Thanksgiving Services, Food Distributions Mark the Season

Thanksgiving services will be offered around the Southland next week, along with interfaith food distributions and other activities to mark the holiday of giving and gratitude.

An annual interfaith Thanksgiving Eve service and reception will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 14646 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. The service will feature an interfaith choir and Ugandan drum performance. The event is sponsored by the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry, an operation of 11 Christian and Jewish congregations that has served more than 1 million people since it began in 1983. The pantry operates a hotline to give callers information about emergency housing, free or low-cost medical care and other services. (818) 762-3061.

* The San Bernardino Clergy Assn. will sponsor a Thanksgiving Eve ecumenical service Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Emanu El, 3512 North E St., San Bernardino. Reflections on the meaning of Thanksgiving will be offered by the Rev. Pamela Moore, Bishop Gerald Barnes and Rabbi Hillel Cohn. An offering will be taken to help provide food and services for the needy. (909) 886-4818.

* Christians, Jews, Buddhists and others will participate in an interfaith Thanksgiving service Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Mt. Hollywood Congregational Church, 4607 Prospect Ave., Hollywood. Rabbi Denise Eger and Cantor Mark Saltzman will participate, along with other clergy. The service is sponsored by the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Interfaith Clergy Assn.

EVENTS

Founder’s Church will culminate a yearlong celebration of its 40th anniversary with a reception and dinner honoring distinguished ministers in the Church of Religious Science today at 6 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel, 333 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles. The dinner will feature performances of “The Circle of Life” from “The Lion King” and other selections. (213) 388-9733.

* The 20th annual Festival of Jewish Artisans will feature silver Hanukkah lamps, Seder plates, Shabbat candleholders and other works by an international roster of artists today and Sunday at Temple Isaiah, 10345 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. The festival opens with an 8 p.m. concert today featuring the Rev. Andrae Crouch, Grammy Award-winning gospel singer, and his choir performing with Cantor Evan Kent and other cantors. The artisans’ exhibit and sale is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. (310) 277-2772.

* Bilal Islamic Center will honor leaders in community-based education at 7 p.m. today at the UCLA Faculty Center, 480 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles. Honorees are the Rev. Eugene Williams of Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches; Winston C. Doby, UCLA vice chancellor of student affairs; and Angela Hasan, director of the UCLA Parent Curriculum Project. The program will be videotaped and broadcast Sunday in Los Angeles only on educational cable Channel 36, featuring an address by Imam W. Deen Mohammed, leader of the Muslim American Society, at 1 p.m. Tickets range from $50 to $100. (323) 233-7274.

* Faith Community Church will celebrate the opening of its new 500-seat sanctuary Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m. services. The new sanctuary will enable the church to offer marriage and family seminars, leadership classes and other community services. The opening services will feature local city officials and the Jeff and Vangie Gunn Band. (562) 944-2597.

* Altadena Community Church will offer a meditative walk in a labyrinth from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the church, 943 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena. (626) 798-1185.

PERFORMANCES

“Two Festivals of Light,” a staged reading of a comedy about neighboring Jewish and Italian families set in Boyle Heights in the 1940s, will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday at the University of Judaism’s Gindi Auditorium, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air. The comedy, based on a short story by Leo Buscaglia, is written by Steven Korbor and directed by Jules Aaron. Individual tickets are $15. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 203.

* A Bach festival, celebrating the life and music of the composer on the 250th anniversary of his death, will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica, 1220 2nd St., Santa Monica. The festival will feature the church’s chancel choir, chamber singers and members of the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra. (310) 451-1303.

* The United Methodist Church of Garden Grove will present a choral concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in the church sanctuary, 12741 Main St., Garden Grove. The concert will feature the chancel choirs of the Garden Grove church, Santa Ana Congregational Church and Wrightwood United Methodist Church. Performances will include anthems by Johannes Brahms, Morten Lauridsen and Aaron Copland. (714) 534-1070.

* Singer, songwriter and children’s book author Barney Salzberg will perform songs for children ages 2 to 8 Sunday at 1 p.m. at B’nai Tikvah Congregation, 5820 W. Manchester Ave., Westchester. At 11 a.m. he will sign copies of his books, including “The Soccer Mom From Outer Space.” Tickets are $7 or $25 for a family of four. (310) 649-4051.

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