New AME Bishop to Leave L.A. for Africa

The Rev. T. Larry Kirkland Sr., who built a Los Angeles congregation of 8,000 from eight members in 1977, realized his ambition in July by being elected a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

But Kirkland, along with two other newly elected bishops, will now meet the test of fire for newcomers to the episcopacy in the 3.5-million-member denomination.

In a tradition that continues to be a subject of debate, new AME bishops are assigned for at least four years to a post in Africa, where an estimated 500,000 members live.

Kirkland, for one, is against the practice, and believes the church, both here and in Africa, would benefit from allowing African bishops to tend to religious needs on that continent.

“I am convinced that the church needs to elect indigenous bishops,” Kirkland said in an interview. “Periodically, an African churchman is elected an AME bishop, but it is very seldom. Africans don’t have the money to travel before the elections,” he said, referring to the campaigns that clergy run to garner support.

“I would not be surprised if [the Africans] don’t break away from the American church,” said the bishop, who must leave the Los Angeles pastorate of Brookins Community Church by October.

Kirkland, 54, has been assigned to a district covering half a dozen countries from Zimbabwe to Rwanda and Zaire.

Although Kirkland has a master’s degree from Mississippi State and has studied at Talbot Theological Seminary in La Mirada, he said he and other new U.S. bishops are at a disadvantage in Africa.

“We don’t understand the languages other than English, and we don’t know the cultures,” he said.

While he will be based in a relatively sophisticated city--Harare, in Zimbabwe--Kirkland’s territory will include Rwanda, which has been roiled by turmoil, and “about 500 churches that don’t have a building yet, that meet under trees,” he said.

Although he will return occasionally to the United States to raise money for projects in his African district, Kirkland will have to wait until new U.S. vacancies appear in the ranks of AME bishops before he can transfer back to this country.

CONFERENCE

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After much consideration, Blaine Mays of Mesa, Ariz., is seeking to continue as president of the International New Thought Alliance, which is holding its annual meeting in Los Angeles. A spokeswoman had said earlier that the longtime head of the metaphysical, motivational movement would be stepping down and would be succeeded by the Rev. Michael Beckwith, pastor of the large Agape Church of Religious Science in Santa Monica.

The spokeswoman said this week that Beckwith, although serving as director of the five-day meeting, which ends Sunday at the Wyndham Hotel, is not seeking the presidency. Members will cast ballots in the election today, she said.

And in a change of schedule, singer-actress Della Reese will speak at 3 p.m. Sunday rather than 7 p.m.

HOLIDAYS

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Aside from countless open houses in the weeks before the Jewish High Holy Days, which begin in two weeks, synagogues and campuses are holding a variety of pre-holiday classes and events.

* On Sept. 1, Rabbi Nachum Sauer will speak on “The Mystique of the Shofar” at 9:30 a.m. in a pre-Rosh Hashana program at the Beit Midrash of Yeshiva of Los Angeles, 9760 W. Pico Blvd. (310) 553-4478. In another Orthodox Jewish lecture about the ram’s horn blown during the holidays, Rabbi Harry Greenspan of Yeshiva’s Beit Midrash will speak at 8 p.m. Sept. 1 at the Westwood Kehilla, 10537 Santa Monica Blvd., on “Shofar and Prayer: A Symphony of Sound and Music.” (310) 441-5288.

* Rabbi Aron Tendler, the new rabbi at the oldest Orthodox synagogue in the San Fernando Valley--the 400-member Shaarey Zedek Congregation, 12800 Chandler Blvd.--will begin a series of workshops at 8:30 p.m. Monday when he speaks on the principle of repentance. Tendler will lead other workshops on Sept. 9 and 17. (818) 763-0560.

* Four major biblical events and personalities, including Isaiah and Jonah, will be discussed in three successive Wednesday night classes at the University of Judaism by Rabbi Daniel Bouskila of the Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel. The first class will start at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the campus in the Sepulveda Pass. The fee is $45. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 246.

CONGREGATIONS

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In a gesture remembering black churches in the South burned by arsonists, a largely white congregation in Artesia will hold its 10:15 a.m. service Sunday outdoors on its lawn--as if it had lost its own church to fire.

The Rev. Darrel Manson, pastor of Artesia Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), said the congregation at 11625 E. 178th St., which averages 40 people for Sunday services, will worship outdoors in a show of solidarity with victimized churches.

“It will also serve as a witness to all who bring such violence that they may be able to destroy a building but the church will survive,” Manson said.

With two black churches destroyed this week in Arkansas, Associated Press reported that more than 70 suspicious fires at church properties belonging to predominantly black congregations in Southern states have occurred since 1995. An equal number of fires have been reported at white churches in the region.

DATES

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Well-traveled tenor Max Furmansky, who will serve as cantor for West Covina’s Temple Ami Shalom, 3508 E. Temple Way, during the High Holy Days, will also take part in the synagogue’s Friday service starting at 8 p.m. The Polish-born Furmansky survived the Holocaust and studied in Budapest and Vienna after World War II, becoming a noted cantor in Argentina and later serving as religious leader of the Jewish Community Center in Tijuana. More recently, he was cantor at Temple Judea in Vista, Calif., before moving to Israel in 1994. (818) 331-0515.

* The picturesque Lake Shrine Temple of the Self-Realization Fellowship will have an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Music, light refreshments and meditation in the new temple are planned. Parking is limited at the Pacific Palisades facility at 17080 Sunset Blvd.

* In talks opposing the efforts of “messianic” Christian missionaries, Rabbi Tovis Singer will lecture Sunday at two locations on “Jesus Was a Jew . . . but Can a Jew Be for Jesus?” Singer, director of Outreach Judaism, will talk at 10 a.m. in the Warner Center Marriott Hotel in Woodland Hills and at 5:30 p.m. at Beth Jacob Congregation, 9030 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills. The talks are sponsored by Torat Haiym Hebrew Academy. (310) 657-5500.

* A sermon featuring a portrayal of Ralph Waldo Emerson as he appeared in 1868 during his first sermon as a junior pastor in Boston will be delivered Sunday in a Costa Mesa church. Actor-writer True Boardman will present the 19th century poet-philosopher in a sermon highlighting Emerson’s life and including excerpts from some of his speeches. The 10:30 a.m. service will be at Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church, 1259 Victoria St., where some churchgoers will be wearing costumes of the period. (714) 646-4652.

* Gopala Krishna, author of “The Yogi: Portraits of Swami Vishnudevananda,” a teacher also dubbed “The Flying Swami,” will discuss and sign copies of his book at 7:30 p.m. today at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 8585 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. (310) 659-1733.

* The Just Off Broadway Players will perform the play “Coming Out--Coming Home” at the 10 a.m. service Sunday at Arcadia Congregational Church, 2607 S. Santa Anita Ave. The play, to be presented by the troupe from Long Beach First Congregational Church, is about gay and lesbian people who struggle to find an open, affirming home, according to the Rev. Jolene Cadenbach, pastor of the Arcadia church. (818) 447-8053.

FINALLY

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A twist on tales of a male pastor running off with a female organist transpired this week in the San Fernando Valley--but no scandal was involved.

The Rev. Margie Ann Nicola, pastor of the Encino Community Church, a congregation in the Religious Science tradition, was married Sunday at her church to the congregation’s pianist, David Black. He is also a composer, arranger and accompanist for films and television.

The couple had been dating for more than a year when on Feb. 4, near the end of the Sunday morning service, Black stepped in front of the congregation and asked aloud if the pastor would marry him. She said “yes” on the spot.

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AWARDS

Two prominent non-Muslim scholars who have written extensively about Islam will be honored Aug. 31 in Los Angeles by the Islamic Information Service, the Altadena-based producer of a weekly program seen on more than 100 television stations and cable outlets in this country.

The organization’s Outreach Award will be given to Edward Said, an Arab Christian who teaches English at Columbia University, and John L. Esposito of Georgetown University, who directs the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at that Catholic-run institution.

The independent, 10-year-old Islamic Information Service will hold its annual banquet at the Biltmore Hotel at 7 p.m. Tickets are $100. (818) 791-9818.

Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion desk (818) 772-3385. Items should arrive about 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.