20,000 Expected at Catholic Religious Education Congress

The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocesan Religious Education Congress will be held Friday through Sunday of next week at the Anaheim Convention Center, with 20,000 delegates expected to attend. More than 100 international speakers and Roman Catholic theologians will give presentations at 254 workshops covering issues of spirituality and religion that are relevant to Catholics as well as non-Catholics. Many workshops will be presented in Spanish and Vietnamese.

Saturday morning’s keynote speaker will be the Rev. Michael Himes. Sister Helen Prejean, whose work with a death row inmate was portrayed in the film “Dead Man Walking,” will also appear Saturday morning. The congress will conclude Sunday with Cardinal Roger M. Mahony celebrating the Eucharist liturgy at 3:30 p.m. (213) 637-7332 or (213) 637-7346.

SEMINARS / WORKSHOPS

Samuele Bacchiocchi will conduct a daylong workshop called “Sabbath Enrichment Seminar: Do Christians Today Need a Day of Rest and Worship?” at the Norwalk Seventh-day Adventist Church, 12191 E. Firestone Blvd., at 8:30 a.m today. Bacchiocchi, professor of theology at Andrews University in Michigan, will discuss three perspectives on the Sabbath. (562) 863-0614.

* Workshops on the life and theology of author and priest Henri Nouwen will be held today and Feb. 13 at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. Nouwen wrote movingly of his struggles with loneliness and depression in more than three dozen books, including “The Wounded Healer.” Today’s workshop, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will focus on Nouwen’s spirituality. The Feb. 13 workshop, hosted by the church’s Lloyd C. Douglas Committee, will focus on how his themes of solitude, community and compassion can be used by the entertainment industry. (213) 385-1341.

* “Looking at Low-Wage Poverty in Los Angeles: The Realities, Causes and Community / Religious Responses,” will be the focus of a public forum at 10 a.m. today at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, 840 Echo Park Ave. It is sponsored by the Task Force on the Theology of Work of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Presenters will include economist David Runsten of the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research and Madeline Jans-Aparicio, coordinator of the L.A. Living Wage Coalition. (626) 799-2363 or (310) 328-3781.

* Unity Church of Ventura County will continue a workshop series on Preparing for the New Millennium from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday with a session on “How to Get in Focus.” Part of the “Seven Steps to Overcoming,” the series will continue through March 3 at the Jewish Family Center, 4098 Calle Tesoro, Camarillo. (805) 658-1059.

RETREAT

Reflecting a growing interest in Jewish contemplative practice and Buddhist thought, Rabbi Don Ani Shalom Singer will lead a weekend Jewish and Zen Buddhist retreat, “Dwelling in Not Knowing: The Miracle of the Good,” beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Zen Center of Los Angeles, 923 S. Normandie Ave. Singer, founder of Shir Hadash: The Reform Jewish Fellowship, is a leading interpreter of the intersection of Jewish wisdom and Zen Buddhism. Tuition for three days is $150, including meals, or $50 per day. Call Shir Hadash at (310) 456-5323 or the Zen Center at (213) 387-2351.

EVENTS

Rabbi Denise Eger of Congregation Kol Ami, Rabbi Jim Kaufmann of Temple Beth Hillel and Jeanne Barnett and Ellie Charlton, two women who were recently united in a historic ceremony at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Sacramento, will be honored at the second annual Freedom to Marry Day Interfaith Clergy Breakfast at 8 a.m. Friday at the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles, 8714 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. (323) 860-7361.

MUSIC

Eleven men’s choral groups from Los Angeles-area churches will participate in the “Men’s Chorus Gospel Music Festival” at 4 p.m. today at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 4269 S. Figueroa St., South Los Angeles. The program is presented by the A.C.C. Church and Community News as a Black History Month event. (323) 778-0524 or (323) 846-1950.

* Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills will present “Sacred Sounds,” exploring the importance and evolution of music in Jewish worship, at 7 p.m. Sunday. Special guest will be Cantor Benjie Ellen Schiller, associate professor of cantorial arts at the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College in New York. The program will be held at Temple Emanuel, 8844 Burton Way, Beverly Hills. (213) 749-3424, ext. 4205.

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Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Metro Section, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053, or faxed to (213) 237-4712. Items should arrive at least three weeks in advance of event and should include pertinent details about the organization, address, phone number, date and time.