Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church
505 N Rodeo Dr
Beverly Hills, CA
90210
(310) 271-5197
http://www.bhpc.org/

After several attempts to attend the the church where Reese Witherspoon found solace and that my more LA-savvy friends declared as a sanctuary for celebrity praying, I expected a big hat, big car, big collection plate church. I was surprised to see that this is actually a sweet, bible based, traditional Presbyterian church (Although I did attend on Oscar Sunday!). This is a nice family church that was about 1/2 full for the 11 AM service. The sermon for this first Sunday of Lent followed and was spun from a dramatic reading from CS Lewis on temptation. There seemed to be a bit of a right-winged angle to it and I wouldn't be surprised if much of the congregation were, but from one service, its hard to imagine that this is the type of church that might be audited for its political activity. More, it seems to follow the scripture and aim to remind us of our role towards leading a virtuous life. Indeed, the BHPC is not high church, but highly principled in the rules that guide us all as Christians.

As a visitor, I was pleased to be offered a rose (still doing well a week later!), and that the church holds the collegial tradition of passing the peace. Ahh...