Relationships Come First
The Clergy Community Coalition connects clergy and community leaders across Greater Pasadena
so the local faith community can act together when it matters.
Building Trust
for Collective Action
We are a network of more than 250 clergy and community leaders in Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre. Our model rests on one conviction: trust built over time is what makes collective action possible. For 20 years, we have done the slow work of building that trust so faith leaders, civic partners, and neighbors can move together for the flourishing of the community.
We call this relational infrastructure.
Programs matter, but they last only as long as people know one another, trust each other, and keep showing up together.
Meeting Greater Pasadena’s Challenges Together
People in our region experience deep inequities in housing, education, public safety, and a sense of belonging. These challenges run deeper than any one faith community can address alone. A single congregation can care for its members. A coalition of more than 100 faith communities, working alongside civic leaders, can shape local decisions and connect more neighbors with the support they need.
Faith communities already have deep roots and trusted relationships in their neighborhoods. We bring them together to turn that trust into shared action.
Bring Your Congregation Into the Coalition
When your faith community joins the CCC, you connect with leaders who share resources, respond alongside you in a crisis, and work with you to meet your neighbors’ needs.
THREE PRACTICES
Our Model
How we build relationships, care for leaders, and prepare for shared action.
01
Gather and
Connect
Where relationships start
Each month, 70 to 90 clergy, civic leaders, law enforcement, school officials, nonprofit partners, and community members meet for a shared breakfast and open dialogue. This is where a pastor meets the police chief and a school superintendent hears from the congregation down the street. Leaders who once worked in parallel begin to work together.
The monthly gathering anchors the rest of our work. Beyond it, we host prayer gatherings, community forums, and seasonal events that widen the network.
WAYS WE GATHER
- Monthly CCC Meeting
- Faith Leaders Unite
- Prayer Gatherings
- Community forums
02
Care and
Strengthen
Caring for the people
who do the work
Pastors are often the last people to ask for help. We make sure they don't have to. Through retreats, peer support groups, counseling grants, and resilience training, we care for the leaders who care for their communities.
This care extends to neighbors in crisis. Through the Rise Network, we coordinate long-term recovery from the Eaton Fire across Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre. The Rise Network moves cash assistance through local faith communities, builds church-hub infrastructure, and offers spiritual and emotional support for the years of recovery ahead. Our Benevolence Fund also directs support to neighbors through the faith and community leaders who know them.
INCLUDES
- Clergy and Leader Retreats
- Clergy Peer Support Groups
- Rise Network
- Benevolence Fund
03
Equip and
Mobilize
Turning shared trust
into shared action
We equip leaders to act. Our advocacy committees help clergy understand the systems shaping their neighborhoods and find a collective voice within them. We don't tell pastors what to think. We create the space and resources for them to work it out together.
Trainings and cohorts prepare faith leaders to engage complex challenges with competence and compassion. Past offerings include know-your-rights education for congregations, trauma-informed care workshops, and a racial righteousness series.
ADVOCACY COMMITTEES
- Housing Justice
- Migrant Solidarity
- Education Equity
- Public Safety and Just Policing
LEARNING
- Cohorts and peer learning
- Pilgrimages and place-based learning
- Workshops on resilience, disaster preparedness, and capacity building
An Approach
That Works
Trust is built long before a crisis puts it to the test.
When police shootings shook the community, CCC clergy stood in the streets with their neighbors.
When migrant neighbors faced immigration enforcement, clergy stood alongside them.
When the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena in early 2025, the coalition responded quickly because the trust was already in place.
A police chief and a community activist can have a hard conversation at our table. That only works because the relationship came first.
Many Traditions,
One Community
We bring together faith leaders across traditions, ethnicities, and denominations. Members include Black, Latino, Korean, and white congregations, Pentecostal and mainline churches, and leaders from other faith traditions. We ask no one to set aside their distinct calling.
Unity here does not require uniformity.
Civic partners are part of the table too, including local government officials, the Altadena Town Council, school district leaders, public health officials, and law enforcement leadership. We are led by women of color, and our leadership shapes our culture and direction.
Our Vision for Greater Pasadena
By 2035, our goal is to connect 200 faith communities and mobilize 500 clergy and community leaders across Greater Pasadena into an active, coordinated coalition for community flourishing.
200
faith communities
connected
500
clergy and community
leaders mobilized
by 2035