With Los Angeles still reverberating from the...

With Los Angeles still reverberating from the shock of the recent riots, some of the city’s religious leaders have formed the Interfaith Coalition to Heal L.A.

Rabbi Harvey Fields, chairman of the new coalition, has issued a call for members of the clergy of all faiths to attend a meeting Monday, when plans for the coalition’s dramatic kickoff event will be announced.

On June 14 the coalition plans to hold “Hands Across L.A.--All People, One City,” in which thousands of participants will form a human chain along Western Avenue, from Florence Avenue on the south to Franklin Avenue on the north.

Fields said the event is intended to demonstrate “solidarity for all faiths, ethnic groups and citizens of Los Angeles.

“As religious leaders, we need to join together in calling upon our political and business leaders to offer plans for improving life here in Los Angeles for all people,” said Fields, who is president of the Interreligious Council of Southern California, a 21-year-old organization under whose auspices the coalition will operate. “We believe that our own houses of worship have to become vehicles for rebuilding and teaching respect and love for each other. In this diverse city, we must build bridges of trust between the varied religious, cultural and ethnic groups.”

Fields said that the mayor’s office, major religious leaders and organizations representing all ethnic groups in the city are supporting the efforts of the interfaith coalition.

Beyond the large-scale public demonstration, the group has plans for intercommunal dialogue and other programs.

Among those who will speak at the coalition’s press conference Monday are Episcopal Bishop Frederick Borsch; the Rev. Hee Min Park of the Young Nak Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles; Father Anastacio Rivera, director of Hispanic Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Gloria Haithman-Ali, vice chairwoman of the Assembly of Baha’is of Los Angeles; and the Rev. Mary Minor of the First AME Church of Los Angeles.

All members of the clergy are invited to attend the meeting of the Interfaith Coalition to Heal L.A. at 8 a.m. Monday at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 3663 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 388-2401.

WORSHIP

The Ministerial Assn. of South Gate will hold a community prayer breakfast entitled “Love South Gate” at 7 a.m. Sunday, June 7, at the Flame Cafe. Latin American radio and television evangelist Hermano Pablo will preach. Later that morning, Pablo will speak at Redeemer Lutheran Church during the 9 a.m. English-language service and the 11 a.m. Spanish-language service.

The Flame Cafe is located at 3501 Firestone Blvd., South Gate. Breakfast tickets are free, and may be obtained through the Redeemer Lutheran Church, 2626 Liberty Blvd., South Gate. (213) 588-0934.

Hollywood Temple Beth El will celebrate the festival of Shavuot in the Iranian style with special services at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, June 7. Members of the congregation, adults and children of Iranian origin, will participate in the service. The address is 1317 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 656-3150.

HONORS

The Baha’i Community of Los Angeles recently elected its nine-member Local Spiritual Assembly. Members of the 1992-93 assembly include Lois Willows and Maury Willows of Benedict Canyon, David Langness and Tom Tai-Seale of Mar Vista, Gloria Haithman-Ali of the Crenshaw area, Burrell Bullock of Canoga Park, Iraj Khademi of West Los Angeles, Andre Lanzaro of Chatsworth and Mashiyat Rahmani of Westwood.

Bernard M. Cohen, senior rabbi of Temple Solael of West Hills and a board member of the Valley Interfaith Council, leaves for Croatia on Monday at the invitation of the Croatian government. He will speak at a ceremony in Zagreb marking the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Spain and assist in a fact-finding mission to assess the religious and humanitarian needs of the Jewish community in Croatia.

The Concert Handbell Choir of St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Downey recently returned from the World Music Festival in San Diego, where they were judged “excellent.” The choir’s 12 fifth- through-eighth-grade students have performed for local service clubs, churches, hospitals and retirement homes.

PERFORMANCES

Entertainer Steve Allen will give a benefit performance for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City at 8 p.m. Friday. Allen will perform with a jazz trio, answer questions from the audience and autograph books. Tickets are $20 to $50. The church is located at 12355 Moorpark St., Studio City. (818) 769-5911.

Three performances of “The Azusa Street Revival,” a musical based on the origin of modern Pentecostalism, will be presented at Angeles Temple in Los Angeles on Friday at 7:45 p.m., and Saturday, June 6, at 2:45 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Written and directed by Andre David Brooks, the play commemorates a 1906 revival led by William J. Seymour in a wood-framed shanty, still standing at 216 N. Bonnie Brae St. in Los Angeles.

Admission is free to all performances. Donations and pledges will go to Pentecostal Heritage Inc. to preserve the Bonnie Brae house. The Angeles Temple is located at 1100 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 484-1100.

CELEBRATIONS

The Baha’i Community has inaugurated its Holy Year, marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Baha’ Allah, prophet-founder of the Baha’i faith. Programs were held Friday at the Baha’i Center of Los Angeles and at similar centers throughout the world. For information, call (213) 933-8291 or (818) 783-9092.

The Upper Room Christian Church of Los Angeles will install its new pastor, the Rev. John A. Vickers, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, June 7.

The address is 4925 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles (213) 778-8071.

DATES

The Biblical Archaeology Society, Los Angeles chapter, presents “Digging Timnah and What it Meant to Me.” The public is invited and asked to read Genesis 38 and Judges 14. The group meets the first Friday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Glendale Federal Bank, 100 S. 1st St., Arcadia. (818) 843-1357.

A seminar, “Religious Freedom and the Law,” will be held in Santa Barbara on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The history and application of the 1st Amendment’s religion clauses will be discussed in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. Given by Santa Barbara attorneys David K. Hughes and Craig A. Parton, the seminar is free. For reservations and information, phone (805) 962-0011.

Rabbi Jeffrey Woolf, director of the Orthodox Roundtable, a think-tank for the Rabbinical Council of America, will be the scholar-in-residence at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills June 6-8. He will make several presentations, including a June 6 sabbath sermon on Spain’s expulsion of Jews in 1492. For information, phone (310) 278-1911.

The World Apostolate of Fatima holds its First Western Regional Conference June 12-14 in San Diego. The gathering commemorates the 75th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary to three children in Fatima, Portugal. Registration is $10 for one person, $15 for two and $25 for a family of three or more. For additional information, phone (714) 892-1312 or (619) 439-0204.