Angelica was founded in 1888 as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Angelica Church of Los Angeles, California as part of the Augustana Synod, and services were routinely held in Swedish. The articles of Incorporation were filed on March 26, 1888. Meeting at first in various homes and halls around the area, Angelica's first chapel was built at 10th Street and Grand Avenue in 1890. From there we moved to a larger facility we built at 17th Street and Hope Street in 1902. This facility was later sold to the California Lutheran Hospital when we built our current location at Burlington Avenue and 14th Street.

The architect (Mr. G. S. Larson) and interior decorator (Mr. C. G. Hokanson) were both members of the congregation. The windows were made by Clifford Art Studios of Los Angeles and Mr. Alfred Godwin of Philadelphia. The "Last Supper" carving above the altar was ordered from Mr. Anton Lang and likely executed by Mr. Andreas Lang of Oberammergau, Germany. The organ was built by M. P. Moller of Hagerstown, MD in consultation with Mr. Julius Johnson (organist) of Los Angeles. Construction was by The Pozzo Construction Company. The cornerstone was laid on April 12, 1925 (Easter Sunday) and the completed building was dedicated on December 13, 1925. It could accommodate 1,075 people when full, and the basement included a full kitchen and facilities for social and educational events.

Our last regular Swedish services were held in 1938 when the council decided it was in the best interest of the church, and better served our mission of outreach to the community, for all services to be held in English. The traditional Julotta service held at least partially in Swedish has been retained as one of our cherished traditions.

The associated educational building and our office building were built in 1952 to house the growing congregation and ever increasing need for space for the various gatherings and programs. Services in the church have included congregations worshipping in Swedish, English, Spanish, Finnish, Korean, Kanjobal, and possibly several more we've forgotten. In order to accommodate the growing musical needs of our congregation, Dr. Paul Stroud led an upgrade to our organ in 1964.

The local synod offices were housed in Angelica's office building for several decades, and our parish has had a long and close relationship with the bishop's office, including having former pastors serve as Synod Bishop. One of our most renowned clergy was Dr. Segerhammer who was also instrumental in the foundation of California Lutheran University.

Pastor Paiva came to us in 1991 to help serve the increasingly Latino population in the area. After the L.A. Riots in 1992, he helped found the New City Parish which is still an active coalition of inner city parishes helping bring needed services to the neediest populations in Los Angeles. More recently, as immigration issues become an increasing concern in our neighborhoods, he's helped spearhead our involvement in the New Sanctuary Movement designed to help keep hardworking families together when faced with immigration problems.