Meet Jerrell Walls of North Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerrell Walls.

Hi Jerrell, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Christ Chapel of the Valley started in 1991 as a Bible Study in a friend’s apartment, reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community. Within a few months the apartment was overflowing and there were people sitting outside on the landing trying to hear the teachings. We realized it was time to form a church. Christ Chapel of the Valley officially began on January 12, 1992. Many of our community who grew up evangelical were not welcomed or were kicked out of our churches once we revealed our authentic selves. We needed a safe place for our church home. We began in a small banquet room of what was then the “King Swede Restaurant” in Burbank. Within 6 months we had grown to where we could rent space on Vineland Ave in North Hollywood. We were there for almost 6 years, renting more and more of the space and remodeling the property, eventually renting the entire facility. In 1998 we purchased our first building on Hartsook Avenue in NoHo. We purchased a church building from an aging congregation. We made it our home for 18 years until developers had plans to build five story apartment complexes on the entire street. We sold our property and moved to Sherman Way in Sun Valley for 3 years. In 2020, we returned to the neighborhood we considered home, the NoHo Arts District. We are grateful to the dedicated, hardworking, and generous people who supported our mission over the past 33 years.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our journey has not always been easy. We opened our church at the height of the AIDS crisis. As an LGBTQ affirming congregation, we received a lot of hate mail and phone calls expressing how they thought our ministry was in error of scripture and that AIDS was God’s wrath on the gay population. Occasionally we will still get emails, letters and phone calls, condemning us and calling our members an abomination. Thankfully we have had only minor vandalism, and no physical attacks. There are times that we still receive verbal attacks at community outreach events. We have been able to share with those who are willing to listen to our message of God’s love, grace, and acceptance.

We have had a few internal conflicts, as would any group of people with diverse backgrounds and ideas. But we have worked through them, sometimes mending fences; other times parting ways. But those times have strengthened us as a congregation.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our mission is to bring the message that God loves and accepts all people, just the way they are, I have been sharing this message as a full-time pastor since 1982. I served 10 years in the denomination that I grew up in and for the last 33 years, I have been the pastor of Christ Chapel of the Valley. I have represented Christ Chapel and the LGBTQ+ community in various organizations including the LAPD Community Police Advisory Board. I have served as the Vice-President of our neighborhood council and have gone into schools and colleges to talk about prejudices with an emphasis on homophobia, I serve on the clergy roundtable for the Department of Mental Health. I am also part of the LA Queer Interfaith Clergy Council and have served as a co-chair for many years. I hope to be known as a person of integrity, loving of the entire community, and faithful to my calling.

I am most proud of leading a wonderful group of people from a small Bible Study in an apartment to a church that provides a safe place of hope and healing for the entire community.

I think what sets me apart from many is that I hold on to my faith with sincerity, lead with compassion and enjoy my life and freedom as a gay man.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I have been extremely lucky with the people who I have come into my life. They seem to show up when I need them most. My partner, John, came into my life 10 years ago at a time I needed someone stable and loving. He and his family included me in their lives and showed me unconditional love.

As for bad luck, there have been family, friends, and loved ones who have walked away because of who I was created to be. Having experienced that rejection, I have grown into the man I am today. The most difficult time was when my partner, Mark, died of AIDS in 1998. But through that pain, I feel I am more supportive for those who have gone through difficulties and loss in their lives.

Pricing:

• Our church is run on freewill offerings
• We offer wedding and funeral services

Contact Info:

• Website: https://WWW.Christchapel.com
• Instagram: Christ Chapel of the Valley
• Facebook: Christ Chapel of the Valley
• Youtube: Christ Chapel Of The Valley Official
• Yelp: Christ Chapel of the Valley