Lucy Wilson's S.S. class

It all began in 1927 when members of the First Church Of the Nazarene in Los Angeles set out to evangelize the local Chinese community by conducting a Chinese Sunday School in the basement. Church members would travel blocks to round up the Chinese children on Sunday mornings. Later on, Sunday school classes were held on the second floor of the 7th St. wholesale market. Services were held in a large room in the building.

Eventually the congregation grew and the wholesale market facilities could not accommodate it. In 1944 a house on the corner of 21st and Trinity streets was purchased and renovated. Rev. Peter Kiehn preached at the Sunday services until 1946, when he and his wife returned to China to continue their missionary work there. He put up a sign in front of the church reading "Chinese Mission"
Rev. Lee is second from the left	In 1946, Rev. Wilbur Lee, bilingual in English and Cantonese, took over. The congregation became known as Chinese Church of the Nazarene. During Rev. Lee's tenure, the congregation grew rapidly and crowded the small building. Some Sunday school classes were held on the stair steps or perhaps inside of a car, for instance. On June 29, 1950, the church was incorporated and became First Chinese Church of the Nazarene.
Group photo of the congregation taken in 1946

By the late 1940's it was apparent that the church needed larger quarters. It was proposed to construct a building that could accommodate up to 300 worshipers. An empty lot on the corner of Jefferson Ave. and Trinity St. was purchased with a small down payment.  Ground was broken for the new church building on November 26, 1950. The church building was built at an estimated cost of $35,000 raised from contributions and proceeds from the sale of the building at 21st and Trinity.

Through the years, the surrounding neighborhood changed. It had become predominantly African-American and Latino. Our then pastor Rev. Charles Crosby was aware that Monterey Park had a significant Asian-American population and felt the church would have more of a future relocating there. In 1977 the congregation made the move to Monterey Park, sharing an existing facility with a Nazarene church which was experiencing declining membership. That congregation eventually disbanded and we now have the building all to ourselves. Shortly after the move to Monterey Park, the name of the church was changed to Trinity Church of the Nazarene, in memory of the former locations being near Trinity St., and because we now welcome all ethnicities.

The congregation in December 2009     Thanks to May Fong Ng for photos and historical information