Local Churches and Synagogues Celebrate Easter, Passover as Pandemic Winds Down in Santa Monica

Santa Monica has 18 churches, and all of them will be conducting Easter services on April 17th.

St. Monica's Catholic Church will conduct it's easter services at several times throughout Easter Sunday. St. Monica Catholic Church, one of the largest Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The church, located at 7th and California Streets, was erected in 1925 and served as the inspiration for the 1944 film classic Going My Way with Bing Crosby. But you can also watch Easter services online, every two hours starting at 9:30 am Easter Sunday.

Calvary Baptist Church at 1502 20th Street, invites you to "Resurrection Sunday." Services begins at 9:00 am with a community breakfast and a presentation from our children. Our morning worship service will follow at 10:30 am."

The Church in Ocean Park, an interfaith institution that emphasizes social justice, invites you to "Fixin' to Get Ready" with Dr. Kim Harris Sunday at 10:15am on zoom. "In the midst of Ramadan, the Hindu Holi Festival and Palm Sunday, and preparing for Passover and Easter. An interesting morning for an interfaith / interreligious community ~ The Church In Ocean Park With Louise Dobbs, Music Director, Gina Frazier, welcomer and Janet Gollery McKeithen, minister."

St. Paul's Lutheran Church will conduct Easter Sunday services on Sunday morning at 9 am. "Join us either in-person at St. Paul's or live on YouTube as we observe Good Friday together with our friends from First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica.

"Tonight, the cross stands at the center of all things, not as an instrument of death, but as a sign of Christ's victory," says St. Paul's Facebook page.

"At the heart of the Good Friday liturgy is the passion according to John, which proclaims Jesus as a triumphant king who reigns from the cross. The ancient title for this day-the triumph of the cross-reminds us that the church gathers not to mourn this day but to celebrate Christ's life-giving passion and to find strength and hope in the tree of life. In the ancient bidding prayer we offer petitions for all the world for whom Christ died."