen’s operates two community gardens, a food pantry, food justice work, “and we raise chickens – and that’s part of the preschool.”
With all elements working together, “The line between the preschool and what it means to be a church in the city has been blurred,” Edwards-Acton said. “This goes against traditional thinking.”
Eagle Rock
St. Barnabas in nearby Eagle Rock faced dire times. “Just before the pandemic, the church had dwindled down to a few,” Edwards-Acton said. “One year before Covid hit, that church closed down. After 95 years they gave the keys to the diocese. One week later, Bishop Taylor called and told me to let it sit, ‘but I want to you start putting together a plan.’ I did that, and included in the plan was a preschool, right from the start.”
Covid did not deter the plans for the schools. “While we were in Covid, we worked on the school. Before we even opened, we looked at how to spread the idea beyond Hollywood. We were able to use online and testimonials from students and parents from the current preschool to start a school that we haven’t started yet. We wanted parents to know our track record and experience.”
As a result, the second Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool, in August 2021, “opened the first day with 30 students.”
Now in its third year, the preschool is at capacity (68) with a waiting list, and Edwards-Acton is submitting the paperwork for an expanded license.
Edwards-Acton believes, “Episcopal churches are built with schools in mind. We laid down a foundation. Then Covid hit and it stalled things. In the midst of Covid, our food justice work started. We distributed food at both places.”
On the financial side, the preschools have made a difference in the operating budgets. “We’re never going to be a huge church,” Edwards-Acton said. “What it’s done is that it has taken the economic pressure off the church.”
He added, “Eagle Rock Preschool is revenue-generating but it’s more that than. It’s an identity for the church. It is not a cash cow for the church that you can siphon off the resources.”
Edwards-Acton credited the congregation for the success of the programs. “Our people volunteer for produce distribution, with 40 volunteers at each site,” he said.
A new ministry at St. Barnabas is Harmony Room, which is “live began as outside concerts during COVID. People would sit in the streets and sidewalks. I was creating an opportunity for musicians,” Edwards-Acton explained. “Jazz, folk, Latin music. It’s an extension of this thinking of how the church can reimagine ourselves.”
Today, St. Barnabas Eagle Rock offers one midweek evening bilingual service with Bible study, dinner, singing, and liturgy, with a congregation of 20 and growing.
“At both churches, neighbors have seen and experienced church being different, church as pure outreach, church as an institution that discerns a community’s needs and addresses them in a spirit of service and love,” Bishop Taylor said. “For all I know, it may be a return to an ancient form, when beliefs were held in common, and people thought the parish was there for the whole neighborhood.”
The Schools
The Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschools were named in honor of a five-year old who died from leukemia. Enrollment is open to the community for ages 18 months through five years. There are currently 12 certified teachers at each preschool. With an emphasis on arts, fine arts, and artists, the preschools feature community gardens and technology in the classrooms.
Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool at St. Stephen’s deems itself “A Hidden Gem in the Heart of Hollywood” focusing “on teaching children and helping them maximize their personal development through the lens of the fine arts.” Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool in Eagle Rock calls itself “A Diamond to Discover in Eagle Rock.”
Edwards-Acton observed, “There will always be a market for a preschool. It is a great opportunity. We’re interested in trying to promote these alternative ways of being church.”
St. Stephen’s and St. Barnabas
Today, St. Stephen’s announces itself as “a progressive Episcopal community in the heart of Hollywood… We like people. All kinds of people.”
Likewise, St Barnabas sees itself as “an encouraging Episcopal community in Eagle Rock. St. Barnabas Episcopal Church has been a fixture of the Eagle Rock community for over 100 years. As the neighborhood has evolved around it, our faith community has evolved as well. We’re a creative, progressive, engaging, affirming, and active church - a place where every person can be who God calls them to be.”
What’s next?
Today, Edwards-Acton is “full-time with St. Stephen’s in Hollywood, part-time with Jubilee Consortium (in the Diocese of Los Angeles), and I volunteer my time at St. Barnabas in Eagle Rock.”
Preschools, food justice, community gardens, pantries, live music music, “This is how we are going to be church and be present for each other,” Edwards-Acton said.
The churches and preschools are active on social media as well, thereby utilizing another way to reach into the community.
What’s next? Edwards-Acton said, “I am very passionate about social enterprise – alternative sustainable ways for churches to do what they want to do. I don’t want them to be held back for lack of resources. There’s not always grants available. There are a lot of opportunities – business minded – scrappy kind of thinking.”
This model in the two Los Angeles churches shows that growth can mean more than putting people in the pews. Bishop Taylor commented, “That church is more than Sunday morning; that the same leadership team can run a couple of campuses; the 21st century ministry can be a lot of fun; and that progressive and entrepreneurial are not a contradiction in terms.”
Can other congregations learn from this? Bishop Taylor says, “Yes, if they set out to do the ministry for its own sake and not as a utilitarian means of putting people in pews on Sunday morning. Canon Edwards-Acton and his colleagues feel invited to care for their neighbors. They believe the church is there to do that, and they don’t turn it around have the church say implicitly to the neighborhood, ‘What are you going do for us now?’ Doing the ministry for its own sake also relieves a degree of anxiety for congregational leaders, who often think these days that their job is to save the church. The Holy Spirit will save the church if the church helps save God’s people.”
In Hollywood, California, an innovative model for church growth helped rejuvenate congregations while concurrently providing a positive impact on the community.
The ministries of St. Stephen’s in Hollywood and nearby St. Barnabas in Eagle Rock helped in creative ways, knocking off some tried-and-true methods. The Rev. Canon Jaime Edwards-Acton looked outside the box of the usual techniques associated with church growth to develop programs which are often considered non-starters: preschools, food justice programs, food pantries, and music.
For most, hearing the name Hollywood conjures visions of glamour and opulence. Perhaps at one time, but that golden image is not necessarily valid anymore. Wikipedia’s simple description of Hollywood is “a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles County, California, mostly within the city of Los Angeles. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it.”
“St. Stephen’s used to be in a fashionable part of Hollywood, and Eagle Rock, where St. Barnabas is, is becoming more and more fashionable,” commented Bishop John Harvey Taylor of the Diocese of Los Angeles. “The ministry they share is a plumbline. People who feel left behind, people who need community when life is hard, families who want their children taught according to a communitarian ethic – these churches are there for them in both neighborhoods, no matter what the shifting worldly economics of real estate ordain.”
Both churches were facing tough times, calling for tough decisions. Enter Edwards-Acton who inaugurated his tenure at St. Stephens in 1999. “St. Stephen’s dates to 1904 when it was a Hollywood powerhouse church,” he described. But as times changed, so did Hollywood. “Through ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, Hollywood became quite the contrast from what it was on screen.”
On his first day “there were six people at the English service and 25 in the Spanish.” Today, the numbers have jumped to 100 congregants and two services – one in English and another in Spanish.
He reminisced about the beginnings. “I was brand new. I was young once and naive enough to think that I could do something,” he laughed. “I went to the toolbox with the traditional ways, the standard ways, and realized none of those models worked in Hollywood.”
His predecessor was a volunteer priest on weekends who agreed to help for one year. One year turned into another, and, 30 years later, that priest retired. While the church was not paying a rector’s salary during that period, other expenses piled up. “The operating budget was only $45,000 at that time. The church wanted to use it for a full-time priest to hopefully turn it around,” Edwards-Acton explained.
His initial issue was how to keep the church going with a shrinking congregation and a big property, along with other challenges. He started with the “low hanging fruit - rent out the church hall, connect with a caterer, a theater company, and some non-profit groups.”
The groups didn’t just rent the space; the agreement was to work with the church. For example, “The theater company had a lower rent but helped the church with all the church pageants.”
This initiative continues. Today, he reported, “Three nonprofit organizations rent space all the time - office and outdoor space. Throughout the year, on a one-time or limited basis, probably a dozen more.”
While these actions helped, there was still a long road ahead. “Looking at the church financially, economically driven, pledge-and-plate was not going to work.”
So, he came up with another idea. Edwards-Acton opted to be a half-time priest while accepting a position with one of the non-profits at the church, a move that made him see the situation in a new light. “This,” he said, “makes you think about things differently. It was the early 2000s when the economy was falling apart. So, I had to think outside the box for the church and the non-profit.”
Concurrently, his sister, a certified teacher, was seeking rental properties to fulfill her dream of opening a fine arts preschool. “That sparked the imagination,” Edwards-Acton shared.
It also sent him on a steep learning curve about working with municipalities, ordinances, rules, and regulations. It was far from easy. “The Sunday before we were due to open, there was a fire in the church. It gutted the ceiling and the back part of the sanctuary, where some of the classes were going to be.”
Undaunted by the delay, The Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool opened in 2004 with St. Stephen’s as the landlord. “The first three students – one was my youngest son; two others were church kids.”
Between going directly into the community “to let them know about us,” and word-of-mouth, “the preschool took off from there. We went from three in 2004 up to 50 a couple of years later.”
The next obstacle materialized in 2008 when the city required changes, such as easements and pavements. “The price was astronomical,” Edwards-Acton remembered. “We couldn’t afford it.”
A little more research and a little more talking with officials led Edwards-Acton to incorporate the school into the church’s mission. “If we own the school and pay everyone through the church, then you can continue without doing all the stuff the city was asking.”
So, St. Stephen’s bought out his sister in the preschool, thereby ending the landlord arrangement. “In 2009 we got the license,” he said. “We have been running the preschool ever since.
From there, “The preschool became more integrated into the church. I really started to think about what an opportunity this was if clergy and leadership are willing to re-think what it means to be church.”
Today, student enrollment is 72. “We were 88, then to 0 during the pandemic, but we’re thriving again.”
While the preschool was operating, the congregation opened their eyes on other needs facing the diverse community. Ministry expanded, and today St. Stephen’s operates two community gardens, a food pantry, food justice work, “and we raise chickens – and that’s part of the preschool.”
With all elements working together, “The line between the preschool and what it means to be a church in the city has been blurred,” Edwards-Acton said. “This goes against traditional thinking.”
Eagle Rock
St. Barnabas in nearby Eagle Rock faced dire times. “Just before the pandemic, the church had dwindled down to a few,” Edwards-Acton said. “One year before Covid hit, that church closed down. After 95 years they gave the keys to the diocese. One week later, Bishop Taylor called and told me to let it sit, ‘but I want to you start putting together a plan.’ I did that, and included in the plan was a preschool, right from the start.”
Covid did not deter the plans for the schools. “While we were in Covid, we worked on the school. Before we even opened, we looked at how to spread the idea beyond Hollywood. We were able to use online and testimonials from students and parents from the current preschool to start a school that we haven’t started yet. We wanted parents to know our track record and experience.”
As a result, the second Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool, in August 2021, “opened the first day with 30 students.”
Now in its third year, the preschool is at capacity (68) with a waiting list, and Edwards-Acton is submitting the paperwork for an expanded license.
Edwards-Acton believes, “Episcopal churches are built with schools in mind. We laid down a foundation. Then Covid hit and it stalled things. In the midst of Covid, our food justice work started. We distributed food at both places.”
On the financial side, the preschools have made a difference in the operating budgets. “We’re never going to be a huge church,” Edwards-Acton said. “What it’s done is that it has taken the economic pressure off the church.”
He added, “Eagle Rock Preschool is revenue-generating but it’s more that than. It’s an identity for the church. It is not a cash cow for the church that you can siphon off the resources.”
Edwards-Acton credited the congregation for the success of the programs. “Our people volunteer for produce distribution, with 40 volunteers at each site,” he said.
A new ministry at St. Barnabas is Harmony Room, which is “live began as outside concerts during COVID. People would sit in the streets and sidewalks. I was creating an opportunity for musicians,” Edwards-Acton explained. “Jazz, folk, Latin music. It’s an extension of this thinking of how the church can reimagine ourselves.”
Today, St. Barnabas Eagle Rock offers one midweek evening bilingual service with Bible study, dinner, singing, and liturgy, with a congregation of 20 and growing.
“At both churches, neighbors have seen and experienced church being different, church as pure outreach, church as an institution that discerns a community’s needs and addresses them in a spirit of service and love,” Bishop Taylor said. “For all I know, it may be a return to an ancient form, when beliefs were held in common, and people thought the parish was there for the whole neighborhood.”
The Schools
The Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschools were named in honor of a five-year old who died from leukemia. Enrollment is open to the community for ages 18 months through five years. There are currently 12 certified teachers at each preschool. With an emphasis on arts, fine arts, and artists, the preschools feature community gardens and technology in the classrooms.
Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool at St. Stephen’s deems itself “A Hidden Gem in the Heart of Hollywood” focusing “on teaching children and helping them maximize their personal development through the lens of the fine arts.” Delaney Wright Fine Arts Preschool in Eagle Rock calls itself “A Diamond to Discover in Eagle Rock.”
Edwards-Acton observed, “There will always be a market for a preschool. It is a great opportunity. We’re interested in trying to promote these alternative ways of being church.”
St. Stephen’s and St. Barnabas
Today, St. Stephen’s announces itself as “a progressive Episcopal community in the heart of Hollywood… We like people. All kinds of people.”
Likewise, St Barnabas sees itself as “an encouraging Episcopal community in Eagle Rock. St. Barnabas Episcopal Church has been a fixture of the Eagle Rock community for over 100 years. As the neighborhood has evolved around it, our faith community has evolved as well. We’re a creative, progressive, engaging, affirming, and active church - a place where every person can be who God calls them to be.”
What’s next?
Today, Edwards-Acton is “full-time with St. Stephen’s in Hollywood, part-time with Jubilee Consortium (in the Diocese of Los Angeles), and I volunteer my time at St. Barnabas in Eagle Rock.”
Preschools, food justice, community gardens, pantries, live music music, “This is how we are going to be church and be present for each other,” Edwards-Acton said.
The churches and preschools are active on social media as well, thereby utilizing another way to reach into the community.
What’s next? Edwards-Acton said, “I am very passionate about social enterprise – alternative sustainable ways for churches to do what they want to do. I don’t want them to be held back for lack of resources. There’s not always grants available. There are a lot of opportunities – business minded – scrappy kind of thinking.”
This model in the two Los Angeles churches shows that growth can mean more than putting people in the pews. Bishop Taylor commented, “That church is more than Sunday morning; that the same leadership team can run a couple of campuses; the 21st century ministry can be a lot of fun; and that progressive and entrepreneurial are not a contradiction in terms.”
Can other congregations learn from this? Bishop Taylor says, “Yes, if they set out to do the ministry for its own sake and not as a utilitarian means of putting people in pews on Sunday morning. Canon Edwards-Acton and his colleagues feel invited to care for their neighbors. They believe the church is there to do that, and they don’t turn it around have the church say implicitly to the neighborhood, ‘What are you going do for us now?’ Doing the ministry for its own sake also relieves a degree of anxiety for congregational leaders, who often think these days that their job is to save the church. The Holy Spirit will save the church if the church helps save God’s people.”
