The Presbyterian Church of Korea has committed...

The Presbyterian Church of Korea has committed more than $100,000 to support reconciliation between Korean-Americans and African-Americans through church-related programs in Los Angeles, representatives of Presbyterian Seminary of the West announced. The grants are a response to the tension between Korean-Americans and African-Americans after the civil unrest last spring. According to the Rev. Cyris Moon, director of Korean theological studies at the seminary, the money will be made available immediately for scholarships and other programs in the Los Angeles area, including martial arts instruction for neighborhood youths at a South-Central Los Angeles church and an inter-ethnic peace symposium.

The seminary, which is the Southern California branch of San Francisco Theological Seminary, will receive $31,500 in scholarships from the church--$21,000 for African-Americans and $10,500 for Korean-Americans.

The school’s vice president, theology professor Jack Rogers, said the grant was initiated by the Korean church. “Instead of condemning the burning of Korean stores, which they could have done, they took the constructive step of contacting my colleague, Cyris Moon, and asked how to help,” he said.

Rogers believes his school’s track record may have attracted the grant. The seminary--a “no-walls” institution offering evening and Saturday classes at 12 locations throughout Southern California--offers such courses as “Ministry in a Multi-Cultural Context,” and “Making a Difference in Your City,” taught by teams that include African-Americans and Koreans.

About $12,000 will be used to fund free classes in the Korean martial art Tae Kwon Do, to be offered to neighborhood youths and adults of all ethnic backgrounds at Korean United Presbyterian Church in South-Central Los Angeles. Moon said that an additional $12,000 would be sent for the program in 1994 and 1995.

The Peace Institute, associated with the Young Nak Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles and the Southwest Presbytery of the Mi-Ju Presbyterian Church, will receive about $35,000 for its work, including a proposed inter-ethnic symposium, Moon said.

The Rev. Charles Doak of the Presbytery of the Pacific said that other grant money will be used to create “a neighborhood historical landmark,” but he said he could not provide details on the project yet.

“It’s really gratifying that mission activity is being initiated from Korea back to the United States,” Rogers said. “It shows a genuine global partnership in Christianity.”

HONORS

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin has taken the pulpit at the Synagogue for the Performing Arts.

Ordained at Yeshiva University and formerly the education director of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley, Telushkin is a lecturer and author of “Jewish Literacy” and “Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews,” among other books.

The synagogue, founded 20 years ago to serve the religious needs of the entertainment community of Los Angeles, holds Sabbath services at 8 p.m. on the first Friday of each month at Wadsworth Theater in Westwood. For information, phone (310) 472-3500.

Fred M. Zaitsu has been appointed general director of the Soka Gakkai International-USA, succeeding George M. Williams, who held the top leadership position in the Buddhist lay organization for 32 years.

Williams, 62, has been named general director emeritus and also retains the position of vice president.

Zaitsu, 51, joined the Soka Gakkai in Japan in 1962 while in college. He holds an undergraduate economics degree and attended graduate school in the United States, where he worked as a correspondent for a large Japanese newspaper before joining the staff of Soka Gakkai.

Francis S. Maas has been named chairman of the board of the University of Judaism, succeeding Jack M. Ostrow, who will retire in June after 25 years.

Maas, 48, an attorney, currently serves in several volunteer posts at the university, as well as vice president of the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles and a member of the federation’s executive committee and Board of Directors. He has been president of Beverly Hills B’nai B’rith and Aviva Center, a member of the boards of the Beverly Hills Education Foundation, Stephen S. Wise Temple, Jewish Community Foundation and Beverly Hills Charitable Foundation.

The Rev. John Jay Jackson, senior pastor at Oxnard First Baptist Church, has been named executive minister of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest. He will serve as one of 35 regional executives responsible to the national convention, representing 1.6 million members and 5,700 congregations.

He is a graduate of Chapman College in Orange, Fuller Theological Seminary and UC Santa Barbara. He is a fifth-generation preacher. His great-grandfather, Samuel Hodges, was the third member to join the Salvation Army in England in 1865. Jackson’s paternal grandmother, Ruth Jackson, was one of the first women to be ordained as an American Baptist pastor.

He will assume his new duties, in Covina, Jan. 18.

Darwin Miller has been elected president of the Pacific Southwest Region of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, succeeding Ernest Goodman. Miller is a past president of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, where he serves as a member of a para-rabbinic corps. He has been active in the Organization for the Needs of the Elderly.

The Board of Trustees of the United Church of Religious Science has announced the selection of the Rev. Ruth Deaton as its new national president. Deaton has served as director of the department of ecclesiastical affairs and as co-minister of the Miami Church of Religious Science and is currently the minister of the Prescott Church of Religious Science in Arizona. She will be based at the church’s national headquarters in Los Angeles.

DATES

Immaculate Heart College Center offers two courses presenting alternative approaches to religious tradition beginning this month. “Goddess: The Search for a Divine ‘Other’ ” explores historical and contemporary expressions of the feminine aspect of God. “Introduction to Feminist Spirituality” provides an overview of modern Christian, Jewish and other Western perspectives on women’s spirituality. Both are offered through the center’s graduate program in feminist spirituality. For registration information, phone (213) 386-3116.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the newly appointed national executive director of the Assn. of Reform Zionists of America, will make his first visit to the Southland, speaking at a regional dinner meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Temple Beth Hillel in North Hollywood; at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles, and at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles. (310) 277-1996.

The 120-voice Agape Choir of Santa Monica will perform at the 25th Anniversary Finale Gospelfest of the Guidance Church of Religious Science of Los Angeles at 7 p.m. Friday. The address is 7225 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 778-0773.

The third annual Bar Mitzvah Program for New Americans begins Wednesday at Hollywood Temple Beth El. The class is open to Jewish boys and girls between 12 and 14 years old in grades seven, eight or nine who have recently immigrated to the United States. Full scholarships are available through a grant from the Bureau of Jewish Education. For information, phone (213) 656-3150.

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