The Good Samaritan Counseling Center opens today,...

The Good Samaritan Counseling Center opens today, offering mental health services to member churches and the public at four South Bay locations.

Sponsored by the South Coast Ecumenical Council, a consortium of 125 congregations and related ministries in the South Bay-Long Beach-Lakewood area, the center is the fulfillment of a dream for the Rev. Lester E. Kim, who has had a counseling ministry with the council for three decades.

“We are continuing our tradition of distinctively Christian, spiritually grounded counseling,” said Kim, who holds a doctorate in pastoral counseling from USC. “And our policy is that of turning no one away who can use our service but is unable to pay.”

As head of community relations, Kim will work with the Rev. William C. Scar, who arrived from Ohio this week to become director of the center. Scar, a Lutheran minister, was the founding director of the Samaritan Counseling Center in Cincinnati. He earned a doctorate of ministry in pastoral counseling from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and is a fellow of the American Assn. of Pastoral Counselors. Recently, he was recognized as an approved supervisor by the American Assn. for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Scar said the center has consultants in psychiatry, clinical psychology, clinical social work and marriage and family counseling.

“We are not a bunch of pastors doing counseling, and we are not counselors who happen to have an overlay of spirituality. Nor are we pastors who happen to know something about psychology,” Scar said.

“Everyone here is held accountable for the interface of psychiatry, values and spirituality. We are so medically grounded that we hope to become the referral agency of choice for physicians and attorneys, not to mention pastors, who come into contact with the same person over and over again who is not getting well--including cases involving deep pathology and violence, child custody and alcoholism.”

Scar said the center is accepting appointments now; fees for the services will be based on one’s ability to pay. On Thursday, the center will participate in National Depression Screening Day, sponsored by the American Psychiatric Assn., Harvard Medical School and other groups.

The central office is at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1350 W. 25th St., San Pedro. Satellite offices will be at First United Methodist Church in Lakewood, First Baptist Church in Rolling Hills Estates, and Neighborhood Church on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. For information, (310) 514-3000.

DATES

* The British Isles will be saluted during the 10:30 a.m. worship service Sunday at St. James’ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. Bagpipes will lead the procession and British Consul Merrick Baker-Bates will read the morning lessons. High tea will follow the service. 3903 Wilshire Blvd. (213) 388-3417.

* Blessings of the Animals will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Nicholas Church, 17114 Ventura Blvd., North Hills, (818) 788-4486, and at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, 7501 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 876-2102. All pets are welcome. Please keep animals on leashes or in cages.

* The Dharma Zen Center, a member of the Kwan Um School of Zen, presents Heila Downey, abbot of the Capetown Dharma Centre, who will give a free talk on “Apartheid, South Africa and Zen” at 7:30 p.m. Friday. A half hour of chanting will precede the talk. 1025 S. Cloverdale Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 934-0330.

* The Sixth Vietnamese Church Leadership Development Conference, sponsored by the Vietnamese Theological College, will be held at Garden Grove Friends Church Wednesday through Saturday. Its theme is “Gospel for the Homeland.” Participants are expected from half a dozen countries. For information, (714) 373-5022.

* Affirmation, United Methodists for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Concerns will hold its national gathering in Los Angeles Friday through next Sunday at the Hyatt Hotel in West Hollywood. For information, (213) 969-4664.

HONORS

* Rector emeritus of St. John’s Episcopal Church, the Rev. Lawrence E. Carter, was honored at the Sept. 25 dedication of Carter House, a 21-unit apartment complex in South-Central Los Angeles that offers permanent housing to homeless persons with mental illnesses. The building named for him is sponsored by the church and funded by grants from Urban Housing Development and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the city of Los Angeles.

* Members of Calvary Bible Church in Burbank will welcome their founding pastor, the Rev. Jack MacArthur, and others to the church’s 40th anniversary festivities Sunday. (818) 556-4840.

* Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be declared the second recipient of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Award during the fourth annual National Catholic Family Conference being held today and Sunday at the Long Beach Convention Center.

* The University of Judaism has named ethicist and scholar Rabbi Elliot Dorff to the newly created position of university rector. It has also named Eleanor Montague vice president for business affairs and administration.

* Newly appointed directors of education are Nissim Elbaz of Sinai Temple in West Los Angeles, Debra Korisky of Temple Beth Zion-Sinai in Lakewood and Leonard Zukrow of Congregation Emanu Elin San Bernardino.

* Gretchen Glick, director of Christian Initiation at St. Martin of Tours Parish in Brentwood, was recently commissioned a spiritual director by Abbot Andrew Miles and Father Bernard Liebiedzat the Pecos Benedictine School for Charismatic Spiritual Directors at the Pecos Benedictine Monastery in Pecos, N.M. The only person from Los Angeles’ Catholic Archdiocese to be commissioned this year, she will participate in a 13-month training program in depth psychology and spirituality.

BRIEFLY

* A new book, “Max Nussbaum: From Berlin to Hollywood--A Mid-Century Vision of Jewish Life,” chronicling the life and times of the late Rabbi Max Nussbaum of Temple Israel of Hollywood, has been published by Pangloss Press in Malibu. The book was edited by Professor Lewis M. Barth of Hebrew Union College in collaboration with the rabbi’s widow, Ruth Nussbaum. For information, (213) 749-3424.

* The Los Angeles Church of Religious Science has moved its 10:30 a.m. Sunday services to the Wilshire Theater, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. (213) 965-9200.

* The Southern California Counseling Center is offering full and partial scholarships for the Training Lay Counselors program, a community outreach project offered to pastors and other religious counselors, in addition to staff and volunteers of organizations and agencies serving low-income clients. The program begins Oct. 14. Coordinator Ken Olfson said the program will provide training, supervision and support for counselors who are faced with “an overwhelming array of problems among the at-risk families and young people they are serving.” (213) 937-1344.

* The Urban Leadership Institute at the School of Theology at Claremont has received a $150,000 grant for Southern California Edison. The institute is a seminary-sponsored, degree-granting program that focuses on leadership development for religious leaders. The school will receive $25,000 per year for three years and will raise another $75,000, which will be matched by Edison.

* Bishop Carl Bean has announced the first Unity Fellowship Convocation, to be held Monday through Saturday at the Ramada Hotel in Culver City. Organizers say it is the first such gathering organized by people of color open to homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals and heterosexuals. Workshop leaders from around the country will speak on spirituality, health, compulsive sexual behaviors and parenting, among other topics. For registration information, (213) 936-4948.

* The Salvation Army will dedicate The Way in Youth Shelter and Drop-in Center in Hollywood this week. (213) 627-5571. . . . Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners magazine, will sign his new book, “The Soul of Politics,” from 4 to 6 p.m. and lead a discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the School of Theology at Claremont. (800) 626-7821. . . . The Platt Gallery at the University of Judaism will reopen Sunday after earthquake reconstruction with an exhibition entitled “Remembrance” by California artist Lita Albuquerque. (310) 476-9777.