Church to Take ‘Spiritually Risky’ Steps

Tensions can erupt within a church when building costs rise, the music program goes contemporary or an AIDS outreach is planned.

But invite a biblical scholar to lead seminars distinguishing the historical Jesus from the Christ of church tradition--as a Van Nuys church is doing Sunday--and you are taking “spiritually risky” steps by challenging long-held beliefs, says church member Randal Lee Cummings, who teaches religion courses at Cal State Northridge.

The congregation is Church of the Valley, whose average Sunday attendance of 450 makes it one of the largest in the Pacific Southwest region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The speaker is Marcus Borg of Oregon State University, a prolific author who is prominent in the controversial Jesus Seminar, a group that decided in decade-long discussions that relatively few words and deeds attributed to Jesus in the New Testament bear historical authenticity.

Borg will preach Sunday at the 8:30 and 11 a.m. services and lead seminars at 2 and 4 p.m. at the church, 6565 Vesper Ave. (818) 786-4070.

“We have been spending the last couple of months preparing the congregation so as not to catch them off guard,” said Church of the Valley Pastor Larry Keene, who is a professor of sociology at Pepperdine University. A few people were ready to leave the church, but they stayed to continue the dialogue, Keene said.

“Even though there are those who are not convinced by Borg’s arguments, they are at least operating from an informed standpoint,” Keene said.

Borg is an ordained minister who tended to accept more sayings and traditions about Jesus than his colleagues in the Jesus Seminar, which is based in Santa Rosa.

Borg is also lecturing twice this morning at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena. All Saints, one of the largest Episcopal parishes in California, is noted for its antiwar and gay rights stances as well as for taking historical-critical views of Scripture.

Borg will be discussing his newest book, “The God We Never Knew,” praised in an All Saints newsletter as “both provocative and comforting.” (626) 796-1172.

Also, the Institute for Continuing Ministry Studies at Claremont has Borg speaking Dec. 2 and 3 on “Jesus, God and the Christian Life.” (909) 621-0982.

CONFERENCES

Controversial religious, political and cultural issues affecting gay and lesbian communities will be discussed at a conference Sunday at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. Sponsored by a support group for Jewish gays, family and friends at the Conservative synagogue, the 9 a.m. meeting will include Nancy McDonald, national president of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and Chastity Bono, entertainment director of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Rabbis Harold Schulweis and Edward M. Feinstein of the host temple, at 15739 Ventura Blvd., will lead a seminar for rabbis on “Making Our Synagogues Inclusive.” (818) 788-6000.

* A three-day conference starting Friday in Westwood will explore whether nonviolent, civilian-based defense, instead of military defense, is possible in some countries. Also on the agenda is whether such options would gain supporters in religious circles. Ronald McCarthy, sociology chairman at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., will give the keynote talk at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the conference site, Westwood United Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd. $50 registration. (402) 558-2085.

* Marking the fourth year of an ecumenical covenant in the Los Angeles area, representatives of Episcopal, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran churches will celebrate the cooperative venture with a Nov. 23 conference at the downtown Los Angeles campus of Mt. St. Mary’s College. Father Virgil Elizondo of the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio and editor of the theological journal Concilium will address the conference, which starts at 1 p.m. $5 registration. (213) 637-7555.

DATES

Controversies over “who is a Jew”--stirred by political battles in Israel, marriage of non-Jews by U.S. Jews and differences in interpretation by the Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism--will be discussed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. Panelists will be Rabbi Elliot Dorff, rector of the University of Judaism; Rabbi Janet Marder, regional director for Reform congregations; and Harvey Schechter, ex-director of the Western States Anti-Defamation League. $5. (310) 474-1518.

* “Alternate Christmas” fairs are being held again this year by many Protestant churches. For example, on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church of San Gabriel, 201 N. San Gabriel Blvd., people may buy sheep, heifers, rabbits or chickens for needy overseas families as “alternate gifts” in the name of the recipient. (818) 286-3111. Another event, on Nov. 23, will be at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2100 Mar Vista Drive, Newport Beach, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Buyers will donate to groups such as Habitat for Humanity or pay for rain forest huts, sheep inoculations, building supplies or toys for families abroad. (714) 644-1341.

* Feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether will speak on “Gender and Redemption,” the subject of her forthcoming book, “Women and Redemption: A Theological History,” at 7 p.m. Thursday at Immaculate Heart High School, at Western and Franklin avenues in Los Angeles. $10 donation.(213) 386-3116.

* The new, 61-rank organ at St. Mel Catholic Church, 20870 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, will be dedicated Friday in a 7:30 p.m. recital by John Fenstermaker, organist at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco. Free. (818) 40-6020.

* The Rev. Mel White, a former ghostwriter for Pat Robertson and Billy Graham and now a minister with the Metropolitan Community Churches, will speak today at the third annual Orange County Gay & Lesbian Interfaith Service. The 2 p.m. service, followed by an information fair, will be at the Irvine United Church of Christ, 4915 Alton Parkway. (714) 288-0932.

* Elizabeth Morelli, philosophy professor at Loyola Marymount University, will discuss “technology and the demands of the humane” at 4 p.m. Sunday at St. Anastasia Catholic Church, 7390 W. Manchester Ave., Westchester. Other panelists will be Eugene Mornell, executive director, the Skirball Institute on American Values, and the Rev. Ginny Wagener, executive director, South Coast Ecumenical Council. Free. (310) 670-2243.

* Songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman (“The Windmills of Your Mind,” “The Way We Were”) will entertain Nov. 23 at Leo Baeck Temple’s 50th anniversary celebration. Reserved seats are $50 to $250. The Reform Jewish congregation is at 1300 N. Sepulveda Blvd. (310) 476-2861.

FINALLY

Five mainstream synagogues have joined a “healing consortium” formed by Metivta, a Center for Contemplative Judaism, to teach volunteers the skills of spiritual caring for the sick.

The congregations are Temple Israel of Hollywood and Temple Emanuel, Beverly Hills (Reform); Sinai Temple in Westwood and Valley Beth Shalom in Encino (Conservative); and Kehillat Israel in Pacific Palisades (Reconstructionist).

Metivta will conduct its first training workshop Nov. 23 at the center, 200 S. Barrington Ave., Los Angeles. Free for members of consortium; $40 for nonmembers. (310) 477-5370.

Metivta’s Jewish Healing Center will help the synagogues learn methods of caregiving to develop their own programs, said Healing Center Director Ellen Winer, a registered nurse.

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