This is the San Fernando Valley, our home and the focus of our Church’s effort to gather the scattered and reach out to the unchurched and nonbeliever. I recently developed a greater appreciation for the San Fernando Valley at a friend’s wedding. The wedding was held at Bel Aire Presbyterian Church. The church has a beautiful building with the most scenic views of the Valley that I have ever seen. I felt kind of like Joshua and Caleb scouting out the Promised Land. This was one of the pictures I took from that vantage point. It looks North over the Valley from the South. As a point of further reference, near the middle of the picture and somewhat in the distance is Van Nuys Airport.

After the wedding, I did a little research to better understand the the focus of Pathway Christian Fellowship’s ministry. The Valley, of course, is a part of Los Angeles. It is largely suburban and has a population of around 2 million people (the Los Angeles Metro area has approximately 13 million residents). One thing that is quickly apparent is that the Valley is a very diverse place. The diversity is not only racial, but is reflected in almost every category, including economic status, education, age, and even home ownership.

There are approximately equal numbers of Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites (at about 40% each), with significant populations of Armenians, Asians, and African-Americans. The medium income is above-average for the Los Angeles area, but the disparity is wide with areas of great prosperity and areas with incomes much lower than the national average. The population of the Valley is about equally divided between home owners and renters.

The Valley is also full of young people, with a significant presence of older residents. 26% of the Valley is under 18 years old, with the demographics of that group trending Latino. Around 15% of the Valley is over 65 years old, with that demographic skewing to non-Hispanic Whites. As for education, almost 27% of Valley residents age 25 or older have not completed high school. On the other hand, over 30% of Valley residents in that age group have an Associates Degree or higher.

Although I have not been able to find statistics specific to the Valley regarding religious adherence, in the Los Angeles area the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian denomination, with around 4 million adherents. This far outnumbers all other Christian denominations, with Evangelicals at around 600,000 and mainline Protestants at around 340,000. Eastern Orthodox numbers are around 30,000. As for atheists, I have not found a count, but there are well over a dozen atheist outreach organizations in the Los Angeles area.

It is obvious from the religious statistics that there is much work to be done in the Valley (and Los Angeles). Moreover, the goal is not just to raise the numbers for Christians, but to minister to new followers of Christ and those who are already believers. The work does not stop once people join a church or make a profession of faith. That is the starting point in many ways, and much teaching, discipling, encouragement, and fellowship lays ahead.

But while much is to be done, there are enormous resources with which to do it. God has been equipping Pathway Christian Fellowship to reach out to this Valley. God does not give missions without provisions. The burden and blessing, however, are not ours alone. There are tens of thousands of other committed Christians with which to work. Indeed, one of the things I look forward to is meeting and developing relationships with other churches and Christians who have the same burden for their community as do we.

This may sound like a lot to get out of one picture. But it is funny how that one visual perspective helped changed my mental and spiritual perspective.