October 9, 2011

St. Louis Catholic Church
Cathedral City, California

Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death...He is the only canonised king of France; consequently, there are many places named after him,...Louis's piety and kindness towards the poor was much celebrated... He went on two crusades, in his mid-30s in 1248 (Seventh Crusade) and then again in his mid-50s in 1270 (Eighth Crusade)...Louis' patronage of the arts drove much innovation in Gothic art and architecture... (Wikipedia Link.)

"In February 1948 St. Louis Parish was formed and the first Mass was celebrated by Fr. Joseph Leissler who was appointed Pastor and served for 24 years.  Masses were celebrated in different areas until May 23, 1948 when the first permanent building was established.  The original St. Louis Church building was a 150' x30' military hospital ward.  Part of the building was partitioned off and became the church, the other part was used as the parish hall.  On February 10, 1949 St. Louis Church was dedicated and blessed... (REF)

Eiffel Tower Style Steeple

St. Louis Catholic Church at 68633 C Street,  was designed in 1973 by architect Joseph F. Dameron and built by the Phillips and Warren  construction company. It was completed in 1974.   Because it was named for St. Louis the steeple was imported from France and created to imitate the Eiffel Tower. The stained glass windows of the church are set in cement accents, as is pictured below next to the side door of the sanctuary.   Inside the sanctuary are a statue of the Sacred Heart that was added in 2010,   a statue of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, and statues of the Holy Family.



Sanctuary Side Door

The Stations of the Cross were created 1995 to 2000.  They were positioned through out the courtyard at the request of the parishioners, making possible mediation at any time of the day.

"Veronica wipes the face of Jesus"

Station VI

Court Yard Shrine

Lang Hall was built in the year 2000.  The downstairs is composed of education classrooms.  The upstairs is designated for social events.

Lang Hall

The congregation of St. Louis Catholic Church consists of 2600 families.  The sanctuary has a capacity of 600.  One well known parishioner was Frank Sinatra.

Thank you: To Rosie Luca in the church office for describing the church and

                 e mailing REFERENCE information.

Photos: Taken in February 2011 by SW.
Note: For information about Cathedral City see Blog Post September 25, 2011.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Louis

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Prayer

God, be with the persecuted Christians through out the world. Amen (SW.)

                                                                                                                     October 2, 2011

Glory To God Ministries

Cathedral City, California



"Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area) of southern California. Cathedral City is the second largest in population in the Coachella Valley, second only to Indio.^[2]

"The town's name derives from "Cathedral Canyon" to the south of the town, so named in 1850 by Colonel Henry Washington because its rock formations were reminiscent of a cathedral. The city itself started as a housing subdivision in 1925, but was not incorporated until 1981. The city grew 4-5 times in two decades." (Link 1.)

"Glory to God Ministries was established to further the proclamation of God's Word and equip God's people for ministry. It also encourages and assists churches and ministries in carrying out God's vision to "teach all nations" to know Jesus and grow in the faith.

"Dr. Randy Brodhagen, raised in Portland, Oregon, founded Glory To God Ministries in 1978.  Previously, Dr. Brodhagen was a Pastor in the Lutheran church and currently serves as the host and teacher of the international radio & TV broadcast, “The Love of God,” which airs across the United States and Canada." (Link 2.)

Sanctuary under construction Feb. 2011

"FORMER NIGHTCLUB WILL BECOME A CHURCH

Submitted by knews on Tue. 09/29/2009 - 11:27.

The building at 67-399 East Palm Canyon Drive that once housed Pompeii nightclub will soon be home to parishioners of Glory to God Ministries. In a three to nothing vote Monday the Cathedral City Architectural Review Committee approved plans for the church. Plans now go before the city’ planning commission, where church leaders will ask for a permit to begin transforming the building into a state-of-the-art church. The structure was built in the 1950’s by architect A, Quincy Jones. Plans call for a significant addition to the building and an elaborate water structure, along with a 19-foot-long cross that still needs to be cleared through the planning commission. Construction could take about six months. The building was sold to Glory to God Ministries for Two-Point-1-Million-Dollars in 2006. " (Link 3.)

"Hipster Haven to House of God

The former Pompeii nightclub at 67-399 East

Palm Canyon Dr. in Cathedral City has been

 many different restaurants and night spots,

 but never a church.

1957

Prince Michael Romanoff, a Rodeo Drive restaurateur,

built Romanoff's on the Rocks, soon frequented by

Frank Sinatra, Lauren Bacall and Tony Curtis, among

other Hollywood stars.

1960

A drugstore owner bought the space and renamed it

Rim Rocks to keep Romanoff's fancy china, silver and

furnishings with the "RR" monogram.

1972 

Joe Hanna and Sherman Harris bought the property

and kept it a restaurant with live lounge acts nightly

until 2 am.

1983

George Simmone, a Honolulu nightclub owner, rented

the space and renamed it "Last Nights of Pompeii". 

Soon the space would have a working volcano, an

animatronic band, Jacuzzi rooms and a swim up bar.

1986

The California Department of Justice's Organized Crime

Division arrested Pompeii part owner Dominic Peter

Lucci for selling cocaine at the club.

1993

Pompeii closed after an arsonist set a fire inside the club.

A string of nightclubs and restaurants tried to take its place.

February 2006

Glory to God Ministries buys the property for $2.1 million and tears down Pompeii's two story volcano."

(Source: Joe Hanna and newspaper accounts.)

(Link 4.)
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The church at 67-399 East Palm Canyon Dr. is now completed with Saturday and Sunday services at 8:30 am, 9:45 am, and 10:00 am in the sanctuary that seats 500.

Photos: Taken in February 2011 in Cathedral City, California by SW.
Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_City,_California
Link 2:  http://www.glorytogod.org/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/applogic+ftcontentserver?pagename=faithhighway/10000/6000/142gl/BuildingProject
Link 3: http://www.knewsradio.com/stories?page=380 

Link 4: http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_D_god21.2c021b6.html

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