Life & Work with Aaron Van Voorhis of Pasadena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Van Voorhis.

Hi Aaron, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. My wife and I came to LA in 2006 for me to attend Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. After graduating in 2009, I took the Lead Pastor role at what was then, Frist Southern Baptist Church of Glendale – a dying church of mostly boomers and older that hired me to help them change everything and revitalize the congregation. Over the next couple years, we cut our ties with the Southern Baptist denomination, changed the name to Central Avenue Church, and adopted a mission and vision that was progressive and inclusive. The church began growing again but mostly with younger, disaffected evangelicals who were looking for a safe place to call home.

From the beginning, I believed in building an intellectually honest church that took science, questions, and doubt seriously. Many of us, myself included, were in a state of what’s called, “deconstruction.” The faith we grew up with wasn’t meeting our needs or making sense to us anymore. We came to believe that love and justice was the heart of Christ’s teachings, Mystery, unknowing, and curiosity were now seen as assets to our faith rather than liabilities.,

In 2014, we became a fully affirming congregation. We accept LGBTQ folks completely. I have performed numerous same-sex weddings and queer folks occupy positions of leadership at Central, including the Board of Directors and pastor positions. We are also an egalitarian organization and believe women have an equal voice in the church and everywhere else. We also respect and affirm other faith traditions and nonbelief.

In 2025, we sold our building on Central Avenue in downtown Glendale and eventually ended up renting space at Livery Studios in Pasadena. We did this to free up capital to invest in more meaningful endeavors than trying to maintain a decaying building. We are now in a process of rediscovery and reenvisioning the future of our church in a way that meets the needs of our community.

Emily and I live in Glendale with our two daughters Lucy and Sophie.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. Trying to build and sustain a church that is mostly for people who have been hurt by the church, is very challenging. Most of our audience grew up evangelical but left the church because of homophobia, misogyny/patriarchy, closed mindedness, authoritarianism, intellectual dishonesty, and the church’s ever growing love affair with the right. We’re like AA for recovering fundamentalists. This keeps us small. The fact is, most people who have been hurt by the church and left, do not come back, even to healing and loving places like us. Doing progressive church means doing small church. Plus, once you no longer believe God will punish you for not attending church, you no longer attend as much.

The pandemic was also a very difficult time for us. Like many churches, we shut down and did not meet in-person for almost two years, We only met on Zoom. We lost a lot of attenders because of this. The shutdown accelerated people’s process out of the church. Progressive churches like Central are like the final stopping point for many on their way out of Christianity and the church completely. The pandemic shut down not only accelerated people’s process but also created disconnection between Central and those in our congregation who were barely attending anyway. When we resumed in-person meetings in 2022, we had lost most of our congregation.

Deciding to sell our sixty-year-old building in Glendale was a challenging decision too. We had unanimous support from leadership and congregation, but the process of doing it and moving was difficult. However, we closed the sale in March of 2025 and have been excited and inspired ever sense to rebuild and rediscover who we are now.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in helping people recover from religious trauma, deconstruct their faith, heal and reconstruct something healthier if they so desire.

In 2016, I published a book called, “A Survival Guide for Heretics.” The book is based on my own faith journey and my experience pastoring a progressive community of people in religious deconstruction.

In addition to pastoring Central, I am a Hospice Chaplain. Every week I meet with dying patients in their homes where I provide spiritual care (I would prefer not to say what company I work for.).

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Podcast: The Central Cast (this is a weekly recording of my Sunday talks at Central, complete with audience dialog.)

My book: https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Guide-Heretics-Aaron-Voorhis/dp/1532603916

The church website: www.centralavenuechurch.org

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.centralavenuechurch.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centralavechurch/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentralAvenueChurch
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@centralavenuechurch6244