About Gardena-Torrance Baptist Church

Gardena-Torrance Southern Baptist Church was established in November 1961 by Reverend Lawrence Uyehara of the Sawtelle Southern Baptist Church of West Los Angeles. Reverend Uyehara, a native of Hawaii, came to Gardena each Sunday afternoon to hold services at First Southern Baptist Church for the new group with the purpose of establishing a Southern Baptist church for the Japanese people of Gardena who originated from Hawaii. 

Reverend Ned Brown was called as pastor in April 1962. He continued holding Sunday School at First Southern at 8:00am and worship service was held in the Gardena home of Mr & Mrs Takemitsu Nakata to avoid scheduling conflicts with First Southern.

In December of 1962, our current property located here at 1457 W. 179th Street was purchased. Pastor Brown and his family moved into the house that already stood on the property which became known as the parsonage. After about three months of services being held in various member’s homes, the parsonage became the new temporary home for Sunday Worship service until the church building could be built.

In their spare time during the week and on Saturdays, members and friends began making improvements to the property as requested by the City of Gardena such as building a block wall around the property. At the time, the church had about 30 members with an average of 40-45 attendees each Sunday.

Even though they did not have a church building yet, GTSBC held Vacation Bible School for two weeks during the summer of 1964. VBS in the summer of 1965 was expected to be held in the new church building even if not all of the bells and whistles had been installed yet. 

On Sunday, November 28, 1965 the new two-story Gardena-Torrance Southern Baptist Church building was dedicated. The latest addition was added around 1992.

With a larger facility, we have had the opportunity to invite other churches to share our facility. We are a multi-ethnic church and share our facility with six other churches.

At Gardena-Torrance Baptist Church, we are committed to serving our community and sharing the love of Christ. We believe that everyone is welcome in our church, and we strive to create a safe and inclusive space for all people.