The only denomination serving primarily gay, lesbian...

The only denomination serving primarily gay, lesbian and bisexual churchgoers is buying its first permanent headquarters in West Hollywood for $3.8 million.

With about $700,000 in hand, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches recently entered escrow on adjoining five-story and two-story buildings on Santa Monica Boulevard, said Donald Eastman, treasurer of the fellowship, which now leases quarters in Hollywood. The group needs to raise $1 million for a down payment by Nov. 2, Eastman said.

The smaller building will be occupied by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Community Church--the “mother church” of the movement--which lost its church building in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The Metropolitan Community Churches were started in 1968 in the Huntington Park living room of former Pentecostal preacher Troy Perry.

The denomination now includes 300 congregations, with nearly 32,000 members in the United States and 3,000 more in 15 other countries, Eastman said. Perry still heads the denomination and recently presided over its biennial conference July 23-30 in Atlanta.

Though thwarted in its efforts to join the National Council of Churches, the fellowship has official observer status in the World Council of Churches.

Money raised in the building fund drive will be divided equally between the headquarters and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Community Church, Eastman said.

The acquisition of relatively new buildings that meet earthquake safety standards is providential “in a city that some believe has one of the highest concentrations of non-traditional families in the U.S.A.,” said the Rev. Nancy Wilson, pastor of the Los Angeles church.

ARCHDIOCESE

* The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese may also have a moving day soon, if details of a proposed property donation can be worked out.

Archdiocese officials have given preliminary approval to a plan to take over the 12-story office building on Wilshire Boulevard that once housed the corporate headquarters of Thrifty drugstores, according to The Tidings, the archdiocesan newspaper.

The high-rise, next to the closed Ambassador Hotel, would allow the archdiocese to fit its 400 employees into one building, said Msgr. Terrance Fleming, chancellor of the archdiocese.

Now, the chancery and related administrative offices are spread among several buildings, mostly in the 1500 block of West 9th Avenue. They have been there since 1951, but during that time, the archdiocese’s church membership has grown from 900,000 to 3.6 million.

DATES

* A celebration of India’s spiritual and cultural heritage, as well as the birthday of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), will be held Sunday at the Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles.

The program will begin at 10 a.m. with mantric chanting. Also on the program are Debashish Banerji, president of the East West Cultural Center, and art historian Katherine Harper of Loyola Marymount University. A ritual enactment featuring translations of works by Aurobindo, an early activist for India’s political independence and later the developer of Integral Yoga, will take place at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $30. (213 663-2167).

* Stand-up comics Nazareth and Nick Arnett, both members of the Clean Comedians agency and experienced performers in secular venues, will be featured Aug. 19 at a comedy night program for singles at Torrance First Baptist Church, 2118 W. Carson St. Admission is $7. Reservations must be made by noon on the day of the concert. (310) 533-1452.

* Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood will host a “Queer Jewish salon,” featuring an intellectual discussion of lesbians, gays and Judaism on Tuesday at 8 p.m. The gathering will be held at a home. To register, (213) 656-6093.

FAITH & HEALTH

* A health fair and small carnival will be held today on the grounds of First Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church, 6900 S. Compton Ave., Los Angeles, starting at 11 a.m. Health care professionals will be available to give advice on topics including occupational and physical therapy, nutrition, hypertension and AIDS. Games, rides, booths and food will also be available during the six-hour event. (213) 589-1419.

* The Los Angeles Clergy Network will hear Sherry Netherland, a community relations worker and specialist in audiology from Centinela Hospital Medical Center, at its monthly luncheon Thursday at Sharon Care Center, 8167 West 3rd St. She will speak on “Psychosocial Aspects of Hearing Loss in the Senior Population.” (800) 707-2224.

* A conference on faith and health, involving religious and medical authorities, will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Manhattan Beach on Sept. 17 and 18. Dr. William Foege, the interfaith health program director at the Carter Center at Emory University, Atlanta, will give the keynote address. The cost is $50, including meals. Registration deadline is Aug. 21. The conference is co-sponsored by the Greater Hollywood Health Partnership (213) 913-4978.

PRAYER VIGIL

* The Founder’s Church of Religious Science began a monthlong prayer vigil for peace in the Balkans with a one-hour candlelight service at the church Friday night. The vigil is part of a nationwide effort, launched in response to a request from Bosnian officials “for spiritual support from not one religion, but all religions . . . to shield and protect our nations.” During the monthlong vigil, participants are asked to stop at noon each day--which is 9 p.m. in Bosnia--and spend two minutes in prayer and meditation.

“This is not a call to political activism,” said the Rev. Arthur Chang, Founder’s pastor. “The request from Bosnia is for prayer. We honor that request. We want the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina to know as they go to bed each night that the world is in prayer for them.”