First Congregational Church of Los Angeles

The Sanctuary is the piece of the campus that concert bookers want. It is neo-Gothic, with stained glass, stone floors and one of the largest working church pipe organs in the world, and the church rents it out with a modern sound system and colored LED lighting. Seating runs to 800 on cushioned pews, with wooden chairs at the front that come out when an orchestra needs the floor space.

The church stands on South Commonwealth Avenue, west of downtown in the Wilshire Center area. Its calendar runs well past Sunday worship: candlelit piano and strings programs of film music, choral and organ concerts, and author talks such as the Book Soup signing with the cast of Boy Meets World. Smaller spaces on the campus, Shatto Chapel among them, take the rest.

Treat a concert here like a church visit rather than a club night. Large bags stay in the car or at the security post, and security may look inside anything you carry in. The parking structure beside the building is free for worship services, and the church keeps a public calendar of what is on each week.

Sunday mornings set the pattern for the campus: gates open at 10 AM and the sanctuary doors at 10:15, with the livestream filming under way during the service.