More and more, religious organizations that provide...

More and more, religious organizations that provide spiritual and material support in the Southland are grappling with hardships imposed by a deep economic recession. A variety of local institutions and agencies are offering help for people suffering because of cutbacks, layoffs and plant closures.

All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena is organizing a support group for members who have lost their jobs. The group will provide networking and emotional support.

Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood said he has been counseling individual congregants who have lost their jobs or are afraid of losing them and can’t afford to see a professional psychotherapist.

Chuck Hurewitz, president of Jewish Family Service, a non-sectarian agency that provides professional psychological counseling and other social services, said requests for marital, financial and family counseling have skyrocketed in recent months. Cases involving economic hardship have risen by 30%, according to staff reports. Msgr. R. David Cousineau, executive director of Catholic Charities, said its programs are “almost always stretched beyond capacity to serve the unemployed, homeless and others needing help. And now it needs to pick up where the government has dropped off.” Emergency assistance cases, such as providing food or money to pay utility bills, have risen 26% in the last year, he said.

To help religious and other nonprofit organizations chart their course through the murky waters of recession, California Community Foundation--a grant-making institution that distributes funds for 500 small foundations--is presenting “Ethics During Tough Times,” a daylong seminar.

The co-sponsors are the Josephson Institute for the Advancement of Ethics and the California Assn. for Nonprofits. Participants and a panel of experts will tackle tough ethical problems in hypothetical scenarios. The seminar begins at 8 a.m. Friday, Jan. 24, at 514 S. Spring St. (formerly the Los Angeles Theatre Center). Registration is $25. For information, phone (213) 413-4042.

DEDICATION

Before she was hospitalized in San Diego for pneumonia and heart trouble, 81-year-old Nobel laureate Mother Teresa of Calcutta paid a surprise visit to Alhambra last month to attend the dedication of a new convent. Four members of her order, the Missionaries Sisters of Charity, will live there. The order is best known for the work it does in caring for the sick and the poor. It has six other contemplative houses in the United States.

HONORS

Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo and Los Angeles Unified School District Trustees Barbara Boudreaux and Jeff Horton will participate in the presentation of a joint human relations award to Messiah Baptist Church and Temple Israel of Hollywood by the National Conference of Christians and Jews Jan. 17.

The award, which will be given at the synagogue during a special Sabbath eve service honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., cites the “covenant relationship” established between the two congregations. It will be accepted by the Rev. Kenneth J. Flowers and Rabbi John L. Rosove, together with lay leaders of both congregations. The public is invited to the service, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Israel of Hollywood, 7300 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles.

Irene Opdyke of Yorba Linda, who risked her life to hide and feed Jews in Poland during World War II, is among eight Christians who will receive an award from the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers on Sunday in San Rafael. The organization is part of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.

Please address notices to: Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles, Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, 90053. To receive consideration, an item must arrive at least two weeks prior to the event.