In what it calls a “first-of-its-kind program...

In what it calls a “first-of-its-kind program at a major seminary,” Fuller Theological Seminary will launch a deaf-ministries studies program leading to a master of arts degree in theology. The deaf-ministry track is open to hearing and deaf students.

Fuller, the largest interdenominational Protestant seminary in the United States, last summer established a Center for Deaf Ministries on campus. The center assists deaf students in the classroom, provides personal counseling and helps find financial aid and post-graduation jobs.

According to the Rev. William Dyrness, dean of the School of Theology, both the center and the new program are “the vision and the dream” of William M. Erickson, who has worked with the deaf for 30 years. Since 1988 he has been the executive director of Gospel Ministries for the Deaf. He experimented with a similar program at a small seminary in Oregon and will head Fuller’s program.

Beginning in September, in addition to basic requirements such as biblical studies, theology, church history, ministry and spirituality, six graduate courses in deaf ministry--including the history of the deaf church in America--will be offered.

Classes will range from 12 to 15 students, and faculty members will be assisted by a sign-language interpreter, who will attend classes and brief them on the logistics and dynamics of teaching the deaf.

Interpreters are already present in some classes, such as Dyrness’ course on the theology of culture. “Sign language interpretation has a very minimal impact on instruction and does not at all intrude on the learning of other students,” he said.

Indeed, he added, “it’s been an important symbol in our class--to recognize the diversity of needs.” For faculty, too, he said, the experience of including the deaf has been enlightening. “It has been an education for all of us.

“The deaf community has been very much disadvantaged,” he said. “Deafness can be more of a barrier than even blindness. All our students are important [and] we need to adapt our teaching styles and our classrooms for everyone.”

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Dyrness has also been meeting with an advisory group of deaf people to develop a program to train deaf teachers. “Just as we need women faculty and minority faculty teaching and interpreting church history from their perspective, we also need deaf teachers in front of the classrooms,” he said.

Support for the program comes from Gospel Ministries for the Deaf, an advocacy group that helped Fuller establish its deaf-ministries center. For information about the deaf ministries program at Fuller Theological Seminary, phone (818) 584-5369, Voice/TDD answering machine, or write the center at Fuller Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 240, Pasadena, CA 91182.

DATES

* Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles--formerly called Olympic Jewish Center and American Hebrew Institute--will celebrate its 60th anniversary Wednesday with a dinner at the Century Plaza Hotel. Rabbi Joel Rembaum will be honored for 10 years as spiritual leader of the synagogue. (310) 655-6401.

* A nondenominational workshop designed to help people through the loss of a significant relationship--by divorce, death or separation--will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on five Wednesdays, beginning this week, at First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica. Advance registration, $40, is required. (310) 393-8258.

* “Loving God: A Sufi Vision” is the title of a talk by Jim Fadiman, co-founder of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. Admission is $5. 3910 Los Feliz Blvd. (213) 663-2167.

* Jewish women from around the Southland will celebrate spirituality and sexuality at the fifth annual Timbrels of Miriyam, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the University of Judaism. The all-day institute includes “workshops, prayer and celebration of women, Judaism and the soul,” led by poet and translator Chana Bloch. Admission is $60, $30 for students, including lunch. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 246.

* Leaders from four spiritual disciplines, representing traditions from around the world, will conduct a multi-spiritual summit June 1-4 at the Steve Breuer Conference Center in Malibu. Conference leaders include Ayo Adeyemi, a member of the royal lineage of the Yoruba tribe; the Rev. Deborah Dunn, an Episcopal priest; Rabbi Stephen Robbins, founder of the N’vay Shalom synagogue, and Chief Anselmo Valencia, ancestral head of the Yaqui Indian Nation of Arizona and Mexico. They will each present a ceremony from their religions. Information is available through the EarthRise Foundation. (310) 264-4113. Reservations must be made by Monday.

* The AIDS ministry of Hollywood United Methodist Church will hold a public education program entitled “AIDS 101” at 1 p.m. Sunday. Herb Berlin of AIDS Project L.A. will speak. 6817 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. (213) 874-2104.

* The 22nd annual Academic Conference of the American Friends of the Hebrew University will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, featuring free talks by professors from the university. (310) 657-6511.

* To mark the naming of the Sharon R. Price Women’s Torah Institute, the Jewish Studies Institute of Yeshiva of Los Angeles will feature a dialogue between Henry Morris, UCLA law and philosophy professor emeritus, and institute director Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein on the role of guilt in legal responsibility and moral consciousness. The program will be held in the Peltz Theatre in the Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd., at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. A dessert reception will follow. (310) 553-9036.

* Guidance Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles will observe Women’s Day ’95 Sunday, with services at 9:15 and 11 a.m., each preceded by 15 minutes of meditation. The Revs. Herracia Brewer, Marilyn DeLaMoussaye, Juanita Dunn and Mary Shy-Taylor will speak. 7225 Crenshaw Blvd. (213) 778-0773.

* The Valley Jewish Festival, one of the largest outdoor Jewish cultural events in Southern California, will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Music, entertainment, booths, games and food are highlights. (818) 587-3205.

* Internationally known Christian Science lecturer Jer Master will speak on “Healing and Harmony in Our Community” at the Twenty-Eighth Church of Christ Scientist at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Admission and parking are free and child care will be provided. 1018 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. (310) 208-8189.

MUSIC

* First Congregational Church of Los Angeles will hold a dedication service and recital at 3:30 p.m. Sunday for the refurbishing and expansion of its organs. Jelil Romano of St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, James Hopkins of Pasadena United Methodist Church and Lloyd Holzgraf, resident organist of First Church, will perform works by Bach, Scarlatti, Dupre, Vierne and Widor. Donations accepted. 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. (213) 3385-1341.

* Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica will observe Ascension Day with choral vespers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The Liturgical Choir, directed by David Simmons, will lead a service of hymns, psalms, lessons, anthems and prayers. The Rev. Thomas Cooper will deliver the sermon. 1343 Ocean Park Blvd. (310) 452-1166.

* The Cambridge Singers will present “From St. Petersburg to the Parthenon,” a program of music from Eastern Europe, at 7:30 p.m. June 3 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 1343 Ocean Blvd., Santa Monica, and at 3 p.m. June 4 at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 550 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Tickets are $15.75 general admission, $11 for students, seniors and the handicapped. For information, call (818) 541-7673.

BRIEFLY

* The International Buddhist Meditation Center will celebrate its 25th anniversary July 22. In preparation, the center is preparing a photo exhibit on the history of Buddhism in Los Angeles and a videotape. Members of all Buddhist centers are invited to participate. For information, or to submit memorabilia, phone Chrys Thorsen at (213) 739-1270.

* Immaculate Heart College Center’s program in feminist spirituality offers spring and summer courses. In “Feminism and Buddhism,” Alta Brown examines the difference between the Mahayana ethical ideal of universal compassion and the institutional discrimination practiced against Buddhist women. In “Women and Evil,” Sarah Forth leads a theological and historical reflection on women and evil through a range of biblical, classical medieval and modern literature. For registration information, (213) 386-3116.

HONORS

* The first U.S.-born citizen to be ordained as a priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Rt. Rev. Protopresbytyr Stephen Hallick, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination Sunday beginning at 9:30 a.m. at St. Andrew’s Church in Los Angeles. (818) 357-7547.

* More than 1,000 people gathered recently to witness the granting of an honorary doctorate of divinity by the United Church of Religious Science to the Rev. Michael Beckwith, founding minister of the Santa Monica-based Agape Church of Religious Science.

* The Rev. Cheviene Jones, pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, has received an honorary doctorate of letters degree from St. Stephens Education Bible College in Los Angeles.

* The School of Theology at Claremont has announced that it will establish a communications lab named for professor J. Irwin Trotter, who retired this month after 11 years at the school.