What happens to a church when its...

What happens to a church when its neighborhood changes? Sociologists have been asking that question in two Southland communities, hoping that the answers will eventually shed light on how economics, ideology and creativity influence a congregation’s response to change in the community.

A team headed by Nancy T. Ammerman, an associate professor of religion at Emory University in Atlanta, selected First Congregational Church and St. Matthew’s Church in Long Beach, and Holman United Methodist Church and Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church in the West Adams district, as “focus” congregations in an 18-month study that began last April.

Ammerman is directing the research for the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture in Boston under a $337,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment.

The study will include a total of 27 congregations in the Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Los Angeles areas. In Long Beach, all the data has been collected but the findings have not yet been reported.

Speaking from Atlanta this week, Ammerman said that many Long Beach churches have experienced an influx of homosexuals in their community. “Most know they’ve got gay and lesbian members but don’t talk about it,” she said.

By contrast, both First Congregational and St. Matthew’s have purposefully and successfully integrated homosexual members into the fold, she says, but in different ways.

“First Congregational represents a church that has become very activist in behalf of its gay and lesbian population,” she said. “It has officially declared itself an ‘open and affirming’ congregation, terminology that is supplied by the denomination to a process of accepting homosexuals openly in each church and removing barriers to their full clerical and lay participation.”

St. Matthew’s, she said, is an example of the way a congregation can be highly creative within a denominational structure. “It is certainly possible for Catholic parishes to be very rejecting to gay and lesbian people, but this church has figured out a way to make them feel welcome,” she said. “The attitude came from a combination of diocesan and grass-roots efforts.”

Ammerman said researchers are still gathering data in the two West Adams churches. “In a preliminary way we could say that (the Holman and Berean) churches and other longtime African-American churches in the neighborhood are finding it difficult to reach out, especially across the language barriers, to their new immigrant Latin American and Asian neighbors.”

The study is scheduled to be completed by September.

DATES

To introduce its Adopt-A-School program, in which individual congregations can provide tutors and other volunteer aid, the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council presents a free program, “Reclaiming Schools in a Violent America,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society. Keynote speakers are Kim Ramsey, senior fellow at the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolence, and John Perez, vice president for secondary schools of United Teachers-Los Angeles. A panel discussion and audience questions will follow. 9550 Haskell Ave., Sepulveda. (818) 891-8256.

Author Matthew Fox, a controversial Dominican priest and eco-theologian, conducts a seminar, “Awakening the Cosmic Tree: Creation Spirituality, Gifts of Awe, Gifts of Liberation,” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Earth Trust House in Malibu, 20178 Rockport Way. $95 donation requested. (310) 456-3534.

Phillip’s Temple C.M.E. Church holds a voter education and registration project Sunday. Attorney J. Stanley Sanders speaks at 8 a.m. and Bob Gay delivers the sermon at a 10:45 a.m. service. 971-73 E. 43rd St., Los Angeles. (213) 233-4783.

The Catholic Peace Coalition gathers at 3 p.m. Sunday for worship and a “celebration of peacemakers in this Archdiocese” at the De Paul Center Library, 1105 Bludd Road, Montebello. (919) 625-2090.

PERFORMANCES

Please call the numbers given here for complete ticket information and the location of the following events:

The “Sister Act” Choir Nuns and their vocal coach, Grammy-winning singer Darlene Koldenhoven, join the Bethel Church Choir in Sun Valley and others for a free revival concert at 8 p.m. Friday. (818) 767-4488.

Renaissance song, music and jest will be offered at 6 p.m. Saturday at a fund-raising dinner at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Studio City. Tickets are $20. (818) 769-5911.

Concert organist Marsha Foxgrover presents a recital at 6 p.m. Sunday at Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena. Admission is free; no tickets are required. (818) 795-7221.

Composer and organist Christoph Bull presents a recital at 7 p.m. Sunday at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood to commemorate the death last year of Olivier Messiaen, whose suite “L’Ascension” is among the pieces to be performed. (213) 463-7471.

PURIM

This lively Jewish holiday begins at sundown Saturday, March 6. It celebrates the defeat of a plot to wipe out the Jewish people. During two synagogue readings of the Scroll (Megilla) of Esther--a story set in ancient Persia in which a woman saves the day and her people--congregants boo and rattle noisemakers to drown out the name of Haman, the villain. It is customary to give to the poor, send gifts of food to friends and neighbors, wear costumes and eat hamentaschen , special fruit-filled pastries.

Citywide Hillel Foundations host a Masquerade Ball at 7:30 p.m. March 6 at the University of Judaism. Highlights include a choice of modern dramatic or traditional Megillah readings, deejay dancing and prizes for best costumes. $5 admission. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 222.

Westwood Kehilla holds its celebration at 2 to 5 p.m., Sunday, March 7, with a live band, full meal, children’s program and skits. Admission is $18, $9 for children. 10806 Rochester Ave., Los Angeles. (310) 824-1127.

A Singles Purim Feast at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 7, is hosted by Chabad of California’s Jewish Enrichment Center. Reserve $12; tickets by Friday. 9017 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 935-4459.

The Westside Jewish Community Center’s carnival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday features games, ponies, clowns and an auction. Admission is free. 5870 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 938-2531.

Temple Ahavat Shalom’s carnival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 7 will have pony rides and a petting zoo. Admission is free. 18200 Rinaldi Place, Northridge. (818) 360-2258.

Temple Beth Am’s street fair takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 7 on the 900 block of Schumacher Drive in Carthay Circle (between Moore Drive and Hayes Drive) in Los Angeles. Admission is free. (310) 652-7353.

BRIEFLY

The Rev. James Lockwood-Stewart, senior minister at Westwood United Methodist Church, was honored by the School of Theology at Claremont Sunday for 25 years in the ministry. Robert Edgar, president of the theology school, announced the establishment of a scholarship in Lockwood-Stewart’s name. . . . The Rev. Dumas A. Harshaw delivers his final sermon as pastor of Trinity Baptist Church Sunday, then leaves to become Africa area director for the Board of International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches.

At St. John’s Lutheran Church in Orange Sunday, the Rev. Timothy M. Klinkenberg will be installed as minister to youth by Senior Pastor Norbert C. Oesch. . . . Andrea Smith has been elected president of the Westwood Kehilla, making her the first woman president of an Orthodox synagogue in Southern California.

Please address notices to: Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Fax: (213) 237-4712. Items should be brief and arrive at least three weeks prior to the event announced.