On Friday, the School of Theology at...

On Friday, the School of Theology at Claremont cut the ribbon to open the Allen J. Moore Multicultural Resource and Research Center. Named for the school’s dean from 1963 to 1993, the center is intended to bolster ministries for “marginalized peoples of all races and ethnic groups” and foster intergroup communication.

The research center has a variety of materials available to be checked out by students, clergy members and the general public.

But Mary Elizabeth Moore, a professor of theology and Christian education and the wife of the retired dean, hopes that visitors will contribute something as well.

“My dream for the center,” she said, “is not only that Native American church leaders, for example, could drop in and find resources to use next Sunday morning in their church, but that Tongan and Samoan-speaking congregants will get together and create resources that we would then include in our collection.”

Housed in a wing of the library building, the center holds books, pamphlets, photos, curricula, more than 3,000 video and audio tapes and a fledgling collection of computer software--”resources we’ve been collecting for years,” Moore said.

The resources cover teaching, preaching, pastoral care and worship. Their emphasis is on ethnic diversity, ecology, ecumenism and gender-inclusiveness. The center sponsors research, seminars and resource development.

“Right now, we’re trying to focus on material from small presses and unpublished material, and on languages and cultures that don’t have many outlets,” Moore said.

“Besides Tongan, Samoan, Latino, African American, Korean, Chinese and Japanese American resources, we have women’s liturgies and liturgies for congregations that want to be more inclusive of women. And we have materials for the gay and lesbian community.

“Eventually,” she added, “we hope to have a lot more interfaith material as well.”

Anyone can join the center for $10 a year. Students and others with a School of Theology at Claremont library card may use it free of charge. Anyone holding a public library card may use materials on site by registering with the center.

For information about using or donating resources, contact the center at (800) 626-7829, Ext. 201.

DATES

* Peter J. Paris, a professor of social ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary specializing in African American religion and sociology, will deliver the 1995 Holstein Family Community Lecture in Religious Studies at 4 p.m. Friday at UC Riverside. His topic will be “Conflicting Spiritualities in the American Struggle for Racial Justice.” Admission and parking are free. (909) 787-3741.

* “Resources for the Poor and Homeless in Our Community” is the title of Union Station’s 1995 Clergy Forum, a breakfast meeting to be held from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Scripps Home Meeting Hall in Altadena. A panel of social service agency directors will discuss available resources and referrals for those with no homes or money, and clergy members can learn how to instruct parishioners on issues of poverty and homelessness. More than 20 agencies will distribute literature. Admission is free. Reservations required. (818) 683-7071.

* The Rev. Frank M. Alton begins his ministry as pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles at the 11 a.m. service Sunday, speaking on “Mothers of Liberation.” Founded in 1888, the church has had only nine pastors in its history. Alton returns to his native Los Angeles from Mexico City, where he has been a missionary and teacher. His formal installation will take place later in the year. 3300 Wilshire Blvd. (213) 389-3191.

* Roberta C. Bondi, a professor of church history in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, will present two free lectures on “Memories of God: Theological Reflections on a Life,” during the 1995 Women’s Lectureship at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena Wednesday and Thursday. The series is held annually to present academic work in theology being conducted by and about women. For a complete schedule and topics, phone (818) 584-5367.

* The Native American Children’s Committee and the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society are sponsoring their first intertribal San Fernando Valley Pow Wow from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 20, on the grounds of the society’s headquarters in North Hills. Featuring ethnic food, music, dance and crafts, the event will begin with a gala ceremonial processional. Guests are asked to bring their own chairs. The society’s headquarters, “The Onion,” is located at 9550 Haskell Ave. (818) 997-8740.

* The Jewish Studies Institute of Yeshiva of Los Angeles presents a free dialogue, “In Praise of Guilt,” between Henry Morris, professor emeritus of UCLA’s law school and philosophy department, and Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of the institute, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21. They will explore the role of guilt in legal responsibility and moral consciousness. The program will mark the naming of the Sharon R. Price Women’s Torah Institute. A reception follows. The program will be held at the Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd. (310) 553-9036.

HONORS

* George F. Moody of Los Angeles, who recently retired as director and chairman of the executive committee of Security Pacific Corp. and Security Pacific National Bank, has been named vice chairman of the board of directors of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, headquartered near Washington, D.C. The council sets standards of financial integrity and Christian ethics and monitors compliance of member organizations.

* The Marion Hotel, renamed in honor of the late Marion H. Bell, who helped residents of Skid Row through 40 years of work for Catholic Charities, will be dedicated at a private ceremony Friday. Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will preside.

* At commencement ceremonies:

John A. Hoyt, president and CEO of Humane Society International, will receive the President’s Distinguished Ministry Award today at the School of Theology at Claremont.

The University of Judaism will award honorary doctorate degrees Sunday to Harry Heinz Schwarz, South African ambassador to the United States during that country’s transition to democracy; literature professor Rabbi Ben Zion Bergman, and Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin of Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles.

Hebrew Union College will grant honorary doctorates in humane letters Monday to Lee S. Shulman, the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University; Arnold Dunn, a professor of biological sciences at USC; and posthumously, to Elizabeth Glaser, co-founder of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Rabbi Louis J. Feldman of the Jewish Homes for the Aging in Reseda will receive an honorary doctor of divinity degree from the college.