A strong belief in God does not...

A strong belief in God does not relieve anxiety about death in people living in retirement communities. Nor does private prayer or Bible reading, according to two sociologists writing in an academic journal.

Only regular attendance at religious services can be linked to a significant increase in older people’s calm about their demise, says a study by Lawrence K. Hong, chairman of the sociology department at Cal State L.A. and Robert Duff of the University of Portland in Oregon.

The ceremonies help develop a shared sense of meaning and continuity, they said in the September issue of the Review of Religious Research.

“Rituals are a glue that binds us together,” Duff said. “We remember those who’ve passed on and the religious acts we shared with them. Rituals create both a sense of belonging and a sense of transcendence.”

The researchers interviewed 674 generally healthy residents of six retirement communities in Oregon and Southern California in 1988. The average respondent was 76 years old.

Death anxiety was measured from respondents’ answers to such questions as whether they were afraid to die and if they were willing to discuss with dying individuals their approaching deaths.

Not surprisingly, the group scoring lowest on death anxiety was a retirement community of former pastors, missionaries and church workers.

The research focused on the elderly in retirement homes and communities because they are surrounded by neighbors and friends who are vulnerable to ailments and sudden death.

Duff said the retirement communities that have the highest rates of participation in religious services showed the lowest death anxiety.

The sociologists found that non-spiritual activities--such as seeing children or friends, or taking part in social functions--did not contribute to either a high or low death anxiety.

PEOPLE

* Gospel singer-composer Andrae Crouch, winner of eight Grammys and three Dove awards, will celebrate his recent entry into pastoral ministry Friday night at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City with a banquet featuring Bishop Charles Blake of West Angeles Church of God in Christ as keynote speaker. The next afternoon, Crouch will be officially installed as pastor of Christ Memorial Church in Pacoima, a Pentecostal congregation led for years by his father, Bishop Benjamin Crouch, who died in 1993. A free concert by gospel music artists will be held at the church, 13333 Vaughn St., at 6 p.m. on Sept. 24.

* The Rev. Charles Swindoll, the former pastor of Fullerton’s First Evangelical Free Church who became president of Dallas Theological Seminary last year, was given the International Bible Society’s Gold Word Award this month in Dallas. Swindoll’s books were frequently bestsellers in the evangelical market in the 1980s and early 1990s. When the Bible society initiated the award last year, the first recipient was artist-author Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic whose JAF Ministries to the disabled is based in Agoura Hills.

* Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a renowned scholar of the Talmud, will talk about “Jewish Spirituality and the Truth of the Holy” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Beverly Hills High School Auditorium, 241 Moreno Drive, under the co-sponsorship of the Jewish Federation Council, the National Institute of Jewish and Contemporary Law, and Chabad of Beverly Hills. A talk in April by Steinsaltz on Passover in Los Angeles attracted a standing-room-only audience of 1,000. Reserved seats are $12.50 and $10. (Reservations: 800-529-2346.)

DATES

* A two-day conference, “Communities in Exile,” will begin next Saturday at Loyola Marymount University and focus “on the way exile shapes religious faith and culture,” said Marie Anne Mayeski, director of the Catholic campus’s Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts. Speakers will include theologian John Howard Yoder and Sister Teresa Okure, academic dean of the Catholic Higher Theological Institute of West Africa. The cost is $35. (310-338-4570).

* Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch common to Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths, will be discussed Tuesday morning at the University of Judaism in the Sepulveda Pass by educator Hanan Alexander of the host university, Presbyterian minister George Grose and Muzammil Siddiqi, director of the Islamic Society of Orange County. The cost of the event, which includes a 9:30 a.m. continental breakfast and panel discussion at 10:45 a.m., is $6. (310-476-9777, Ext. 283).

* Putting international finance into an ethical framework, theologian John Cobb Jr., formerly a faculty member of Claremont’s School of Theology, will talk about the history and theoretical underpinnings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund after a potluck supper at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Pilgrim Place Retirement Community, 660 Avery Road, Claremont. Mary Zambrano of Church Women United and the Rev. Kenneth Coates of Amnesty International will join the discussion. (909 625-4094).

* Actor Robert Macklin will portray the apostle Paul during the 10 a.m. service Sunday at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 3590 Grand View Blvd., Mar Vista. Macklin has performed his one-man play, “All Things to All Men,” more than 1,000 times, usually in church settings. (310- 391-5522).

* The Los Angeles chapter of the New York-based American Jewish Committee, launched in 1945 with the help of Hollywood figures such as Eddie Cantor, George Cukor, Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and Warner brothers Harry and Jack, will hold a 50th anniversary, black-tie affair Tuesday at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, will accept a recognition award on behalf of the entertainment industry. (213-655-7071, Ext. 307).

* Christian psychologist Karin Montgomery of Yorba Linda will teach an adult class Monday evenings at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach on recognizing in other people the common, but hidden, motivating emotions of fear, anger or guilt. (714-631-2880).

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ART EXHIBITS

* An exhibition of Holocaust-influenced paintings by Lithuanian-born artist Samel Bak will open at 10 a.m. today at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 3663 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, and continue until Jan. 1. (213-388-2401).

* The results of a national competition of art with Christian or Jewish themes will be shown at The Master’s Studio art gallery, 132 W. Colorado Blvd., in Old Pasadena through Oct. 15. A slide presentation of top entries will be shown at 7 p.m. today. (818- 793-4016).

* The “Mirror of the Martyrs” exhibit, which surrounds the viewer with 160 feet of life-size reproductions from the copper-plate etchings of 17th-Century Dutch artist Jan Luyken, will be seen at Burkholder Chapel, 845 W. Arrow Highway, Upland, through Oct. 15. A reception and preview will be held at 6 p.m. today (310-927-7088).

FINALLY

* There will be seminars on angels, angelic harp music and free massages by Angel’s Touch of Long Beach. Door prizes include meal certificates from Angels Diner in Arcadia and four tickets to California Angels games in 1996.

What in heaven’s name is it? The 2nd annual Angel Festival next Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day at The New Church of La Crescenta, 5027 New York Ave.

“Last year, the festival was invitation-only and we had one lecture, but we had so many people who wanted to come,” said organizer Candace Frazee, who chairs Swedenborg Information of Los Angeles.

Swedish scientist-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), who had an interest in angels, inspired the formation of the Swedenborgian Church, a tiny denomination that runs Wayfarers Chapel on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The festival host is also a Swedenborgian church.

Admission is free and includes talks by seven speakers, festival booths, a play and an awards presentation.

In charge of security are--who else?--the Guardian Angels.

Notices may be sent by mail to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or by fax to Religion Editor (213) 237-4712. Items should arrive at least three weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations, with address, phone number, date and time.