Church sells lower portion of Ambassador campus

Church sells lower portion
of Ambassador campus

PASADENA—The Worldwide Church of God announced May 14 the sale of about 13 acres of its 31-acre west campus to Ambassador Acquisition Partners, LLC, comprised of Harvest Rock Church and Maranatha High School.

The sale includes what was once part of the main campus of Ambassador College. The transaction includes the Ambassador Auditorium, Hall of Administration, physical education complex, student center and Grove Terrace men’s dormitory.

“We are thrilled with this sale,” said Bernie Schnippert, director of Finance & Planning for the Worldwide Church of God. “The campus will continue to be a site for Christian education and worship.

“We are especially pleased to announce that the Ambassador Auditorium will continue as a place of worship, and will be used for private performing and theatre arts education, and potentially, public performing arts events,” Schnippert said.

“The Ambassador Auditorium has always been an important part of the Worldwide Church of God’s ministry. We are pleased that this religious and cultural jewel will continue to be used for the glory of God,” Schnippert added.

New owners

Harvest Rock is the new owner of the Ambassador Auditorium. They will continue to use the Auditorium as it has been used historically —as a place of worship.

Maranatha High School will also have use of the Ambassador Auditorium for performing and theatre arts productions pursuant to an agreement with Harvest Rock Church.

The transaction includes Grove Terrace, a 45,000 square foot building, which will be renovated by Maranatha High School for classroom use, and a 38,000 square foot student center and cafeteria. These existing facilities will also house library, science and computer labs.

Existing athletic facilities include a sports field (football, soccer and track and field), a softball field and Ambassador College’s former sports complex, which includes a collegiate-size gymnasium, locker rooms, weight room and an indoor six-lane swimming pool. A subterranean 300-space parking structure is also on site.

New church home

“Harvest Rock Church celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 4,” said Che Ahn, senior pastor. “We could not think of a better anniversary gift than that of a new church home. We are grateful to all of those who have been involved with this transaction. I want to thank the Lord Jesus and our church congregation for its sacrificial giving to make this purchase possible.

“We are pleased to ensure that the irreplaceable Ambassador Auditorium remains a vibrant part of Pasadena,” Pastor Ahn added. “We are also committed to serving our community and will consider the use of the Ambassador Auditorium for performing arts events, in conjunction with our schedule of church services. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know the Ambassador Hall Board for the Performing Arts and learn more about their vision and goals.”

Well suited for needs

David Poole, Maranatha board president, said: “After facing some significant challenges in the last few years in securing a permanent campus, we are so excited for our students and their families, our faculty and administration, that we have been able to acquire such a remarkable property, which is already so well suited for our needs.

“That we have been blessed with this opportunity is the result of circumstances that we believe could have only been orchestrated by God, to whom we are so very grateful,” Poole added.

“This acquisition is also the result of the generosity and hard work by some key friends of the school, as well as the board and Maranatha’s head of school, Chet Crane, and his administrative team,” Poole said.

“Additionally, we are pleased that in meeting Maranatha’s needs we are also playing a part in preserving these wonderful academic and athletic buildings and the beautiful campus environment. We look forward to working with the City and our new neighbors to ensure that Maranatha fits in well with the neighborhood.”

WCG goals met

Schnippert said that the church was pleased that it was able to meet its goals through this sale. “It was our hope that we could find a financial solution to reopen the Ambassador Auditorium. We could not be more pleased that we have achieved our goal without the use of public money,” Schnippert said. “We reached our other goal of preserving a significant amount of the identity of the Ambassador campus while also achieving our fiduciary obligations to our congregations.”

WCG offices

The Worldwide Church of God plans to retain its headquarters offices in Pasadena for now by using the remaining 17 acres of the campus and leasing back space from Maranatha as needed while exploring options for the future.

Development plan withdrawn

Due to both the previous sale of the Ambassador College’s east campus on the other side of the 710 Freeway, and the sale announced May 14, the church will withdraw its application for the Ambassador Campus Development Plan from the City of Pasadena.

Harvest Rock Church

Harvest Rock Church, a non-denominational church, began in the Pasadena home of Pastor Che Ahn in April 1994.

Currently, the membership is more than 1,000 with weekly attendance of more than 800. Most of its parishioners are from Pasadena and surrounding communities. Harvest Rock Church is part of Harvest International Ministries, which has a membership of more than 1,200 autonomous churches in 27 nations around the world.

Maranatha High School

Maranatha High School, a non-denominational Christian high school, was founded in 1965 and was previously located in Arcadia and Sierra Madre until its move two years ago to the campus of William Carey International University in Pasadena. Maranatha is a college preparatory high school for grades nine through 12 with a student enrollment for 2004-2005 of about 500 students.

Worldwide Church of God

The Worldwide Church of God has owned the Ambassador campus since 1947. It operated Ambassador College from 1947 to 1990. The Worldwide Church of God has 58,000 members in more than 100 countries with more than 800 individual congregations internationally.

Ambassador Auditorium

The Worldwide Church of God built the Ambassador Auditorium in 1974. The church has operated the Ambassador Auditorium continuously as a worship center, and, from 1974 to 1995, operated it as a concert and performing arts venue for 20 internationally acclaimed performance seasons.

The Ambassador Auditorium—hailed as “the Carnegie Hall of the West”—is recognized internationally for its acoustic perfection and high quality of craftsmanship.

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