Fair Funds to Help Buy Wheelchair Lift

Camarillo’s First Lutheran Church will hold its ninth annual craft fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, featuring everything from quilts and crafts to a food bar and bake sale.

This year, some of the proceeds will be used to help the family of 12-year-old Matthew Rodine buy a van with a wheelchair lift. Matthew has cerebral palsy, and has grown too big for his parents to lift him into the family car. Donations to the Matthew Rodine Fund Raising Committee, 380 Arneill Road, Camarillo, will be gladly accepted. The fund is established at Camarillo Community Bank.

For more information on the crafts fair or the fund, call 484-0426.

Trinity Community Church Plans Boutique

The yearly holiday boutique for Ventura’s Trinity Community Church is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

Homemade crafts will be for sale, and also baked desserts that can be frozen. The church kitchen also will serve hot lunches.

The church is at 3645 Telegraph Road, across from Anacapa Middle School. For information, call 642-3801.

Celebration Slated for Pastor’s Anniversary

The anniversary committee of Oxnard’s St. Paul Baptist Church invites the public to join in a seventh anniversary celebration for the Rev. Broderick Huggins on Sunday at the church at 1354 South C St.

Three services will celebrate the occasion: at 8 a.m., the Rev. Jessell Strong will speak; at 11 a.m. the Rev. Bernard Sutton will speak; and at 4 p.m., the Rev. Michael Metters will address the congregation.

For more information, call the church at 487-2015.

Youths Offer Alternative Christmas Market

Youth groups from Moorpark’s United Methodist Church, Moorpark Presbyterian, Community Christian, Moorpark Lutheran and Holy Cross Church will stage an alternative Christmas Market celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. The market will be at the United Methodist Church at Flory and 3rd streets.

“Instead of purchasing gifts that are not really needed, items are ‘purchased’ for needy people here in Ventura County and throughout the world,” said Sandy Liddell. “In honor of a friend or relative, you can send blankets to refugees in the Third World through Church World Service. A share of a cow, some chickens or a colony of bees will enable a whole village in Asia or Africa to begin a new life of self-help.”

Calligraphers at the market will hand-inscribe Christmas cards describing the gifts, and various music groups will perform. The Holy Cross youth choir will perform at 1 p.m., followed by the youth choir of Community Christian.

For more information, call 529-1401.

Youths to Collect Household Items, Clothes

United Synagogue Youth of Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks is seeking donations of household goods and clothing to benefit people in Third World countries.

Dubbed “Rags to Riches,” the project will oversee a dropoff bin in the temple parking lot at 1080 E. Janss Road from Sunday through Nov. 30. Used clothing, shoes, purses, linens, towels, blankets, curtains and bedspreads are needed.

For more information, call Joan Sandoval at 497-6891.

Women’s Ministries to Sell Holiday Items

Women’s Ministries of the United Methodist Church of Westlake Village will sell holiday gifts and homemade goods at its holiday boutique and luncheon Sunday.

Proceeds from the boutique and lunch, held at the church at 1049 S. Westlake Blvd. from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., will benefit mission outreach.

Sharon and Don Anderson will cater the luncheon from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at $5 for adults and $3 for children. Call the church office at 497-7884 for tickets. For information or to place an order, call the church office at 497-7884.

Alternative Christmas Market Provides Aid

The annual “alternative Christmas market” will be held Sunday and Nov. 16 at Camarillo United Methodist Church.

Habitat for Humanity, UNICEF, SERRV, Camarillo Hospice, Project Understanding and Operation Warm-Up will participate.

“Purchase a gift or make a donation and you will provide hope, shelter, dignity and income for people in need around the world,” said church secretary Patricia Carroll.

The alternative Christmas market will be held in Brooks Hall at the Camarillo church, 291 Anacapa Drive. For information, call the church office at 482-4312.

Public Invited to Free Lecture by Eicklor

The Camarillo unit of B’nai B’rith will sponsor a lecture by Frank Eicklor, an ordained minister who established “Shalom International,” at Camarillo’s Temple Ner Ami on Monday.

“Dr. Eicklor’s nationwide broadcasts and lectures are dedicated to building bridges of unconditional love between Christian and Jewish communities, and he strongly discourages age-old anti-Semitism,” said the unit’s secretary, Harry Kaplan.

The public is invited to the free lecture at 7:30 p.m. The temple is at 4098 Calle Tesoro. For further information, call 484-5887.

Rabbi to Host ‘Know Your Faith’ Series

Rabbi Benzion Kravitz, founder and director of “Jews for Judaism,” will host a four-part series on “Know Your Faith” at the Conejo Jewish Academy in Agoura Hills on Tuesday evenings from Nov. 11 through Dec. 2.

General registration is $36; or $25 for students and seniors. The academy is at 30345 Canwood St. For information, call (818) 991-0991.

Holiday Bazaar to Benefit Church Activities

The women of Ventura’s College United Methodist Church will host a holiday bazaar from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. Handmade holiday items, baked goods, gifts, toys, collectibles and plants wil be for sale. Proceeds will benefit the church’s activities and programs.

The bazaar is open to the public. A $5 lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 642-3282.

Composer to Perform Originals, Lead Singing

Composer Tom Sayer will perform original compositions and lead the Unity Center in group singing at its meeting Friday in Westlake Village. The Rev. Irma Oestmann will speak on “Let the Spirit Move You.”

The Unity Center is an interdenominational faith that focuses on “personal spiritual awareness and universal peace, health and prosperity through Bible study, prayer and meditation.”

The public is welcome at the 7:30 p.m. Friday meeting at the Westlake Community Room in the library building, 4373 Park Terrace Drive. For information, call 480-9689.

Men for Christ Plan Annual Breakfast

Ojai Valley Men for Christ will hold the third annual multidenominational breakfast and rally from 7 to 9 a.m. Nov. 15 at Nordhoff High School cafeteria in Ojai. The Rev. Paul Bergman, a national spokesman for Sports World Ministries, will speak.

Tickets, at $7 for adult men and $5 for boys, are available at most Ojai Valley Christian churches or at the door. Breakfast is included. For more information, call 649-2062.

Religion Briefs is a weekly listing that runs Saturday. Please address items, with a publishable telephone number, to Religion Briefs, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. Items can also be faxed to The Times at 653-7576 or 653-7548.