NEW PRESIDENT: Greek Orthodox layman Nicholas Royce...

NEW PRESIDENT: Greek Orthodox layman Nicholas Royce of North Hollywood, known for his campaigns to publicize Orthodox causes, has been elected new president of the Southern California chapter of the Religious Public Relations Council.

Now semi-retired, Royce works part time as film-video coordinator for Family Theater Productions in Hollywood. He currently is trying to garner support for putting pressure on Turkish officials to permit greater freedoms for the Ecumenical Patriarch headquarters in Istanbul.

Royce succeeds Chuck Jones, a Methodist layman, as head of the interfaith organization of religious communicators and publicists.

NEW TESTAMENT: A four-week course that looks at the literature and history in the New Testament will be offered by Mission College’s community extension program, starting July 8.

Mike Duncan, a graduate student at Pasadena’s Fuller Theological Seminary, will be the instructor. “The Bible as Literature and History,” which will deal with the four gospels as well as related texts, will meet from 7 to 9 p.m. on consecutive Thursdays.

“This seminar--lecture, discussion, question and answer--will endeavor to show fascinating aspects about the New Testament outside of any religious bias,” he said.

Enrollment for the course, which costs $29, can be done in person at the community extension program office in Veterans Memorial Park, 13000 Sayre St., Sylmar, or by calling that office at (818) 365-5262 during daytime hours.

BAPTIST APPOINTMENT: The Rev. M. Cecilia Broadus, one of 11 children of the founding pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Pacoima, has been named to the staff of the American Baptists’ City Mission Society in Los Angeles.

A graduate of American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, she served two years as a volunteer in Zaire under the denomination’s Board of International Ministries. Her job will be in mission support and community development.

Her brother, the Rev. William T. Broadus, is currently pastor of the Pacoima church.

YIDDISH MUSICAL: An evening of Yiddish music and dance, with a Charlie Chaplin movie tossed in, will be held 7 p.m. Sunday at Temple Sinai, 1212 N. Pacific Ave., Glendale.

The four-man Ellis Island Klezmer Band will play dance music as well as sing-along songs in Yiddish and in English translation. The silent Chaplin film, “The Immigrants,” will be accompanied by the band’s piano player.

The program is the fourth and final event in the annual Jewish Cultural Series sponsored by four East Valley Jewish congregations. Tickets are $7.50 at the door and $6 for seniors.

News and announcements for this column may be sent to Religion Desk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311.