“The human community and the natural world...

“The human community and the natural world must go into the future as a single sacred community, or they will both perish in the desert,” wrote Thomas Berry, a 78-year-old Passionist priest, in his 1988 book, “The Dream of the Earth.”

Berry is the grandfather of “Creation Spirituality” or “Eco-Spirituality,” said Georgianne Cowan of the Earth Trust Foundation, a Malibu-based foundation that is featuring some of Berry’s intellectual and spiritual offspring in a series of lectures and seminars called “Spirit and Nature.”

Berry, director of the Riverdale Center for Religious Research in New York City’s Bronx, became prominent in the early 1980s for his books on theology and the ecological crisis. He represents “a new breed of religious thinkers who are joining with others to resanctify the Earth and nature, which includes humans and the physical surroundings we live in,” said Cowan.

Earth Trust’s executive director, Matthew Nichols, said the foundation, which operates with a small staff in donated office space, designed its programs to encourage “personal awareness and social responsibility, from a global perspective, of the connectedness of all of nature.”

Founded in 1985 by real estate developer and philanthropist Andrew Beath, it funds social justice and educational projects in addition to ecological endeavors.

The lecture series presents speakers who are “eloquent synthesizers of the philosophies of various spiritual traditions,” Cowan said. “They draw from recent discoveries in physics, from Christian theologians and from the ancient wisdom of such Earth-centered cultures as the Native American and Australian Aboriginal.”

David Steindl-Rast, who speaks Nov. 13-14, is a Benedictine monk who has also trained in art and practiced Zen with Buddhist masters in the United States and Japan. Sister Miriam MacGillis, who speaks Feb. 5-6, is a Dominican nun who runs an organic farm and learning center in New Jersey and is known as a leading interpreter of the writings and philosophy of Berry.

Matthew Fox, founding director of the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality at Holy Names College in Oakland, talks about “Awakening the Cosmic Tree” at an all-day seminar Feb. 28. Fox is a Dominican priest who spent 1989 publicly silenced by the Vatican for his controversial views on feminism, sexuality and the priesthood.

Most speakers in the current series spend a weekend with the foundation, delivering a Friday night lecture at the First Christian Church in Santa Monica and a longer Saturday and/or Sunday seminar at the Earth Trust House in Malibu.

Not all the lecturers are identified with organized religions. Cowan said that future series will include theologians from a number of faiths.

Times, locations and admission fees vary. Work scholarships are available. For information, phone the Earth Trust Foundation at (310) 456-3534.

PERFORMANCE

“The Azusa Street Revival,” a docudrama with music based on the origins of modern Pentecostalism, will be presented this weekend by the San Bernardino Valley College Black Faculty and Staff. The production is written and directed by Andre David Brooks. Full performances will be given tonight at 8 and Sunday at 4 p.m. Admission is $10. A free mini-concert based on the production will be presented today from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The address is San Bernardino Valley College, 701 S. Mt. Vernon Ave., San Bernardino. (714) 888-6511, ext. 1433 or 1638.

EDUCATION

UCLA Extension presents a one-day program entitled “Facing the Dying Process: A Day for Frontline Caregivers,” 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. Presented in cooperation with the Pacific Center for HIV/AIDS Counseling and Psychotherapy and the Kira Foundation, the program covers such topics as euthanasia, hospice, rituals associated with death, dying and bereavement. Speakers include mental health professionals, social workers, clergy and a lawyer. For information, phone (310) 825-8423.

Another UCLA Extension course, “Women and Religion,” looks at theologians who have shaped, defined and explained women’s religious place and power in modern societies. Classes meet 7-10 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 13-Dec. 1. (310) 825-2301.

A Clergy and Parish Nurse Convocation will be held at First United Methodist Church of Santa Monica 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday. Designed for clergy, nurses and lay people, it will focus on the role of the church nurse as a member of the ministerial team. Registration is $15, including lunch. (310) 393-8258.

DATES

Eva Burrows, who holds the highest leadership and administrative post in the Salvation Army, will speak at Fuller Theological Seminary’s annual free lecture series on church growth at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday. The Salvation Army’s first woman general in 48 years, Burrows will speak on “Church Growth: A Denomination Dynamic.” Phone (818) 584-5372.

Wilshire Boulevard Temple will hold a Sukkot Family Celebration on Sunday from 4:30-7:30 p.m. The community is invited to bring a picnic meal and enjoy pony rides, a petting zoo, music and crafts. Admission is free, but please bring a can of food for the temple’s homeless project. The address is 3663 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 388-2401.

Father Alexander J. Lewis will preside at a Mass and anointing for persons with AIDS, HIV, AIDS-related complex, their families, friends and care givers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood.

The offering at the Mass will benefit Serra Project, an archdiocesan program to house men, women and babies with AIDS. The address is 10750 Ohio Ave., Westwood. For information about the Mass, call (310) 474-1528. For information on Serra Project, call (213) 413-0306.

HONORED

An ecumenical appreciation service will honor longtime recording artist, arranger and director Mattie Moss Clark. She will be feted with a musical service tonight at 7 p.m. at Academy Cathedral Church, 3141 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. Admission is free. (310) 854-4955.

CELEBRATION

Scott Memorial Baptist Church, in the Normal Heights area of San Diego, celebrated the beginning of its 80th year by installing the Rev. Tim Scott as its new senior pastor. The mantle was passed to Scott by the Rev. Tim La Haye, who retired from Scott Memorial after 25 years of service.

CONFERENCE

About 400 Vietnamese Protestant Evangelical church leaders from Europe, Australia and the United States gathered in Garden Grove Sept. 24-26 at the Fourth Vietnamese Church Development Conference. For information on Vietnamese Protestant evangelical churches, call (714) 775-8352.

Please address notices to: Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif., 90053. Items should be brief and arrive three weeks before the event.