Dockside “blessing of the waters” rites in...

Dockside “blessing of the waters” rites in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, highlighted by young divers jumping into the cold water after a cross tossed by a clergyman, will be held at Ventura Harbor on Sunday and at Long Beach Harbor on Jan. 14.

Priests usually lead the ceremony on a Sunday near Epiphany, Jan. 6, when Orthodox churches commemorate John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

At Ventura Harbor, Father Cyril Loeb of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church and Father Luke Hill of the Orthodox Church of America will officiate at the outdoor service at 1 p.m. Sunday, near a Greek restaurant.

“The service concludes with the releasing of a white dove . . . and divers vying to retrieve the cross tossed into the water,” a church spokesman said. “The diver retrieving the cross is formally blessed and honored by the community.”

Two bishops will take part Jan. 14 in the 45th annual ceremony in Long Beach--Bishop Jovan of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of the West and Bishop Anthony of the San Francisco-based Greek Orthodox Diocese.

The seaside rites will begin at 1 p.m., following a 10 a.m. Divine Liturgy at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, 5761 Colorado St. Transportation will be available between the church and the dock. Information: (310) 494-8929.

In another event reflecting the current inter-ethnic trend among Eastern Orthodox Christians, the 7-year-old Orthodox Christian Laity movement, a nationwide, independent organization based in Chicago, will hold a regional fellowship meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Jonathan Club, 545 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

The meeting will feature the organization’s video and book on Orthodox church renewal plus a talk on Orthodox unity by Father George Stephanidis of St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine. Information: (310) 471-5003.

PEOPLE

* Attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. will be the honored speaker Sunday in the 29th anniversary service of Guidance Church of Religious Science, 7225 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles. Founding Pastor Daniel L. Morgan praised Cochran, a defense lawyer for O.J. Simpson and a member of Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles, as “a brother in the cause of justice” and “a deeply God-centered man.” The 10 a.m. celebration is open to the public.

* As the evangelical Far East Broadcasting Co. based in La Mirada celebrated its 50th anniversary recently, new president Jim Bowman noted that its affiliated local and international gospel radio programs were being broadcast in 152 languages and have generated an average of 67,000 letters monthly--both all-time highs for the ministry. Bowman, 56, succeeded his father, Robert, who co-founded the organization with John Broger on Dec. 20, 1945.

OPENING

The fast-growing Faithful Central Missionary Baptist Church in Inglewood will be the site, starting in April, of a Biola University-sponsored college degree completion program. A ceremony and open house hosted by Pastor Kenneth Ulmer will be held next Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.

The program, dubbed BOLD for Biola Organizational Leadership Degree, was begun in 1991 on the campus of the liberal arts university in La Mirada. Another BOLD program was started in Aliso Viejo. The purpose is to give adults 25 and older who have at least 60 units of undergraduate credit the chance to earn a bachelor’s degree by attending classes one night a week. Registration will begin April 13. Information: (800) 705-BOLD.

The church, located at 333 W. Florence Ave., has grown in 12 years from 325 worshipers to nearly 3,500. The church recently began an all-male worship service on the last Saturday of each month from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

FUNERALS

“The Difficult Funeral Service,” a one-day conference for clergy on how to officiate at the funerals of those who suffered a tragic or unexpected death, will be held at three Los Angeles County sites over the next two weeks. Organized by Forest Lawn Memorial Parks, the conference features Sam Southard, emeritus professor of pastoral theology at Fuller Theological Seminary; Linda Cunningham, director of bereavement services at Kaiser Permanente; the Rev. Leon E. Fanniel, pastor of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles; and the Rev. Larry Stamper, senior minister at Burbank First United Methodist Church.

The first conference will be held Thursday at Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City with registration ($45) starting at 8:30 a.m. The program will be repeated Jan. 16 at Kellogg West Conference Center at Cal Poly Pomona and Jan. 18 on the Queen Mary. Information: (800) 204-3131, Ext. 4741.

DATES

* About 400 people are expected Wednesday at Los Angeles’ Holman United Methodist Church for an early multi-faith celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Most King birthday events will be held next weekend. The prayer breakfast at Holman is organized annually by the National Conference and the Southern California Christian Leadership Conference/Los Angeles. Speakers Wednesday will include the Rev. Robert Wilkins of the Downtown YMCA, Rabbi Jane Litman of Cal State Northridge, Father Mike Gutierrez of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Rev. James Lawson of the host church at 3320 W. Adams Blvd. Reservations: (213) 250-8787.

* Author Faye Kellerman, whose books include “The Ritual Bath,” “Sacred and Profane” and “Justice,” will talk at Adat Ari El Synagogue, 12020 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on how she weaves traditional Jewish themes through her mystery novels. Information: (818) 766-9426.

* Dharma art, described as a creative process that is both a personal journey and a way of communicating, will be taught by students of the concept’s originator, the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Buddhist leader who founded the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colo. Classes will be taught over three days, starting Friday night, at the Shambhala Center of Los Angeles, 828 W. Third St., Los Angeles. The cost ranges up to $65. Information: (213) 653-9342.

* The 10th annual Doers Convention at Power of Love Christian Fellowship, 1430 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, will begin a five-day meeting Wednesday night. Bishop Bill McKinney of Christian Fellowship in Cleveland, will be featured preacher at the 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. worship services on Jan. 14. The host pastor, Bishop Edward Turner, will preside over a food giveaway, health forum, banking and home buyer forum and job fair next Saturday at the church. Information: (213) 752-6525.

* Prof. Paul Cox, who teaches Christian ethics at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology, will lead a daylong conference next Saturday in La Mirada on distinctions between the traditional Christian worldview and contemporary outlooks in what he termed “a post-Christian culture.” The conference at Granada Heights Friends Church will begin at 8 a.m. and costs $35. Information: (800) 952-4652.

* Stephen Ministries, a 20-year-old organization that trains church laypeople to serve as “caring ministers,” will present a workshop next Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Westwood Presbyterian Church, 10822 Wilshire Blvd. Cost is $15. Information: (310) 474-4535.

FINALLY

Palm Springs will be rife with rabbis next week.

A record-high of 140 Reform registrants and nearly 50 Conservative rabbis will gather to discuss the rabbinate in separate western regional meetings starting Sunday.

At the Palm Springs Hilton, the Pacific Assn. of Reform Rabbis is expected to elect Rabbi Martin S. Lawson of San Diego’s Temple Emanu-El to succeed Rabbi Janet Marder as president.

At the Hyatt Regency, Rabbi Stewart Vogel of Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills will follow Rabbi Perry Netter of Los Angeles’ Temple Beth Am as president of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Pacific Southwest Region.

The two groups have had a few joint sessions in the past, but will not this year, officials said. The Reform group will end its meeting on Thursday, a day after the Conservative conclave finishes.