Commissioner Peter H. Chang has been appointed...

Commissioner Peter H. Chang has been appointed territorial commander of the Salvation Army for 13 Western states, succeeding Paul A. Rader, the newly elected general of the global evangelistic and social service denomination.

The Korean-born Chang, 60, has been the Salvation Army’s territorial commander in South Korea since 1991, but before that was stationed for a few years at the Western territory headquarters in Rancho Palos Verdes as training principal in the officers’ school.

Rader, elected general of the Salvation Army July 23 in London, had been a missionary in South Korea from 1962 to 1984, except for two years’ doctoral study at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

“Rader picked Chang to succeed him, I think, because the general believes he will maintain the growth plan for this decade,” said Robert Docter of Northridge, editor of the Western territory newspaper New Frontiers. Rader established Western territorial goals that included the aim to double its 1990 total of nearly 200 congregations by the year 2000. “We have a little more than 230 right now,” Docter said.

Chang, a third-generation Salvation Army officer, has served a number of posts in the United States, the South Pacific and East Asia. He earned master’s degrees from Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University in New York City.

Rader, also 60, will depart the Los Angeles area for his new duties in late August. Chang’s appointment becomes effective Sept. 1.

SCHOLARSHIP

Violent anti-abortion protests, the future of the Southern Baptist Convention and a look back at the ill-fated Branch Davidian sect in Waco are among topics to be discussed today in the closing sessions of the Assn. for Sociology of Religion in Downtown Los Angeles.

The three-day meeting of scholars who study the behavior of religious groups, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Broadway Plaza, overlaps with sessions of the larger American Sociological Assn. meeting at other Downtown hotels this weekend.

A book by Dallas Blanchard, “The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Rise of the Religious Right: From Polite to Fiery Protest,” will be discussed at a 3 p.m. panel today at the meeting of the religion sociologists. Blanchard is associate professor of sociology at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, where an assailant shot and killed two people at an abortion clinic on July 28.

A panel of speakers will discuss at 10:30 a.m. what lies ahead for Southern Baptists, whose conservative leadership has solidified its authority after years of political and theological disputes. The panelists will include the Rev. Richard Land, executive director of the Southern Baptists’ Christian Life Commission, and Kirk Hadaway, a researcher with the United Church of Christ.

Four scholarly papers on sectarian leader David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, who burst into the news through a violent conflict with government authorities in early 1993, will be read at a seminar starting at 8:30 a.m.

GIVING

Of the more than 1,600 Southern Baptist churches and missions in California, Saddleback Valley Community Church in Mission Viejo and Immanuel Baptist Church in San Bernardino County usually are among the leaders in contributions to the denomination’s various mission programs. For the first six months of 1994, according to reports from the denomination’s state headquarters in Fresno, Saddleback Valley, pastored by the Rev. Rick Warren, was tops in California with $108,244, and Immanuel Baptist, where the Rev. Rob Zinn is pastor, was a close second with $107,127. The third highest total through June was $69,017 from Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church in Riverside.

In per capita giving totals, the smaller churches rank highest. Paradise Hills Southern Baptist in San Diego, the Rev. Aaron Eurich, pastor, was first with $245.59 from with an average 50 people at worship services. BOOK

The teachings of a 17th-Century samurai who became a Zen monk at age 41 are edited, translated and introduced in “Warrior of Zen, the Diamond-Hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Shosan,” by Arthur Braverman. The editor teaches at the Oak Grove School of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America in Ojai.

The publisher, Kodansha Globe of New York City, described Shosan as one of Japan’s most unorthodox Zen masters. The paperback book has a publication date of Aug. 31.

EVENTS

* The 18th annual Festival of the Chariots sponsored by the Hare Krishna movement will take place Sunday at Venice Beach. The parade features three huge floats, which will be hand drawn from Santa Monica Beach to the Venice Beach Pavilion, starting at 11 a.m. A cultural festival including classic Indian dance performances and a vegetarian feast will last from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the pavilion.

* San Gabriel Union Church will mark its 75th anniversary today with a barbecue 1 to 5 p.m. and a special worship service 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday featuring Clyde Cook, president of Biola University, as the guest speaker, according to the Rev. Ron Butler, executive pastor. The church is at 117 N. Pine St. in San Gabriel. For information, call (818) 287-0434.

* A kosher barbecue featuring “Jewish-style Western” entertainment will be held Sunday, starting at 5 p.m., at Hollywood Temple Beth El at 1317 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., Los Angeles. Admission is $18 and advance reservations must be made by calling (213) 656-3150.

* Fred Edwords, executive director of the New York-based American Humanist Assn., and writer-activist Bill Baird will speak Sunday at the 6:30 p.m. meeting of the Los Angeles chapter at the La Cienega Park Community Center. For information, call (213) 876-9036.

PEOPLE

* Robert H. Gordis has been named vice president for public affairs and community outreach at the University of Judaism. Gordis already serves as dean of administration, assistant to the president and assistant professor of philosophy at the campus on Mulholland Drive.

* The Rev. Timothy B. Muller, pastor of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Fullerton, has accepted an invitation to add Messiah Lutheran Church in Buena Park to his pastoring duties. Both are affiliated with the Missouri Synod-Lutheran Church, the second largest Lutheran denomination in this country.

* Barbara A. Boigegrain, 37, an executive with the Towers Perrin consulting firm in San Diego, has been named new chief executive of the United Methodist Church’s pension agency, which manages $5.7 billion in investments.

Notices may be sent to Southern California File by mail c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or by fax to (213) 237-4712. Items must be brief and arrive at least three weeks in advance. Include a phone number, date, time and full address.