Religion Briefs

New Chapel Opens in Ojai Valley * Calvary Chapel of the Ojai Valley has opened and meets at 10 a.m. Sundays at the Oak View Community Center in Oak View.

All are welcome and casual dress is acceptable. Nursery and children’s classes are available through sixth grade.

The center is at 18 Valley Road. For more information, call 640-9498.

Minister to Direct Reading * The Rev. Betty Stapleford, minister of the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, will direct a reading of “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee during a service at the Goebel Senior Center in Thousand Oaks at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Religious education classes for children and child care for toddlers and preschoolers are provided.

The center is at 1385 E. Janss Road. For more information, call 492-8751 or (818) 879-0186.

Unitarian Beliefs to Be Discussed * The Rev. Anne Hines of San Luis Obispo will speak on what Unitarian Universalists believe and the challenge of religious pluralism at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura at 9:15 and 11 a.m. Sunday.

Child care is available at both services. The church is at 4949 Foothill Road. For more information, call 644-3898.

Seminar Focuses on Estate Planning * First Presbyterian Church of Oxnard will have a worship service at 10 a.m. Sunday followed by a free estate planning seminar at 11:30 a.m. led by Dave Winters, a member of the Presbyterian Church Foundation.

Tax advantages will be discussed.

Youth choir for grades four through eight is at 11:30 a.m. All interested youths are welcome.

Child care is available at all services.

The church is at 850 Ivywood Drive.

Youth Sunday at St. Paul’s * Worship Celebration at St. Paul’s United Methodist in Oxnard begins at 10:15 a.m. This will be Youth Sunday. Youths will read the scripture, act as greeters and ushers and perform other duties. Sunday school classes meet for the first few minutes of the service and the children are then dismissed to their classrooms. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Debbie Highsmith, whose sermon will be “The Stranger as a Spiritual Guide.” The Japanese ministry will worship at 2 p.m.

The church is at 1800 South C St. For more information, call 487-2711.

Temple Offers Holocaust Program * Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust day of remembrance, will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at JFC Temple Ner Ami in Camarillo.

The temple is at 4098 Calle Tesoro. For more information, call 388-3824.

Farewell for LDS Missionary * “I’ll Go Where the Lord Wants Me to Go” will be the theme of a missionary farewell for Jennifer Michelle Needham, 21, during a sacrament meeting at the Thousand Oaks First Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Needham will serve as a full-time missionary for 18 months in Toronto, Canada. She will arrive in Provo, Utah, on May 10 and train for four weeks.

About 60,000 missionaries for the church serve missions teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world at their own expense.

The church is at 1600 Erbes Road.

Congregations to Get CLU Update * Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks will be discussed at churches that make up the Evangelical Lutheran Church congregations in the Southwest and Hawaii.

Representatives of the university, including faculty members, administrators, alumni, students, regents and convocators, will speak briefly Sunday to congregations, update them on university developments and encourage their support.

For information on what is being called CLU Sunday, call 493-3936.

Observance to Mark Holocaust * Yom HaShoah, the observance of the Holocaust, will be held at Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills during a service led by Rabbi Gershon Johnson and Cantor Kenny Ellis from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday.

The guest speaker will be Holocaust survivor Joseph Rebhun. He will read excerpts from his book “God and Man: In Two Worlds,” tell stories of the Holocaust and talk about how his resolve helped him survive.

The temple is at 5126 Clareton Drive. For more information, call (818) 991-7111.

Discussion Group to Gather * The next installment of “Issues of the Heart,” a monthly presentation and discussion group, will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in Hurley Hall at Our Lady of Assumption Church in Ventura.

The topic will be “The Tyranny of the Urgent” and will focus on how people sometimes neglect what is important while doing what is urgent.

Linda Montoya, a marriage and family therapy intern, will make the presentation. There is no charge, and the public is invited.

The church is at 3175 Telegraph Road. For more information, call Sister Teresita Keliher at 289-3499.

Jewish Academy Offers Lectures * The Conejo Jewish Academy of Agoura Hills will host its 16th annual adult lecture series beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza Grand Ballroom.

Opening this year’s series will be Michael Josephson, founder and president of Josephson Institute of Ethics. His “Character Counts” commentaries are heard daily on CBS’ KNX News Radio.

The topic of the lecture will be “Character Counts--Building a Better World Through Acts of Goodness and Kindness.”

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door and can be purchased by calling (818) 991-0991.

The Hyatt is at 880 S. Westlake Blvd.

The academy is also offering a three-part course on the “Mystical Insights of the Soul” on three consecutive Mondays beginning at 8 p.m. May 8.

Participants will study the Kabbalistic view of the afterlife, reincarnation and resurrection with instructor Rabbi Yosroel Levine.

The fee is $18 per person. The course will be held at the Conejo Jewish Academy, 30345 Canwood St. For information, call (818) 991-0991.

Women to Gather for Service * Christian women throughout the Conejo Valley will gather at 10:30 a.m. Friday at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Newbury Park in observance of the 2000 May Friendship Day service sponsored by the Conejo Valley Unit of Church Women United.

A potluck salad luncheon will follow the event. All women are invited. For child care, call 494-7368.

The church is at 2500 Borchard Road.

Auschwitz Survivor to Speak * Congregation Am HaYam of Oxnard will host Renee Firestone, a survivor of Auschwitz, who will speak on the Holocaust at 8 p.m. Friday at the Oxnard Monday Club.

Rabbi Gerald Hanig will officiate as the conservative congregation observes Holocaust Day and Israeli Independence Day.

The public is welcome. The Oxnard Monday Club is at 1401 W. Gonzales Road. For more information, call 985-2853.

Sabbath Program for Children * Congregation B’nai Emit of Simi Valley will have a special Sabbath program for families with young children at 7 p.m. Friday. At tot Shabbat, children will sing traditional prayers, see the Torah scroll, hear a story and have dessert. There is no charge for the service. Congregation B’nai Emet sponsors a tot Shabbat the first Friday of each month at 7 p.m.

Yom HaShoah, a Holocaust remembrance day, will be observed by the congregation at 8 p.m. Friday after the Sabbath service. Dan Brown, a professor at Moorpark College who teaches Holocaust studies, will address the congregation. He will discuss his involvement in this field and contemporary issues related to Holocaust studies.

Rabbi Michele Paskow will conduct the service and Cantor Michael Russ will chant the traditional Sabbath liturgy.

The synagogue is at 4645 Industrial St. For more information, call 581-3723.

Methodists Selling Benefit Dinners * The United Methodist Shack will sell barbecue dinners for $6.50 at the Conejo Valley Days in Thousand Oaks next weekend, with proceeds going to charities including Habitat for Humanity.

The dinners can also be purchased at the church and eaten at tables set up there or packaged to go home.

The church is at 1000 Janss Road. For advance discounted tickets and information, call 495-7215.

Seminar to Examine Sexuality * Sonrise Christian Fellowship of Simi Valley will present the seminar “Redeeming Sexuality” from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 6.

Archibald Hart, professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminar in Pasadena and author of more than 20 books, and his daughter, Catherine Hart Weber, co-author of “The Secrets of Eve: Understanding the Mystery of Female Sexuality,” will present the seminar.

The public is invited. The cost is $20 per person and $30 per couple before May 1 and $25 per person and $35 per couple at the door.

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

Workshop Offers Tips for Parents * “Discipline, Self-Esteem and Motivating Children” will be the theme of a workshop sponsored by St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church in Thousand Oaks at 7 p.m. May 10 in the church’s Thomas Aquinas Hall.

Howard Levitt, a licensed marriage and family counselor with more than 25 years experience, will provide ideas that can be put into practice immediately as well as share techniques on how to provide discipline while maintaining a child’s positive self-image. He will also discuss warning signs exhibited by children struggling with psychological problems.

The church is at 155 E. Janss Road. For more information, call 499-8608.

Indian Classical Dance Featured * In connection with the anniversary of the Hindu Temple at Malibu and the sanctification of the new millennium, there will be a performance of Indian classical dance by Ojai resident Sandhya Jade Kedaran and Meena Raman. Both are disciples of Guru Padmashri Adyar K. Lakshman, one of India’s respected dance masters and choreographers. Accompanying the dancers will be an ensemble of musicians from Madras, India.

The performance will be held immediately after the temple rituals about 3 p.m. May 14. The performance is free and open to the public.

Biographical details of Kedaran and directions to the temple can be found at www.Sandhyanatya.com.

Services at Lutheran Church * Our Savior’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oxnard will have services at 9:15 and 10:45 a.m. Sunday and a Bible study class at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The church is at 905 Redwood St. For more information, call 486-5383.

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Religion Briefs runs 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.