They’re Halfway Home : Concert’s Proceeds Go Toward Repairing Church Damaged in Oct. 1 Earthquake

A benefit concert in Fullerton on Sunday netted from $7,000 to $8,000 toward repairing earthquake damage to the First Church of Religious Science, church officials said Monday.

Proceeds from the concert, which featured singer Della Reese at Plummer Auditorium, will be added to about $45,000 already raised, making church officials hopeful that they will be able to obtain more than the $100,000 needed for repairs. (A final accounting from the concert will not be completed until Friday, said the Rev. Marlene Oaks, church minister.)

The church, which was built in 1909 by the Methodists and has been occupied by the Church of Religious Science since 1956, has been unavailable for Sunday services since the Oct. 1 quake, which cracked the walls, toppled a chimney and weakened the roof. The city has limited to 10 the number of people who may occupy the building at one time. Worshipers have been meeting at a synagogue about three miles away.

Oaks said 662 tickets were sold, filling just under half of the auditorium’s 1,334 seats, for the concert billed as “The House That Love Built.”

“I was hoping we’d get to use our ‘sold out’ sign that we made up,” Oaks said. Despite a less-than-full turnout, Oaks said: “That’s $7,000 we didn’t have yesterday.”

Doris Avery, a church board member in charge of public relations, said many people who did not buy tickets made donations after hearing of the concert.

In addition to Reese, who is also minister of a church in Chicago, the show featured a number of local performers of New Age music. The 3 1/2-hour show also presented a wide range of musical styles--from the light rock sounds of Balance, a duo with North Hollywood musicians Rebecca Conley and Kristopher Witty, to the jazz vocals of Debbi Ebert, a singer from Fullerton who sang “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand.” Saxophonist Paul Biondi played “Songbird” by fellow saxophonist Kenny G, while folk singer Pat Proud, who conceived the benefit, contributed her song “The House That Love Built” as the concert’s theme.

The event had some unusual moments, such as a “whistle-along” led by professional whistler Marge Carlson. Guitarist Stephen Longfellow Fiske offered his version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which began: “Oh say can you see, by the one light in all, a new age to embrace at the call of all nations” and used peaceful images to replace “the bombs bursting in air.”

Headliner Della Reese, accompanied by a four-piece band, played a 40-minute set that included songs by Cole Porter, Antonio Carlos Jobim and the Bill Withers hit “Just the Two of Us.”

The concert ended with all the performers except Reese joining on stage to sing “The House That Love Built.”

The small turnout did not dampen the spirits of performers, many of whom hawked tapes in the auditorium lobby.

“I think they’re a fine audience--they laughed at all the right lines,” Fiske said.

“The audience was nice and warm and responsive, they’re buying tapes, which is great, and we’re having fun,” Diane Barton said. She and husband Mick form the Bartons.

Reese said: “I had a great time.”

Church officials and supporters are already gearing up for their next event, a May 6 auction. Up for sale will be unusual items, including a complete “wedding package” in which Oaks will act as the minister and the church’s music director, Myra Kaplan, will serve as the organist.

“The deal is we’re going to get the church built--that’s what’s important,” Proud said.