LUTHERAN ELECTION: Short biographies of 18 clergy...

LUTHERAN ELECTION: Short biographies of 18 clergy have gone to Lutherans in the five-county Southern California (West) Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in preparation for a Nov. 5 assembly in Thousand Oaks that will elect a new bishop.

The 18 are among those most mentioned as candidates and who are willing to serve if elected, synod officials said. Nevertheless, additional nominations may be made from the floor at the special assembly to be held at the Cal Lutheran University campus.

The next bishop, whose term would end in the year 2000, will fill the Los Angeles-based seat vacated Sept. 1 by Bishop J. Roger Anderson, who became a pastor in Sun City, Ariz.

The synod has 155 churches and 50,388 baptized members in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties.

The Rev. Vance Knutsen of Glendale has been serving as interim bishop. Knutsen retired from the full-time ministry in 1991. His last pulpit was at Salem Lutheran Church in Glendale.

The new bishop is scheduled to be installed early next year.

COUNCIL STANCE: The board of directors of San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council has announced its unanimous opposition to Proposition 187, the state ballot initiative that would close off certain social services to illegal immigrants.

“We join with other members of the religious community in declaring that Proposition 187 compromises fundamental moral principles,” said a statement from the council offices in Chatsworth. Catholic bishops in California, a coalition of Jewish rabbis and a number of mainline Protestant organizations have previously expressed their opposition.

“The focus on immigrants distracts from the deeper causes of California’s economic crisis, which includes the loss of jobs, an eroding tax base and a failure to invest in education and infrastructure,” the council’s board statement said.

AUTHOR TALK: Author Naomi Ragen will talk about her new novel, “The Sacrifice of Tamar,” at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the West Valley Jewish Community Center, 6429 Independence Ave., Woodland Hills.

The novel was described by the center’s sponsoring Rosenkrantz Library as an examination of religious observance, women’s rights, abortion and racism.

Only books purchased at the event may be autographed, a spokesman said. Admission is $2 for members and $3 for non-members of the center. For reservations, call (818) 587-3300.

BASEBALL BENEFIT: Children of Promise, a Calabasas-based ministry that provides mentorships to fatherless boys of all races, has organized fund-raising baseball games to be played at Long Beach’s Blair Field at 1:15 p.m. Oct. 29 and 30.

The games will include both university-level players and major leaguers, including Dave Hansen of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chad Krueter and Chris Gomez of the Detroit Tigers, Jeff Gardner of the Montreal Expos and ex-major league slugger Darrell Evans.

Tickets are available at Valley Book and Bible stores in the San Fernando Valley and at Lighthouse Christian Books in Glendale.

George Voita, founder of Children of Promise, said the goal of the games and accompanying entertainment is to raise $35,000 to send 38 boys and their mentors to a Christian sports camp known as JH Ranch.