Confirmation Rite in Camarillo

The Right Rev. Chester Talton, suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, will officiate at the sacrament of confirmation at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Camarillo today.

At 3 p.m., members of Episcopal parishes in the deanery and members of St. Patrick’s in Thousand Oaks will participate in the regional celebration.

St. Columba’s is at 1251 E. Las Posas Road. For more information, call St. Patrick’s at 495-6441 or St. Columba’s at 526-5141.

Singers to Perform in Ventura

Christian recording artists Billy and Sarah Gaines will perform at all three weekend South Coast Fellowship services today and Sunday in Ventura.

Today’s service is at 6 p.m. and Sunday’s are at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.

“As Dove award winners, the Gaineses have five top radio singles,” said Mark Goeser of the fellowship. The two also sing pop and rhythm and blues.

South Coast is at 4050 Market St. Call 658-7646 for more information.

Remembering the Holocaust

Holocaust Remembrance Day will be observed in a shared ceremony in Ojai by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and K’Hilat Ha Aloneem, Jewish Community of the Oaks, at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The community is invited to participate at 530 W. El Roblar. Call 640-8878 for more information.

Church Plans Vocations Fair

The fourth month of celebrating the 40th anniversary of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church will focus on the sacrament of holy orders and vocations to religious life.

A vocations fair will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Condon Center.

Everyone is invited to meet the sisters, brothers, novices, priests and seminarians.

The church is at 2511 South C St. Call 486-7301 for information.

Congregation Hosts Lectures

Congregation Am HaYam will host special speakers this month and next.

Alice Greenfield will speak on “The Soul of Israel” on Sunday at the Monday Club.

On May 23, Lillian Rosenbloom’s topic will be “Waters of Eden.” Rosenbloom is administrator of the mikvah at the University of Judaism. The mikvah is the ritual Jewish bath, symbolizing rebirth and renewal.

Each free lecture will begin at 7 p.m. at the Oxnard Monday Club. Seating is limited, and attendance is by reservation only.

A five-week class in beginning Hebrew will start at 8 p.m. April 27 in a member’s home. The only charge is for the textbook.

For more information call 985-2853.

The Oxnard Monday Club is at 1401 W. Gonzales Road.

Chamber Singers to Perform

The Westmont Chamber Singers will perform “A Cappella From the Renaissance to the Present” at 7 p.m. Sunday at Bardsdale United Methodist Church in Fillmore.

The choir, from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, will perform in the church’s 100-year-old sanctuary, which is among the orange groves of the little community of Bardsdale.

The concert is free and open to the public.

The church is at 1498 Bardsdale Ave. For more information, call 524-2070.

Thousand Oaks Church Turns 45

The United Methodist Church of Thousand Oaks will celebrate its 45th birthday Sunday.

The public is invited to join the congregation at its 10 a.m. service. Refreshments will follow.

The church is at 1000 Janss Road. Call 495-7215 for more information.

Jewish Academy Offers Classes

The Conejo Jewish Academy in Agoura Hills will begin its spring semester Monday. The academy offers adult classes to the community on a variety of Judaic subjects.

Course titles include “Home Sweet Home” on Jewish practice in the home, at a cost of $12.

“Biblical Literacy--the Book of Exodus and the Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Bible” will run for six weeks, starting at 8 p.m. Monday. at a cost of $18.

A five-week class called “Kings” will examine the lives of some of the kings of Israel. The class meets at 8 p.m. Wednesdays beginning this week. Cost is $18.

Other classes on the Talmud, Hebrew, Kabbalah and Women to Women will be offered. Call the academy at (818) 991-0991 for more information. The Conejo Jewish Academy is at 30345 Canwood St. in Agoura Hills.

‘Celebration of Tolerance’ Dinner

United Jewish Appeal and Federation of Ventura County has scheduled a “Celebration of Tolerance” dinner at Ventura’s Doubletree Hotel at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance, will receive the Champion of Tolerance award. Hier’s films, “The Long Way Home” and “Genocide,” are past winners of Academy awards and will be shown.

The event is being held in conjunction with Ventura County middle schools’ Teaching Tolerance programs. Robert Lefkowitz of Ventura and Lori Reisman, women’s division chairwoman of United Jewish Appeal, will also be presented with awards for their work on the Teaching Tolerance program.

The public is welcome at the banquet, which costs $50 per person. For more details or to make reservations, call 647-7800.

Jewish Academy Hosts Lecture

The Conejo Jewish Academy will host a lecture and “an evening of inspiration and gratitude” Tuesday for guest of honor Christoph Meili.

Meili is a 29-year-old bank guard from Switzerland who discovered boxes of Holocaust-era bank documents about to be shredded by his employer, the Union Bank. He smuggled the documents to a Jewish organization in Zurich, said Rabbi Moshe Bryski of the academy.

Several community rabbis and community leaders and a talk by Meili are scheduled for the event that begins at 8 p.m in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel.

Reservations are $7; $10 at the door. Call (818) 991-0991 for more information.

Art Show at Moorpark Church

The Rainbow Open House and Art Show will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Moorpark’s United Methodist Church. Choir practice will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The church is at 261 Flory Ave. For more information, call 529-1401.

Religious Science Program

Gyaneshwari Devi, a teacher with the International Society of Divine Love, will give an inspirational program Thursday at the Westlake Church of Religious Science. The program includes singing of Sanskrit verses and a talk titled “Experience the Bliss of Divine Name through Divine Love Mediation,” according to ancient holy scriptures of India.

The program will run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The church is at 2649 Townsgate Road, Suite 500. Call 496-4555 for more information.

Day of Enrichment for Disabled

Handicapables will offer a day of spiritual and social enrichment for all physically disabled people April 24 at Mary Star of the Sea Parish Hall in Oxnard.

The parish hall is at 463 W. Pleasant Valley Road. Registration is at 11 a.m., and Mass is at 11:30. A luncheon with entertainment follows.

There is no charge, and all faiths are welcome.

For more information, call Catholic Charities at 643-4694 or 486-2900.

Cal Lutheran Sunday Celebration

Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks will celebrate Cal Lutheran Sunday this year on April 25. The 775 churches that make up the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the churches that form CLU’s constituency in the Southwest and Hawaii will recognize their alliance.

For more information, call 493-3936.

B’Nai Emet Hosts Adult Class

Congregation B’Nai Emet in Simi Valley will host a five-week adult education class on “Jewish Literacy/Introduction to Judaism” starting April 27. The class will discuss issues such as Jewish history, theology, holidays and rituals.

Rabbi Michele Paskow will teach the class, which costs $18 for temple members and $25 for nonmembers.

B’Nai Emet is at 4645 Industrial St., 2-C. Call 581-3723 for times and more information.

Congregation to Honor Mothers

A Mother’s Day brunch will be held at 9:30 a.m. May 9 by Simi Valley’s Congregation B’Nai Emet. The men’s club will sponsor the event at the Simi Valley Senior Citizen Center.

Reservations are necessary by May 1. Call the temple office at 581-3723 for more information. B’Nai Emet is at 4645 Industrial St., 2C.

Quakers Offer Dial-a-Thought

The Ojai Friends Worship Group has a new telephone service featuring messages written by a Quaker thinker as long as 300 years ago.

Quaker Dial-a-Thought’s number is 646-0939 and may be called 24 hours a day. The group worships at 506 Crestview Drive. Call 640-0444 for worship service information.

Krishnamurti Gathering in Ojai

The annual Gathering of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America is scheduled May 1 and 2 at Oak Grove School in Ojai.

Raymond Martin, Mary Cadogan and audio- and videotapes of Krishnamurti will be featured, along with dialogue sessions both afternoons, a book sale and an information tent.

The event is free, with a charge for a picnic lunch. The May 1 session will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Events May 2 are set for 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call Stephen Smith at 646-2726, Ext. 20.

Jubilee Church Hosts Call to Prayer

Jubilee Church of Camarillo will hold a Ventura County Call to Prayer at 7 p.m. May 4.

Special guest speakers will include Chuck Pierce and Barbara Wentroble. The event is sponsored by Gospel Light and Love Ventura County.

Jubilee Church is at 1169 Calle Suerte. For more information, call Dan Miller at 646-2833 or the church at 482-5424.

Church Calls for Donations

La Iglesia de Dios (Church of God) in Simi Valley, a fellowship of 200 members, is seeking donations of land or funds to help it build or buy a larger church.

“We’ve raised $90,000 since 1992, but we need more help,” said director Juan Diaz. “We’re renting space and already have to limit our services.”

Diaz said the church needs a larger church to help families in crisis; to give more help to children in need of care; and to offer more alcohol and drug rehabilitation.

The church is at 1636 Sinaloa Road. The pastor is Fredy Cordon. Call 526-3089 for more information.

Religion Briefs run Saturdays. Please submit items at least a week in advance to Religion Briefs, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. Items may be faxed to 653-7576.