From The Living Church-
Using a two-sides-of-the-coin approach — traditional liturgy and social outreach — St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Hollywood, has found success in a transitory neighborhood and an often anti-religious culture. In the process, it has become a model for catechetical training, new-member retention and fundraising.
“If you want snobby ‘privileged at prayer’ go to Beverly Hills,” said longtime parishioner Michael Ensign. “We’re a funny little outpost at Hollywood and Gardner; a real ship of fools. But we’re clear about who we are. We’re messy and very human, but in messiness is God.”
Ensign has been at the church for 22 years. He is a career actor and veteran of too many movies and television series to list (including Big Love, CSI, and Boston Legal).
“It doesn’t feel like every other place,” Ensign said. “The incense is thick, and everybody loves to sing. We pray like Catholics and sing like Baptists. But it’s not just some esoteric Sunday morning show. St. Thomas is active. We figure, if we don’t do it here, it won’t be done. We find people are looking for what we do.”
The Traditional
St. Thomas proudly declares itself the only Anglo-Catholic parish of any size in Los Angeles. The otherworldly quality of traditional liturgy — including weekly Latin Mass with Gregorian chant — appeals to parishioners’ dramatic side. The rector, the Rev. Ian Elliott Davies, restored the altar to an eastward-facing position and celebrates Mass with his back to the congregation in lieu of “the bartending position.”
More here-
http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/8/28/apolitical-inclusion-at-st-thomas-the-apostle-church-hollywood
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