Canoga Park : Demolition Paves Way for New Church

As demolition crews pounded and pried away Wednesday at Emerson Unitarian Church, congregation member Susie Klain was conducting a salvage mission.

She snapped photographs of the remains of the building that had housed her church for the past quarter-century. “It’s very sad to see it come down, knowing the hours we spent in that building,” she said.

The 70-year-old church on Jordan Avenue was yellow-tagged after the Northridge earthquake. The congregation, using a $693,500 federal loan, has decided to rebuild at the site.

Since the quake, the 150-member congregation, which is part of the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Assn., has been worshiping at a senior citizens’ center next door.

Klain and other church members have been reminiscing a lot since Monday, when demolition began. Klain recalled how, back in 1971, her son and her late husband climbed into the church rafters to retrieve honey from a beehive there. They got the honey, Klain said, and they didn’t get stung.

But now, church members say, it’s time to look ahead.

“There’s a real feeling of excitement, knowing that a whole new church is on the way,” said Karen Moore, office administrator of the church.

The congregation hopes the new church will be completed by summer.