COUNTRY GOSPEL: The Shepherd of the Hills...

COUNTRY GOSPEL: The Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch will hold a Country Gospel concert at 6 p.m. tonight, partly to benefit Point Man Ministries, which supports street people who are Vietnam War veterans.

The church launched a country gospel-themed service on Friday nights with some fanfare last summer but quietly dropped the service months later.

A church representative said the special concert tonight will feature 28 country singers and musicians, including recording artist Larry Pratt and his band, blind pianist Dick Smith and actor Rodger Halston.

Admission is free, but an offering will be taken. For more information, call the church, which is located at 19700 Rinaldi St., at (818) 831-9333.

GUEST LECTURE: Zev Garber, professor of Jewish studies at Valley College, will speak at 8:15 p.m. Friday at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino on “The Auschwitz Convent Controversy: Unresolved Issues.” Garber will discuss the establishment, then removal, of a nuns’ convent beside the Nazi-era concentration camp.

Garber, who is also a visiting professor of religious studies at UC Riverside, is author of a forthcoming book, “Shoah: The Pragmatic Genocide.”

Information is available from the synagogue, 15739 Ventura Blvd., at (818) 788-6000.

CHRISTIAN MEDIATION: A one-day seminar on “Christian conciliation skills” will be held next Saturday in Westlake Village by Stott Monsma & Associates.

The seminar from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., to be led by Jim Stott, is the first of a series of conflict management workshops planned for clergy, lay leaders, church staff members and others, a spokesman said. The cost is $79.

For information, call (818) 707-1695.

QUAKE BENEFIT: Harpist Bonnie Mohr will play and sing a benefit concert at 4 p.m. June 26 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 6020 Radford Ave., North Hollywood.

An offering will be taken to aid fund raising for major repairs to the church’s sanctuary, which was badly damaged by the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake.

Mohr, whose husband is a Lutheran pastor in West Covina, has performed in television commercials, at hotels in Japan and Disney World, and in numerous church concerts.

For information, call the church at (818) 761-6124.

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