World Churches to Focus on L.A. Unrest : Forum: Council will bring religious leaders together at public hearings in the Southland to develop urban strategy. It is the first such effort in the United States.

World church leaders from Europe, Africa and Asia will hold two days of public hearings in Southern California beginning Sunday to develop an urban strategy in the wake of last April’s civil unrest in Los Angeles.

The hearings by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches will mark the first time that international church leaders have undertaken such action in the United States. Similar hearings have previously occurred only in South Africa and South Korea after racial unrest and political repression there.

“The circumstances are different, but I think it’s clear that the World Council of Churches is responding in part to requests from its members to look at the situation in the United States,” said Martin Bailey, spokesman for the National Council of Churches, cosponsor of the hearings with the Southern California Ecumenical Council.

Bailey said the need for low-income housing, jobs, education and ways to alleviate racial strife will be addressed. Both Korean shopkeepers, many of whom suffered major losses in the looting and arson, and gang members have been invited to testify.

Findings from the hearing will be used to measure the effectiveness of a proposed urban strategy plan that has been developed over the last several months by the National Council of Churches, which represents 32 Protestant and Orthodox denominations, Bailey said. He added that the findings would be presented to presidential candidates this fall.

Asked how the churches’ approach to urban decay differed from efforts already mounted by community leaders and government, Bailey said church leaders will have no political or personal agenda other than to mobilize church members to address the urban crisis across the nation.

“There are thousands of church people, millions perhaps, who are deeply concerned about what’s happening in this country, and it will be an effort to mobilize the Christian forces of our nation to raise to a position of high visibility in a political year the concerns for the nation’s cities,” Bailey said in a telephone interview from New York.

It is hoped that the Roman Catholic Church, which is not a member of the National Council of Churches, will join the effort, along with the Jewish community, Bailey said. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Jewish congregations and Protestant churches have already launched major efforts to aid in rebuilding the city.

The Rev. Bruce MacPherson, canon to Los Angeles Episcopal Bishop Frederick H. Borsch and president of the Southern California Ecumenical Council, added: “The primary function is to enable the World Council of Churches and National Council of Churches to really hear what has taken place here and use the data gathered as a part of their own planning in addressing a strategy for urban ministry here in the United States and around the world.”

In addition, there will be two processions through downtown Los Angeles on Monday, re-enacting the Stations of the Cross. The first begins at 9:15 a.m. at 300 N. Los Angeles St. and the second begins at 11 a.m. at the Angelica Lutheran Church, 1340 Bonnie Brae St. A worship service to conclude the three-day program is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2270 S. Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles.

Among international church leaders scheduled to attend is the Rev. Emilio Castro, general secretary of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, who will preach at the Tuesday night service. Others attending will be the Rev. Frank Chikane, general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, and the Rev. Kwon Ho-Kyung, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea.

Also participating will be the Rev. Joan Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ.

Public hearings, or so-called “listening posts,” will be held at the following times and locations:

Sunday, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.: United University Church, 817 W. 34th St., Los Angeles; St. Francis Episcopal Church, 280 Royal Ave., Simi Valley, and Covenant Presbyterian Church, 607 E. 3rd St., Long Beach.

Sunday, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Church Women United, Mt. St. Mary’s College, 12001 Chalon Rd., Los Angeles.

Monday, 1 p.m.: (with gang members) Marchan Junior High School, 103rd Street and Compton Avenue, Compton.

Monday, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Peace and Justice Center, 8124 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles; All Culture Friendship Center, 4754 W. 120th St., Hawthorne; East Rancho Dominguez Community Service Center, 4513 E. Compton Blvd., Compton; Dolores Mission, 171 S. Gless St., Boyle Heights, and in Koreatown at 929 S. Westlake Ave.

Monday, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2230 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles; Deliverance Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, 1299 Sunset Ave., Pasadena; Gospel Memorial Church of God in Christ, 1480 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, and Christian Fellowship Church, 2085 S. Hobart Blvd., Los Angeles.