STRESSED-OUT CLERGY? The average pastor or rabbi...

STRESSED-OUT CLERGY? The average pastor or rabbi shaken by the Northridge earthquake may be carrying several burdens at once--problems experienced by their own families and by individual congregants, as well as financial concerns over physical damage to the house of worship itself.

Worried that clergy and congregational leaders may be trying to take on too much, leaders of the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council’s Earthquake Response Project will hold a workshop at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday with presentations by specialists on dealing with stress in crisis situations.

The open meeting, to be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5338 White Oak Ave., Encino, will hear professionals from the American Red Cross, Los Angeles County Mental Health Department, Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, state Office of Emergency Preparedness, and a Los Angeles County drug and alcohol abuse program.

For information, call (818) 718-6460.

IRANIAN MEMORIAL: Pastor Jack Hayford will lead a memorial service for a slain Iranian Christian bishop at 3 p.m. today at the Church on the Way in Van Nuys.

A State Department statement said Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, who was associated with the Assemblies of God church, disappeared Jan. 19 and was apparently killed the following day, although his body was not identified until Jan. 30.

A U. S.-based human rights group, Middle East Watch, said Hovsepian, an Armenian, had been critical of what he alleged was mistreatment of Christians in Iran. Hovsepian disappeared shortly after Iran released the Rev. Mehdi Dibaj, another Assemblies of God pastor, who spent eight years in jail. Dibaj was set free after a publicity campaign orchestrated by Hovsepian and protests from Western countries.

JAZZ VESPERS: The Black Note Quintet will be featured Sunday evening in the monthly jazz concert and service at Glendale First Lutheran Church, 1300 E. Colorado St. The 6:30 p.m. vespers series was begun in September under the direction of Steve Rowe, a television actor and drama teacher.

CHRISTIAN COALITION: Sara DeVito Hardman, state director of the politically oriented Christian Coalition of California, will address a meeting of the San Fernando Valley chapter at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Galpin Ford’s Explorer Room, 15555 Roscoe Blvd., Van Nuys. Admission is free. For information, call (818) 786-4270.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: Clifford Goldstein, editor of the Seventh-day Adventist-run Liberty magazine, will speak Feb. 19 on “New Christian Right: Born Again?” during a religious liberty rally beginning at 2:45 p.m. in the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. The Adventist-sponsored rally is open to the public.

EDGAR LECTURE: The Rev. Robert W. Edgar, president of the School of Theology at Claremont, will be the guest preacher at the 10:30 a.m. service at Glendale First United Methodist Church, 130 N. Kenwood St. Edgar, who served in Congress from 1975 to 1987, will also talk to the combined Sunday school classes at 9 a.m. and at a 5 p.m. dinner program. Reservations are being taken at the church: (818) 243-2105.

VOWS RENEWAL: In a pre-Valentine’s Day ceremony, the Rev. Marlene Morris will lead couples in renewing wedding vows at 1 p.m. Sunday at Burbank-Toluca Lake First Church of Religious Science, 260 N. Pass Ave., Burbank. All women will receive a wedding bouquet, and each man will be given a boutonniere at the free ceremony. Champagne and wedding cake will be served following the rites.