Taoist Center Plans Inaugural Convention

An international Taoist movement that has established world headquarters in El Monte expects 2,000 members to attend its inaugural convention Sunday at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.

The I-kuan Tao (“Great Tao”) religion has more 2 million members in Taiwan plus followers in 40 other countries, including about 60,000 members in the United States, according to Joseph Chen, secretary general of the world headquarters.

Chen said that headquarters were established in Southern California because of what he called political instability in Taiwan and the large Chinese emigre population in the United States.

Tao is the “cosmic power that creates and dominates all things visible and audible,” according to literature from I-kuan Tao headquarters. “The serene and all-powerful Tao is harmonious order. . . . It is the sum of the parts, the soul of the universe.”

Individuals must awaken the spirit of I-kuan Tao in themselves through acts of kindness, a Great Tao brochure says. “We must accept our responsibility to care for our brothers and sisters; to treat our neighbors with kindness; to be faithful, constant and patient with our fellow human beings.”

In 1994, political and community leaders were among the 1,000 people who attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies at 11645 Lower Azusa Road in El Monte at the offices of the Great Tao Foundation, which shares the facility with the faith’s world headquarters. Vice President Al Gore visited the facility on another occasion, Chen said.

The organization’s convention Sunday will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at East Los Angeles College’s Ingalls Auditorium with Chang Pei-cheng, chairman of Tao I-kuan, presiding.

MUSIC

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‘Jesus Christ Superstar,” starring Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 motion picture, will be staged eight times at the Long Beach Terrace Theater from Oct. 15 to 20. The current rock musical production will be directed by Tony Christopher. Tickets are $14.50 to $40 at Ticketmaster outlets. Discounts for groups of 20 or more may call (800) 889-9457.

* Four noted gospel choirs will perform in Gospelfest ’96 at 8 p.m. Friday at Los Angeles Second Baptist Church, 2412 Griffith Ave. They are: Greater Ebenezer Baptist, Macedonia Baptist, the Los Angeles Community Catholic Choir and the Second Baptist Inspirational Choir. Free admission. (213) 748-0318.

LECTURES

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An expert on the politicization of religious archeological sites in the Middle East will be featured Oct. 21 in the start of an eight-week lecture series on archeology, the Bible and the ancient world. Author-lecturer Neil Asher Silberman will include his analysis of violence sparked by the recent opening of a tunnel in Jerusalem, said a spokeswoman for the University of Judaism, which is presenting the series with the Skirball Cultural Center and Museum. Lecturers on later dates include Hershel Shanks, founding editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, and William Dever of the University of Arizona. The series price is $128. Registration: (310) 476-9777.

* “Heart of Stone: The Communities of Jerusalem,” will be discussed at 10 a.m. Monday at Cal Lutheran University’s Preus-Brandt Forum in Thousand Oaks by Richard Hecht, chairman of religious studies at UC Santa Barbara. Free. (805) 493-3151.

* A distinction between “sacred” and “profane” violence in the world will be explored Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Loyola Marymount University’s Murphy Recital Hall in a joint lecture by Stanford cultural theorist Rene Girard and Gil Bailie of the Sonoma-based Florilegia Institute. Bailie is author of “Violence Unveiled--Humanity at the Crossroads,” which elaborated on theories posited by Girard. Free. (310) 338-7670.

* Catholic scholar Rosemary Radford Ruether will speak on “Women Healing Earth” in a public lecture 7 p.m. Thursday at Immaculate Heart High School, 5515 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Donation: $10. (213) 386-3116.

DATES

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The ethnic and racial mix within urban church life will be celebrated in Los Angeles at a Catholic parish today and at a Presbyterian Church on Sunday.

* St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 4112 W. Washington Blvd., will be the host church for the annual Catholic archdiocese’s Multiethnic Celebration starting at 10:30 a.m. with a parade into the church by representatives of Latino, Korean, African American, Native American, Nigerian, Indonesian, German, Polish and other communities. Auxiliary Bishop Stephen Blaire will preside at the Mass. (213) 734-6066.

* Immanuel Presbyterian Church, which is celebrating World Communion Day on Sunday with other mainline denominations, will bring together its four congregations at the Wilshire Boulevard landmark for their first joint worship service at 4 p.m. They are: Immanuel Presbyterian, the independent charismatic Hollywood Christian Center, Amanuel Ethiopian Church and Yul Lin Mun Korean Presbyterian Church. A class on “Living With Other Cultures” will begin at 1 p.m., said Immanuel’s Frank Alton, a bilingual pastor who will offer the church’s first Spanish-language Sunday service at 9 a.m. (213) 389-3191.

* Makaziwe Mandela, daughter of South African President Nelson Mandela and director of affirmative action at the University of Witwatersrand in that nation, will be a featured speaker during the second annual African Diaspora Conference on Wednesday at UCLA’s James West Alumni Center. The conference, starting at 10 a.m., is hosted by the Los Angeles-based Black Church Review. The conference will conclude at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion with a service led by charismatic Bishops T.D. Jakes and Noel Jones, followed by a gospel concert with Ronald Winans, among others. The daytime conference is free; evening prices are $15 and $25. (310) 815-8804.

* Bishop T. Larry Kirkland Sr., who will leave Los Angeles for Zimbabwe on Monday to begin his first assignment as a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will preach Sunday at the 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. services at Mount Tabor Baptist Church, 6614 S. Western Ave.

FINALLY

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As part of AIDS Awareness Month observances, comedian Argus Hamilton will host a lineup of stand-up comics at the Westside’s Comedy Store, starting at 7 p.m. Sunday, to benefit the AIDS ministries of the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese. A $20 donation will be requested at the door.

In other activities, Father Peter J. Liuzzi, the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese’s director for ministry with lesbian and gay Catholics, will speak at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13 at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, 2002 Merton Ave., Eagle Rock, the latest parish to inaugurate monthly Masses and meetings for gay and lesbian Catholics. (213 254-2519.

Also, Hope Lutheran Church, 6720 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, will hold its fifth annual AIDS memorial service at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 13 with music featuring guest soloist Helen Buscema of St. Monica’s Catholic Church and talks by members of the AIDS community. (213) 98-9135.

Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to the 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.

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PEOPLE

The life and works of Father Henri J.M. Nouwen, a Netherlands-born Catholic priest who died Sept. 21, will be celebrated in a memorial service Oct. 19 at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. Nouwen, who taught from 1971 to 1981 at Yale Divinity School, wrote many books on spirituality. Nouwen, 64 when he died, was buried in the L’Arche community near Toronto, where he had worked since 1988 with the disabled.

The 10:30 a.m. memorial service will be led by the Rev. Steven Berry, First Congregational’s pastor, who was a student of Nouwen’s at Yale. Nouwen was the featured speaker at First Congregational in an interfaith gathering after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

* Human rights advocate Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1992, will speak at 7 p.m. today at All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena. Menchu will speak in Spanish with translation offered. Admission is free, but an offering will be taken. (818) 583-2742.

* The Rev. John Buehrens, president of the Unitarian Universalist Assn. since 1993, will speak at the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services Sunday at the Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena--the Los Angeles area’s largest congregation of the Boston-based, liberal religious denomination. (818) 449-3470.