Congregations Count Their Blessings and Damage : Quake: Some move services outside. Others fence off damaged areas. Among worst hit is University of Judaism, with repair costs estimated at $2 million.

A few hours after the pre-dawn temblor struck the San Fernando Valley on Monday, Joanne and Jim Dodds opened the front doors of St. James Presbyterian Church in Tarzana and were relieved when they saw only dust in the entryway.

But as Jim Dodds opened the doors to the sanctuary, which can accommodate 800 people, he warned his wife, who is the church’s administrator, “You don’t want to see this.”

The entire ceiling, about three stories high, had come crashing down. From the balcony to the pulpit, broken pews were covered in a tangled collage of plaster, 2-by-4s and the shattered ceiling lights. Walls on both sides have visible cracks.

With damage estimated at more than $1.5 million, Senior Pastor Ken Baker and other church officials fear the Ventura Boulevard church is a total loss.

Similar appraisals were being made at houses of worship around the city this week in the wake of the magnitude 6.6 Northridge earthquake.

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Crosses were knocked loose, Jewish Torah scrolls tumbled out of their enclosures and innumerable stained-glass windows blew out or cracked. Some congregations were shifting their worship services this weekend to other buildings--even outdoors, if weather permits. Others are roping off unsafe areas of sanctuaries and hallways.

At Wat Thai Buddhist Temple in North Hollywood, altar items were toppled, although the giant statue of Buddha remained unscathed.

Many places of worship have placed yellow tape around sections of their buildings where concrete chunks have fallen or broken windows loom high above.

But yellow tape completely surrounded Emmanuel Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, according to Barbara Price of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America office in Los Angeles. In addition to a list of affected church buildings, the Lutherans “have two pastors who have been sleeping outside because their homes were not inhabitable,” Price said.

Some churches, such as St. John Baptist de la Salle in Granada Hills, will still celebrate Masses in their main sanctuary this weekend, but others, such as Mandarin Baptist Church near Cal State Northridge, North Hollywood Presbyterian Church and St. John Eudes Catholic Church of Chatsworth, are moving services to another hall at least for this week.

In Santa Clarita, a large Mormon church suffered structural damage. Many Santa Monica churches were hard hit. American Baptist officials said they have received damage reports from as far away as Ebenezer Baptist Church in Huntington Park.

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In the central region of Los Angeles, spires were damaged at the much-photographed First Congregational Church and at First Baptist Church.

Two prominent black churches in Los Angeles also suffered serious damage. The 1,200-member University Seventh-day Adventist Church near USC was forced to relocate today’s services from its 74-year-old building to the Los Angeles Adventist Academy in Willowbrook. Advent Episcopal Church, where the Rev. Lewis Bohler is rector, had just finished a $75,000 retrofitting of its West Adams Boulevard structure when this week’s quake knocked down its front facade and damaged the altar area.

Most congregations were awaiting assessments from inspectors. Bishop Roy Sano of the United Methodist Church said that six to 10 congregations in the Los Angeles area are in that situation.

Chatsworth United Methodist Church is definitely not in good shape, said trustee Bob Knapp, who was helping move undamaged items out of the sanctuary early this week.

“The whole building apparently shifted three inches to the east, and the lateral timber is split,” Knapp said, pointing to the roof line near the shattered glass windows behind the pulpit.

Synagogues in all parts of the Valley were hit.

At Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, Friday night services were shifted to the synagogue’s newer but smaller social hall. “A lot of ceiling came down in the older, main sanctuary,” said Rabbi Jerry Danzig, the synagogue administrator.

The University of Judaism incurred as much as $2 million in damage, including the destruction of ancient Bibles and other Jewish books. The acoustic ceiling of the main auditorium collapsed, said Mimi Sells, public affairs director at the campus off Mulholland Drive. The school will reopen on Monday.

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Some churches close to the epicenter did remarkably well.

The 2-year-old sanctuary of Northridge United Methodist Church had no broken windows despite its location two blocks from the tragic collapse of the Northridge Meadows apartment building, where 16 people were killed. “We are feeling very happy that we are in good structural shape,” Senior Pastor David Richardson said.

Unfortunately, the sanctuary was flooded Tuesday night after water service was restored because of a broken sprinkler line. Nevertheless, services will be held in the sanctuary as usual Sunday morning, Richardson said.

The historic San Fernando Mission suffered very little damage, a representative said. The old church had been reconstructed after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and withstood the shaking so well this time that funerals were held there this week and weekend weddings were not canceled.

Similarly, Hillcrest Christian Church in Granada Hills suffered no serious damage. Like many congregations, it is turning its efforts to helping members and other residents cope with post-earthquake needs.

Pastor Jess Moody said his Shepherd of Hills Church in Porter Ranch was setting up cleanup teams and asking artisans in its congregation to do their work for 10% less than they normally charge. The church also played host to a Southern Baptist relief team to feed people and provide cots.

At the same time, Moody said that Shepherd of the Hills has breaks in its front stained-glass window, the apex of its roof and in other areas--damage that could cost $200,000 to $1 million to repair, depending on whether any structural damage is indicated by inspectors.

In the one good turn deserves another department: St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church of Chatsworth had nearly a dozen homeless people sleeping in the main sanctuary when the quake struck Monday morning. They were inside portable tents, provided as part of the Valley Interfaith Council’s program to play host to homeless people at different congregations for two weeks at a time.

“Our kitchen was a mess, and they did a wonderful service in helping with the cleanup,” church member Bill Newbold said.