Temple Offers Gaming Night

Ventura’s Temple Beth Torah will hold its annual Casino Night on Jan. 10. Tickets are on sale for $25 at the temple office at 7620 Foothill Road.

“Game tables, door prizes, Vegas trip giveaways, a silent auction and lots of desserts will be highlights,” said temple brotherhood president Jay Diamond. For more information, call the temple at 647-4181.

Rethinking Women’s Roles * “New Visions for Women,” a forum for women and their daughters of all faiths, will be presented Jan. 11 by the Ventura Interfaith Ministerial Assn. at Temple Beth Torah.

“We will celebrate religious diversity and share unique perspectives on ways women help in our community,” said Robin Martin of the Church of the Foothills.

Carolyn Leavens, Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller and the Rev. Marilyn Miller will speak. Small group discussions will also be included in the 3 to 5 p.m. event.

Reservations may be made by calling Martin at 644-7079. Temple Beth Torah is at 7620 Foothill Road. A $5 donation for women over 18 will cover costs and refreshments.

Understanding the Sacraments * The First United Methodist Church of Ventura will offer a four-week class titled “Sacramental Living” through January. The Rev. Chuck Simmons will lead the class in exploring the Protestant understanding of the sacraments.

The classes are open to the public and will begin at 10:15 Sunday mornings in Room 103. First United is at 1338 E. Santa Clara Ave. For more information, call the Rev. Amy Aitken at 643-8621.

Learning to Make a Prayer Shawl * Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills will offer a tallit-making workshop beginning Wednesday. The course will run six Wednesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. and cover the history of the tallit, a ritual shawl worn by Jews at morning prayer, and related subjects.

The cost is $80 for temple members and $90 for nonmembers. Registration is encouraged.

Temple Beth Haverim is a Conservative synagogue serving the Conejo Valley at 5126 Clareton Drive. For more information, contact Eva Gladstone at (818) 991-7111.

Dinner Theater on Rockne’s Life * A night of dinner theater featuring the play “Rockne,” based on Knute Rockne’s life, will be offered Jan. 10 at St. Pascal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks.

Proceeds from the dinner and play will help the outreach group People to People feed needy and homeless people in Ventura County. Volunteers from St. Pascal Baylon work with volunteers from St. Maximilian Kolbe in Oak Park to serve breakfasts and dinners weekly.

Performances of the play, featuring actors from the Herb Mitchell acting company, will begin at 3:45 and 7:15 p.m. A prime rib or lobster-tail dinner will be served prior to the performances.

Tickets for the first “After the Holidays Night Out” event, including the play and dinner, are $20 per seat or $150 for a table of eight. To purchase tickets or for information, call Tom McLaughlin at 495-1154.

Epiphany Celebration at Harbor * An Epiphany celebration will be presented by Camarillo’s St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on Jan. 11 at the Greek at the Harbor restaurant in Ventura.

A Blessing of the Waters service outside the restaurant will be followed by a buffet lunch, $20 for adults and $7.50 for children.

The blessing will begin at 1 p.m. The restaurant is at 1583 Spinnaker Drive at the Ventura Harbor. For reservations or information, call 482-1273.

Exploring the Great Religions * A look at the eight great world religions will begin Jan. 11 at Camarillo United Methodist Church.

“We will look at Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and find their answers to some of the most important questions in life,” said Jim Decker-Mahin, who will present the series at the church’s Sunday sermons.

“As we find the answers to questions such as ‘Why do I exist?’ ‘What is true and real?’ and ‘Is there immortality?’ our faith will deepen and our appreciation will increase for the efforts made over the centuries by many cultures to answer the great questions of life,” Decker-Mahin said.

The church is at 291 Anacapa Drive. For more information, call Patricia Carroll at the church at 482-4312.

New ‘Freethinker’ Group to Meet * A new group called Freethinkers of Ventura County will hold its first meeting Jan. 12 at Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo.

“Freethinkers is a group of concerned individuals which meets monthly to discuss philosophical and theological issues and also current events which challenge the separation of state and church,” said Charlotte Poe of Somis.

The group defines a free thinker as “a person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority or established belief,” she said.

At the Jan. 12 meeting, Poe will present the speech she recently gave to the Los Angeles chapter of the Council for Secular Humanism titled “Why I Am a Freethinker.”

The inaugural meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the faculty lounge at 4660 Mission Oaks Blvd. For more information, call 386-4232.

Volunteers Needed to Feed the Hungry * The Food Pantries at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Port Hueneme and All Saints Episcopal Church in Oxnard need volunteers to help serve meals and prepare food baskets.

The pantries serve approximately 320 families each month.

For more information, call 487-3535.

‘Life With God’ Community Lecture Series * “Heaven and Hell: Life With God in Time, Space and Beyond” is the subject of a Community Lecture Series that begins Jan. 25 at Ventura Community Presbyterian Church.

Jeffrey Burton Russell, author and professor emeritus of history at UC Santa Barbara, will lead the three-lecture series.

Hours will be 6 to 7:30 p.m. For registration information, call 648-2737. Child care will be provided with advance registration. The church is at 1555 Poli St.

Religion Briefs is a weekly listing that runs each 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.