RELIEF GRANT: Church World Service, the relief...

RELIEF GRANT: Church World Service, the relief arm of the National Council of Churches, has given $100,000 to the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council to aid earthquake relief efforts by the Chatsworth-based organization.

Nearly $21,000 of that money will enable the council to join the KYDS (Keep Youth Doing Something) jobs program in the Valley, said Kimberly Hall, director of the council’s Earthquake Response Project.

More than $11,000 will provide for a year’s lease on a warehouse in the West Valley and $10,000 will go toward aiding families who have unmet needs, she said.

About $57,000 of the grant will go toward administrative costs.

OUTDOOR SHABBAT: As synagogues gear up for open houses and special events to attract new members prior to the High Holy Days and religious school fall terms, Temple Solael in West Hills is offering outdoor Friday night services the next two weeks at Knapp Ranch Park.

Rabbi Harold Caminker will lead worship services at 7:30 p.m. next week and at 6 p.m. on Aug. 12, with families invited to eat a picnic dinner beforehand. The park is on Kittridge Street. For information, call (818) 348-3885.

Temple Solael, a Reform synagogue, will hold the first of six formal open house receptions at its facility, 6601 Valley Circle Blvd., on Aug. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Before then, however, Temple Beth Torah, a Reform congregation at 16651 Rinaldi St., Granada Hills, will hold an open house Sunday from 1:30 to 4 p.m. For information, call (818) 831-0835.

ASSYRIAN PASTOR: William Nissan, pastor of the Assyrian Church of Ninevah in Panorama City, will speak on his life growing up in the Middle East and coming to America in a talk next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 20550 Roscoe Blvd., Canoga Park.

Nissan, whose 100-member congregation backed the San Fernando Valley Crusade with Luis Palau in June, will relate his talk to the biblical stories about Ninevah, whose ancient site is in present-day Iraq.

Soprano Jeanette Parsadanian will also perform. An offering will be taken. For information, call Lynda Keena at (805) 493-4563.

CLASSICAL CONCERT: Works by Beethhoven, Vivaldi, Bach, Haydn and other master composers will be performed in concert at 7 p.m. Sunday at Salem Lutheran Church, 1211 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale.

There will be piano, flute, oboe and trumpet solos. Soprano Cara Clove and baritone Paul Munsch will sing.

An offering will be taken for student scholarships to the national Lutheran Summer Music Program. For information, call (818) 243-3193.