Religion Briefs

Community Breakfast Planned * The 26th annual National Day of Prayer community breakfast in Ventura County is scheduled for 7 a.m. Thursday at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Ventura Harbor. All Ventura County residents are invited. Registration is at 6:30 a.m.

The price is $15 per person. Several community leaders will speak. For more information, call 639-2226 or 659-3847.

Remembering Victims of Violence * The Faith Connection of Ventura County, an interfaith organization concerned with those who have been affected by violence or abuse, will sponsor an “Evening of Honor and Respect” for families and friends of young people who have lost their lives violently in Ventura County.

The potluck dinner is set for 6 p.m. today in the Santa Clara School auditorium in Oxnard.

Several music groups will perform, and guests will share their experiences. Representatives from various county congregations and agencies will be present.

For more information, call Raul Marquez at 986-3969, Ted Schultz at 485-6046 or the Rev. Larry Wayman at 983- 2572.

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 today. Call the temple office at 581-3723 for more information. B’Nai Emet is at 4645 Industrial St., 2C.

Interfaith Church Music Gala * The Interfaith Church for Today in Thousand Oaks will host a “musical extravaganza” at 7:30 p.m. today in the main ballroom of the Thousand Oaks Inn.

This semiannual fund-raiser features professional Southern California performers. The public is welcome and tickets are $10 for adults; $5 for children.

The Thousand Oaks Inn is at 75 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd. For more information, call 379-9336.

Services to Include Concert * Christian recording artist Bryan Duncan will present a free concert during each of the four weekend services at Sonrise Christian Fellowship in Simi Valley. Services are at 5 and 7 p.m. today, and at 8:45 and 11 a.m. Sunday.

The fellowship is at 2350 Shasta Way. For more information, call 581-1628.

Consecration for New Bishop * San Diego native Scott McLaughlin will be consecrated a bishop in the Episcopal Orthodox Church at 1 p.m. today at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ventura.

Three Episcopal Orthodox Church bishops will take part: Presiding Bishop Robert Godfrey; the Most Rev. Herbert Groce, archbishop of the Anglican Rite Synod; and the Rt. Rev. Larry L. Shaver, archbishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine of the Anglican Rite Synod of the Americas.

The Episcopal Orthodox Church has been described as the more conservative cousin of the Episcopal Church, said Reg Hammond, rector of St. George’s Anglican Church in Ventura.

The public is welcome at the ceremony. St. Paul’s is at 3290 Loma Vista Road. For more information, call 524-1697.

Buddhist Temple Hosts Festival * The annual “Fujimatsuri Festival” at Oxnard’s Buddhist Temple will take place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today on the grounds of the temple at 250 South H St.

The day will include Japanese Taiko drumming, cultural demonstrations such as traditional and Okinawa dance, kado, bonsai, judo and kendo.

Games, prizes and Japanese foods will be available.

Everyone is welcome at the free event. Call 483-5948 for additional information.

Earth Day Event in Newbury Park * A special Earth Day service will be celebrated under the pine trees on the grounds of St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Newbury Park at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Child care will be available, as well as children’s Sunday school.

Participants should bring a chair or blanket to sit on.

After the 10 a.m. worship, the blessing of the animals will take place at the church at 11:45. All animals should be caged or leashed.

The church is at 1360 S. Wendy Drive. Call 498-6910 for more information.

Church to Honor Kosovo Refugees * A special communion meditation and offering for Kosovo refugees will be featured during the Rev. Alan P. Gorsline’s 10 a.m. service Sunday at Oxnard’s St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

Brett Hanley, who has a degree in piano performance from CalArts, will perform special music.

The church is at 1800 South C St. Call 487-2711 for more information.

Service Geared for the Family * The Camarillo Church of Religious Science welcomes the public to its family oriented Sunday service at 10:30 a.m. with the Rev. Jacqueline Holland. Also at 10:30, the Rev. Georgette Vogel leads the children’s services.

The church is at 340 N. Mobil Ave. Call 484-1137 for more information.

New Hispanic Ministry in Simi * The community is invited to celebrate a new Hispanic ministry at the Simi Valley United Methodist Church at 10 a.m. Sunday. A Mexican lunch will follow the worship celebration.

Since January, more than 60 Spanish-speaking adults and children have met for worship, fellowship and study at the church. Thus, the decision was made to bless a new ministry “in order to reach out to almost 19% of our city’s population,” said Brandon Cho, senior pastor at the church.

Cho and David Richardson, the area’s district superintendent, will speak. Their remarks will be translated into Spanish.

The church is at 2394 Erringer Road. For more information, call the church office at 526-6231.

Educator to Enter Priesthood * The Rev. David E. Pressey, a longtime Ojai resident and ordained deacon in the Anglican faith, will be elevated to the priesthood on Sunday in Ventura.

In services conducted at 10:30 a.m. at St. George’s Anglican Church, the Most Rev. Robert Godfrey, presiding bishop of the nationwide Episcopal Orthodox Church, will act as ordaining bishop.

Pressey is a retired teacher and counselor with the Ventura Unified School District as well as a religious historian.

“The ordination ceremony is a particularly impressive rite, and Anglicans, Episcopalians and friends and acquaintances are welcome to attend the ordination of this well-known education and religious figure,” said William Henry of the church.

For more information, call the rector at 642-9697.

Jubilee Church Hosts Call to Prayer * Jubilee Church of Camarillo will hold a Ventura County Call to Prayer at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

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.

Temple Plans Activities for May * JFC-Temple Ner Ami in Camarillo will hava a busy month in May, beginning with a family Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Rabbi Kenneth Milhander will conduct the service, after which refreshments will be served.

At 6:30 p.m. May 14, a family pot luck Shabbat is scheduled. Call the temple for a dish assignment. The cost will be $3 for adults and $1 for children.

Consecration service of all religious school students will begin at 7:30 p.m. May 21. All students will receive a mini Torah.

On May 22, a community Yizkor memorial service for the second day of Shavuot will begin at 10 a.m.

Las Vegas Night will begin at 7 p.m. May 22. The cost is $30 at the door, and trips to Las Vegas, Reno and Laughlin will be awarded. Music and refreshments will be available.

All events will be at the temple at 4098 Calle Tesoro, Suite D. The community is welcome. For more details, call 388-3824.

School to Host Family Program * Our Redeemer Nursery School and Kindergarten in Oxnard invites parents and children to a Celebration of Family on Friday.

Diana Eastin will present a program called “I Need Help--Where Do I Find It?”

Eastin, who teaches child and adolescent therapy at Cal Lutheran University, uses humor and her expertise as a marriage and family therapist in teaching family members to draw on their personal resources.

The program runs from 7 to 8:45 p.m. and the 60-member children’s choir from South Coast Fellowship will open the festivities. Children’s Pastor Pauline Rivera will lead children in skits, singing, role playing and fun. Child care for babies will be provided.

The nursery school is asking for donations of old shoes to send to those in need.

On May 14, the church invites the community to a workshop called “Everything They Didn’t Tell You in LaMaze--Principles for a Healthy Family” from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Self-control training, moral character training, establishing boundaries and parenting will be discussed. Stan and Bonnie Edwards will lead the event.

On May 21, Priscilla Partridge de Garcia and her husband, Pedro Garcia Jr., will present a “Celebrate the Family” program from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Priscilla Partridge de Garcia wrote the new book “Mentoring” and teaches at Oxnard College. Pedro Garcia Jr. is superintendent of Corona-Norco Unified School District.

All programs are free and will be held at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 721 Doris Ave. Call 985-8704 for more information.

Church to Hold Rummage Sale * The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Ventura will hold a rummage sale on the church grounds from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 8. All proceeds will go to Project Understanding.

Furniture, tools, toys, books, kitchen items and small appliances will be for sale.

On Sundays, praise and worship time begins at 11 a.m., preceded by church school classes at 10 a.m.

The church is at 1848 Poli St. Call 643-2786 for more information.

2-Day Conference for Women * Unity in the Community of Thousand Oaks-Agoura Hills will sponsor a Bible-based women’s conference called “Empowering the 21st Century Christian Family” May 8 and 22 at Willow Elementary School, 29026 Laro Drive, in Agoura Hills. For information on the conference, to be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, call (818) 382-0165.

Pastor and former television actor Bill Woodard founded the non-sectarian Unity in the Community in an attempt to bring “true unity, harmony and focus to our community.”

“Right here in the Conejo Valley, we have Africans, African Americans, white Americans, Europeans, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, East Indians, Middle Easterners, Mexicans, Central Americans and Native Americans all living side by side,” he said. “We view this unique community as a mosaic, a tapestry, a potentially harmonious blend of cultures that, by working together, can become a model for today’s world.”

Ventura County Religion